As a church school we want to develop the mind, body and soul.  We believe that spirituality influences all areas of education and life, therefore we aim to contribute to pupils’ spiritual development. Spiritual development relates to fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of life which affect everyone, and is not dependent on a religious affiliation.

Spiritual development is about realising or becoming more and more aware of one’s natural, innate spirituality. This is sometimes a slow and gradual process, at other times there might be significant stages of realisation, which are part of the ongoing ‘developing’ process.  We do not reach a finished state of spiritual development, but participate in the ongoing process of spiritual realisation.

How we provide children with openings for spiritual development:

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.

Therefore, our curriculum has strands permeating it like in a stick of rock - Christian Values and opportunities for spiritual development.  

What is spirituality?

At Sissinghurst, we believe in developing the whole child, academically, emotionally and spiritually.

The essence of spirituality is difficult to define because it is a very personal experience. It differs from person to person, and often spirituality changes within people during their lifetime. Spirituality is not the same as having a religion or faith; a person can be spiritual without having a particular faith.

As a school, we approach spirituality by:

• Being curious
• Being reflective
• Being thoughtful
• Being aware of ourselves and
• Thinking beyond ourselves
• Experiencing Awe and Wonder

Being curious:

We want to foster a sense of curiosity in our children to enable them to ask purposeful questions as they go through life. We do this in a variety of ways including.

• Adults model curiosity when reviewing learning and exploring something new
• Question-led learning
• Asking deep questions
• Providing opportunities to explore and investigate
• Allowing children to ask questions and follow these lines of enquiry
• Questions to ponder and ‘I wonder’ in worship
• Adapting planning in response to our children

Being reflective:

In a busy and often unpredictable world, the ability to reflect is an important life skill. We nurture this by:

• Using the questions to ponder in worship
• Seeking pupil voice
• Allowing children to reach their own compromises in play
• Asking open questions
• Using learning questions- curriculum design
• Having reflection / quiet / prayer areas in and outside
• Giving children targets and next steps
• Dedicating time to review learning e.g. plenaries, marking
• Allowing children to have access to calm and sensory spaces
• Assessing to check understanding
• Using restorative justice questions to reflect on behaviour

Being thoughtful

We see the importance of dedicating time to think. We value it in our curriculum in a number of ways, including

• Child-led responses and questions
• Our school rules
• The buddy system
• Getting the children to ‘prove’ or ‘justify’ their learning
• Allowing time for children to reach their own conclusion
• Family worship

Being aware of ourselves

To be truly secure in the world children need to know themselves and understand who they are as an individual. We celebrate and promote this through:

• Praise being given is linked to school rules and values
• The PHSE curriculum design
• Children sharing their own experiences and celebrating them
• Emotion coaching
• Restorative justice questions
• Pupil voice to plan
• Emotion boards in classrooms
• Small group support to nurture feeling awareness
• Pride in their learning
• Respecting each other by following our school rules

Thinking beyond ourselves

We want to encourage our children to be courageous advocates for others. They are given the opportunity to do this by:

• Valuing friends and promoting friendships
• Welcoming and working with our families
• Organising charity events
• Having good links with our local church
• Working with our community and having a presence in it
• Showing our school values, especially kindness and service
• Learning about the wider world
• Learning about other’s beliefs and perspectives
• Being actively involved in Forest school and learning about sustainability
• Having British values woven through our curriculum

Experiencing Awe and Wonder

The magical moments in childhood when children are amazed and captivated give children the value of life in all it’s fullness. Not all Awe and Wonder can be planned, sometimes it’s in the magic of a snowy day, a rainbow in the sky and the natural world in all it’s glory. We do however believe we can enhance the awe and wonder children experience at school beyond responding in the moment. We aim to achieve this by:

• Delivering an exciting curriculum
• Using hooks to stimulate learning
• Using technology to offer wider experiences
• Offer real life experiences (visitors and trips)
• Use big questions in R.E.
• Learning questions starting each lesson
• Sharing in worship and celebration and inspiring one another
• Nurturing children so they thrive
• Experiencing nature in our forest school
• Using our wonderful school grounds