Our Approach to Spirituality

To talk about spirituality can be challenging. Essentially, it is to talk about something which is beyond words. 

Our school vision, “Together, we grow and flourish with hope,” is rooted in the biblical imagery of Psalm 1:3, "We grow strong like a tree planted by a stream – a tree that produces fruit when it should and has leaves that never fall. In all that we do we prosper." Our guiding principles of being rooted, nurtured and enabled to flourish shape our approach to spiritual development and underpin the life of our school community. Spirituality is understood as a shared journey that enables pupils to grow in wisdom, dignity and hope. 

Our school understanding of spirituality is guided by the 'WOW, OW, NOW' framework from the Diocese of Gloucester:

---

Our language of spirituality begins from the Christian understanding that everyone is a valued creation, individually and uniquely made by God, like pots made by a potter (Isaiah 64:8). Yet in life things happen that impact on the physical ‘pot’ of life and create cracks that provide a glimpse of ‘something’ beyond the tangible. Christians would view this as an opportunity to relate to God.

• Cracks may happen when something challenging happens and threatens the comforts of every day – the ‘ows’ of life.
• Cracks may be caused when something so good and breathtaking happens that the pot expands, causing cracks – the ‘wows’ of life.
• Cracks can also occur in the stillness and ordinariness of every day – the ‘nows’ of life, when a moment of stillness, a pause or prayer can create a crack in the normal, physical every day.

Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with golden joinery, makes something broken into something differently beautiful and even more valuable. Using this metaphor, the ows, wows and nows of life offer the possibility of becoming cracks that are filled with gold, adding significance and value to life.

---

We believe spirituality is for all, not just within religious education, but across the curriculum and school life. We provide opportunities for children to reflect, question, and grow in their understanding of themselves, others, and the wider world. In this way, the WOW, OW, NOW framework enables pupils to be spiritually nourished, deeply rooted and equipped to flourish, reflecting the vision of Psalm 1:3 as they grow together with hope.

 

Our Spirituality Day

We held a special Spirituality Day to help the children think about what WOWs, OWs and NOWs look like. The children worked in their family groups (each group having a child from every year group). The children moved round the school to take part in lots of different activities.

Wows - looking at our fingerprints and marvelling at their uniqueness; completing some fun science experiments

Ows - writing prayers for the 'ow' moments our world has; making worry dolls

Nows - hunting around the school grounds noticing details in our environment, such as all the different colours found in leaves; mindful moments when painting