Spirituality at St John's 

By being spiritual we are exploring beliefs and our experiences; we respect all faiths, feelings and values; we enjoy learning about ourselves, others and our world; we use our imagination and creativity; we reflect.

At St John's, we offer endless opportunities for all children and members of the school community to explore spirituality. Children are born to be inquisitive and at St John's we believe it is our duty to nurture this curiosity as they grow and flourish during their time with us, giving them the skills they need to develop their spirituality by the time they leave us in Year 6.

In school we give opportunities for reflection. Be it in lessons or collective worship, children develop an understanding of looking back and reflecting on what they have experienced. This may take the form of looking back and taking from the past, from a Bible story, from a picture/icon/view/learning experience… The focus is to help us in our lives today and tomorrow.

We have segmented our understanding of spirituality into seven aspects, each seeking to develop pupils’ understanding and experience of spirituality. The aspects of spirituality are:

• A sense of mystery in life and connecting to a bigger meaning
• A sense of the quality of silence and reflection
• Reflection of light and darkness in life and our response to it
• A sense of transcendence and an awareness of being something more to life than meets the eye
• A reflective attitude to the natural world
• A spirit of enquiry and open mindedness
• A sense of self-worth and the worth of others 

We provide children with opportunities for spiritual development in three ways:

WINDOWS: giving children opportunities to become aware of the world in new ways; to wonder about life's 'Wows' (things that are amazing) and 'ows' (things that bring us up short). In this children are learning about life in all its fullness.

MIRRORS: giving children opportunities to reflect on their experiences; to meditate on life's big questions and to consider some possible answers. In this they are learning from life by exploring their own insights and perspectives and those of others.

DOORS: giving children opportunities to respond to all of this; to do something creative as a means of expressing, applying and further developing their thoughts and convictions. In this they are learning to live by putting into action what they are coming to believe and value.