What is spirituality?

Spirituality is a difficult thing to define! At St Barnabas we believe it is fundamental to our mental and physical well-being (for children and adults too), but is not exactly the same as those things. It is not necessarily tied to a religious belief. People of faith and people of no faith can be deeply spiritual. 

Spirituality is not something we can see or touch - we feel it inside all of us. It might be a sense of awe and wonder. It might be a sense of empathy and compassion. It might be a sense there are important questions to be asked which might not have obvious answers. It might want us to laugh, cry, sing, be creative or be still. We might have spiritual experiences with others or we might have them on our own. Spirituality is a sense of something bigger than ourselves.

How do we nurture spirituality at St Barnabas CE Primary Academy?

  • Our school Christian values are taught, lived out and celebrated. Values points are given throughout the day for rewarding each value in action and the child with the most values points is presented with a values award certificate in our Celebration Worship and their parents are invited to attend. 
  • We make sure there are times of peace and for reflection in the school day.
  • We spend time in special places such as St Barnabas Church and other places of worship.
  • We share art, music, stories and poems together.
  • We share moments of awe and wonder.
  • We encourage respectful debate and questioning and make sure children feel secure enough to ask those 'big' questions.
  • We foster a love of creation through our school grounds including our Spiritual Garden, Forest School area, and through school visits to Jacks Key Nature Reserve and Whitehall Park.
  • We encourage the spirit of 'courageous advocacy' and standing up for what we believe in.
  • We share different ways of exploring spirituality in worship e.g. looking at different religious art and icons, using candles, holding worship outside.
  • We practice gratitude - we take time to give thanks and show thanks for the things, the actions and the people that bring us joy.
  • We learn about our feelings, how to recognise them and live with them.
  • We foster reflective thinking linked to our Christian values, encouraging us to look inward at our own behaviour and thoughts, outward at the wonderful world around us and considering actions of ourselves and others which make a difference moving forward.

At St Barnabas we provide our children with openings for spiritual development:

Our broad and balanced curriculum has our Christian vision and values and spiritual development woven through.