As a church school, we intentionally nurture spiritual growth by creating space for simple yet meaningful practices: fostering a deeper awareness of the world, its wonders, and challenges, providing opportunities for reflection with others, and exploring ways to put emerging faith or beliefs into action.

Although these questions and examples are designed for Year One, we encourage you to explore other year group pages. We recognise each child as an individual and strive to offer thoughtful challenges and opportunities that align with their unique age, stage, and experiences.

Opportunities for spiritual development are integrated across the curriculum and school life. We thought that you would find it valuable to hear examples from the children's experiences and reflections...

During an English lesson, the children were asked the question, “Do you think the wolf in The Three Little Pigs story could change if he wanted to:

Penny listened to other children and responded: “Yes, I think the wolf could change if he tried hard and was kind. Maybe if he made friends with the pigs and said sorry, he wouldn’t be scary anymore.”

We then discussed as a class when have we had to be brave, and reflected on choices that we have made, thinking about the part we can play in supporting others to make good choices too.

We have been learning about Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II in our history lessons. When discussing what qualities would make a good King or Queen. Emilia responded:

"If I was Queen I would be kind and respectful. I would be thoughtful and listen to what other people have to say and then decide if this is a good thing to do or not." 

We integrate spirituality into PE lessons in Year One, supporting children in developing confidence, empathy, and self-awareness. Through engaging activities, we encourage them to embrace new challenges and reflect on their experiences of their own abilities and possibilities.

After a PE lesson, some of our Year 1 children shared their thoughts:

🗣 Toby said: "I was a bit worried at first about catching the tennis ball and clapping before catching it, but then I just did it! I can keep practicing now, and I can't believe I did it."

🗣 Eli said: "I liked being the leader in the basketball game because my friends could watch me and copy me. Some of my friends even scored a basket like me!"

We support children to step beyond the PE learning, using opportunities to consider where their resilience comes from and how achievement feels when it is through helping others to flourish.