Developing Spirituality at Scunthorpe CofE.
Scunthorpe CofE is a ‘Place to Shine’. As a church school, children’s spiritual development is very important to us. We know, the development of spirituality can have a huge influence on a child’s well-being and their mental health and we aim to create an environment that will nurture people’s minds, body and soul. However, we acknowledge it is a deeply personal journey. Spiritual development relates to fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of life which affect everyone, and is not dependent on a religious affiliation. We are guided by our Christian faith and the Christian values which we hold dear but we welcome all and we openly encourage children to reflect in the way that suits them best, enabling them to participate in an ongoing process of spiritual realisation and to flourish in a way that will help them find respect, resilience and the strength to grow positively through their life-long journey. It is not our role to guide children to follow a particular faith.
Spiritual progression is not linear. This document is for teaching staff and parents all across our community to help identify and guide the rich, deep thinking opportunities which contribute to pupils’ spiritual development throughout our broad curriculum.
When considering children’s Spiritual Development, we look at 3 different areas.
- Love (Love for self and love for others)
- The World, beauty and creation
- Beyond (the unexplained)
For each area we aim that the children should have opportunities to observe, reflect and transform. We call these windows, mirrors and doors.
We use the media of stories to help the children to understand the different areas.
Our definition of Spirituality
We define spirituality at Scunthorpe CofE as:
“Spirituality is not something we can see; it is something we feel inside ourselves. It is about awe and wonder, asking questions, inspiration and being aware of something ‘bigger’ outside of ourselves."