Spirituality and Collective Worship
Spirituality
“Spirituality is like a bird: If you hold it too closely, it chokes, And if you hold it too loosely, it escapes.” Rabbi Hugo Gryn
At Padbury, we seek opportunities to develop our sense and understanding of spirituality through exploration of aspects of life, which are beyond tangible creation and provide a sense of awe and wonder. Spirituality is not the same as having a religion or faith; a person can be spiritual without having a particular faith. At Padbury C of E School, we believe that spiritual development is a fundamental aspect of a child's personal progress and we work to enable children to develop holistically in order that they become happy, fulfilled, spiritually aware, and socially and emotionally engaged.
We explore spirituality through Window, Mirror, Door and Candle moments throughout our school day. We actively seek opportunities to explore our spiritual experiences throughout the curriculum as well as within collective worship. This allows for both planned and spontaneous ‘pause for thought’ moments and enables us to think and reflect carefully about the world around us and to consider our role within it.
Our spirituality and Christian Vision, ‘Let your light shine before others’ drives us to be better versions of ourselves and underpins our inner strength to continually live out the values we have chosen as a school.
Opportunities for spiritual development present themselves all around us. As adults, we see our role as shining a light on these opportunities in order to engage children in spiritual moments, using the mirror, door, window or candle as vehicles to scaffold them.
Spirituality in Collective Worship
Collective Worship is a valued and integral part of life at Padbury. It provides the opportunity for our school community to share experiences, ideas and understanding. Within Collective Worship, the language of spirituality is used regularly and explicitly shared.
Collective Worship provides the opportunity for pupils to become aware of the importance of stillness and reflection. It also provides a real sense of being present which can often be linked to invitations to pray.
Collective Worship provides opportunities to engage with inspirational figures, stories and events and reflect on the beauty and joy of the world around them. In addition, time to reflect and empathise, showing compassion in moments of disappointment or pain.
Pupils are given time to consider their role in God’s world and their responsibilities to others and to grow in love and service.
Through Collective Worship, pupils are offered time to be able to contemplate and develop spiritually. Collective Worship in Padbury is invitational, inspirational and inclusive.
To read more about how we develop spirituality at Padbury Church of England School, please see our spirituality document below.