Bishop Pursglove C of E Primary School
Reach Higher, Think Deeper, Love Wider
Spiritual Development at BPS
Thinking Deeper:
‘I have come so they might have life: Life in all its fullness.’ (John 10)
Children are innately spiritual and we are often blown away by their thoughts and ideas. As a school, our aim is to give them the tools and language to express this spirituality so they can develop a deep, treasured understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Just as a photograph is developed, we want our pupils to have a growing awareness of their own spirituality. This should not be limited to academic, sporting or creative achievements - but the parts that can’t be seen from the outside. All of us have a special ‘spiritual core’ like the hole in the centre of a donut. We want to celebrate and have a deeper understanding of our whole selves, including the ‘hole’ that you can’t see.
Reaching Higher:
‘Now I know in part, then I will know completely, even as I am fully known.’ (1 Corinthians 13)
At BPS we aim to support all children in their spiritual development so that they flourish. Children and staff should be able to connect spiritually through all aspects of school life, including Collective Worship, RE, and through our inclusive and challenging curriculum.
Loving Wider
‘Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ (Matthew 22)
We view spirituality as a language of connection and relationships. We encourage children to describe their own spiritual connections using the model of four windows:
self
| others |
beauty
| beyond |
Each of these aspects are intertwined and overlap with each other but it is relationships and love that bind them together. Through our school vision we recognise love as the most important and underpinning value of all. For Christians, God’s unfailing love is often central to spiritual life. However, we recognise the deep need for spiritual connections for everyone in our school family, regardless of their faith background.
“Spirituality is the act of being fully human by revealing ourselves, our relationships with others, with beauty and beyond and doing so through love.” (Andrew Rickett)
Our approach to spirituality is centred on the research of Liz Mills and Andrew Rickett, as well as being deeply rooted in Bible teachings. As you browse our website, you may see the donut symbol. We find that discussions around spirituality happen throughout the school day. These may be planned for through our curriculum, but often can just arise out of the moment. Some of these are recorded here to show how we seek to encourage the spiritual growth of everyone in our school family.