Spirituality

    Spirituality

    Spirituality is delighting in all things, being absorbed into the present moment, not too attached to self, and eager to explore boundaries of ‘beyond’ and ‘other’, searching for meaning, discovering purpose, open to more. (Rebecca Nye)

    At our school we celebrate all of our uniqueness and individuality. We embrace and love one another, sharing our own personal interests. We do this daily but also love our great show of this in our Ilam’s Got Talent spectacle!

    Ilam's Got Talent!

    Curriculum

    Our curriculum is full of opportunities to express our beliefs and acknowledge those of others around us. We have moments to stop and reflect on the wonders around us, as well as the challenges we face. We embrace discussion and questioning, whether planned or not. We take opportunity to do this alone and together, always learning and calling upon the arts to support our expression. 
    In our RE lessons each week we address a “Thunk”, a question designed to develop our philosophical thinking. Our ‘Thunks’ have no right or wrong answer, they enable us to listen to others’ beliefs, as well as confidently express our own. Not only does this enable our children to develop and prosper, but us too as adults! 
    We also extend this opportunity to talk to our families by providing a big question on the newsletter each week. This will often be tailored to our school value focus, and we enjoy listening to the reflections of the children on their discussion at home each week in our Friday Celebration Collective Worship.

    Roots For Reflection - The Willow Dome

    In school we have our Roots for Reflection Willow Dome. A place outside to reflect and find peace whilst enjoying nature. Here we can find a quiet space to reflect on our own journey, as well as that of those around us. At our school, we love being outdoors, this is at the heart of much that we do. Our weekly Forest School lessons enable us to blossom, grow and flourish amongst nature. In our beautiful and unique surroundings, we provide opportunity to for our children to develop body, mind and spirit.

    Forest School

    Using strands from our willow dome, the children made walls for school.

    The children saw a need to improve our microhabitats, so made bug houses and bug hotels around the school grounds.

    Hedgehog Class created journey sticks from foraged materials on a walk to Ilam Park, symbolising that everyone has a different journey and to appreciate the beauty of our differences.

    Each Kingfisher Class child crafted a bird house to take home and increase nesting spots for local wildlife.

    Squirrel Class planting trees, flowers and bulbs around our school grounds

    To celebrate the beauty of our local environment, the children foraged natural materials to create artistic tiles to decorate our school.

    A whole school trip to our local YHA for team building, grounding and spirituality themed activities.