Spirituality at our school
Spirituality can be a difficult concept to understand, and to define. It is a way of being. At Bishop Lonsdale we summarise it using these four key words:
Beauty – an appreciation for nature, feelings of awe and wonder and developing a desire to make the world a better place
Others – showing respect and feeling empathy towards others (people and animals)
Beyond – Considering and developing our own beliefs about life beyond ‘this’ and the everlasting soul
Self – a sense of gratitude, developing our own values and knowing what’s important to us
What makes us spiritual at Bishop Lonsdale?
There are many ways in which we feel we encourage spirituality in our pupils, as part of our daily school life.
Our Bishop Rules
Our rules encompass respect for others, honesty and treating others as you wish to be treated.
Our extra-curricular activities
We provide a broad selection of extra-curricular activities and clubs, enabling children to experience new things and discover something which they may love and have a flair for.
Our Achievements
We celebrate and reward academic achievements as well as sporting achievements during our whole-school worships. We encourage pupils to do their best and be proud of themselves, and each other.
Our Reflective areas
Our class reflective areas, our whole-school prayer space and our spirituality space provide our pupils with time and space for their own thoughts or for God.
Our Creativity
We provide many opportunities for our pupils to develop and display their creativity, not just through subjects such as Art and DT but through other subjects such as English, RE or History, where drama, role play and art also have a place.
Enrichment days such as Save the Wildlife day, Multi-Faith day and our French themed day have also provided children with the opportunity to produce work for art competitions or in-school contests.
Our Compassion
Raising money for charities such as DCCT food hub, Children in Need, Water Aid and Save the children has helped our pupils understand the needs of others in their community and globally, and understand they that have some ability to help and make a difference. These charity events also provide an opportunity for children to develop a sense of gratitude, in considering what they themselves have.
Our Sporting values
Sport plays a large part in our curriculum (through our strong partnership with Derby County Community Trust) and in our extra-curricular activities, and we are proud of the sporting values which our pupils demonstrate both in and out of school.
Worship
Our whole school worships and class worships are an integral part of our school life, where we come together to learn about and reflect on core Christian values. Christian values are talked about through many areas of the curriculum, and throughout daily school-life.
See our section on Worship to find out which value we are focussing on this half term.
Enrichment
In Autumn 2022 we enjoyed a spirituality enrichment week which linked with Christian Aid’s ‘Letters of Creation.’ We created pieces of artwork about climate change and climate justice, and our work was proudly displayed in Derby Cathedral.
In Summer 2023 we had a focus on the theme ‘All God’s creatures?’ and pupils considered thought provoking questions such as ‘do all animals belong to God?’, ‘do animals deserve respect?’ and ‘do animals have souls?’ Children produced work which we entered into the Spirited Arts competition, and we had a winner!
These are just some examples, and we will continue helping our pupils to grow academically, emotionally and spiritually through the many activities, enrichment opportunities and clubs which we provide.