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Spirituality

At Townlands, all aspects of school life reflect a Christian ethos, which enables and encourages all children to grow and flourish spiritually.  We believe that it is very important to provide all children with a range of opportunities to help them to develop spiritually, but we recognise that spiritual development may not be synonymous with Religious Education and Collective Worship and can also be explored through other aspects of the curriculum.

Spirituality determines what we are, and our understanding of self. It forms the basis for successful relationships, and shapes our behaviour and outlook on life, others and the world. Spiritual development also relates to how we acquire insight into our personal experiences.

Spirituality is not taught, but is interwoven into all aspects of school life and is nurtured and promoted as an intrinsic aspect of our curriculum.

At Townlands we define spirituality as:

Spirituality is a journey of faith which enables us to become aware of ourselves, one another, the world around us and beyond. Through spiritual development, we are able to understand our own feelings and emotions and this enables us to reflect, to learn and to grow.

Spirituality at Townlands, is reflected in giving children opportunities to become aware of the world in new ways; to wonder about things that are amazing in life. We encourage children to think about those things in life which take us by surprise too! Through this, children are learning about life in all its fullness.

We give children opportunities to reflect on their experiences by:

* encouraging them to look inside themselves

* to consider life's big questions and reach for some possible answers

Children are therefore learning from life by exploring their own insights and perspectives and those of others.

We also give children opportunities to respond to all of this; by moving onto a new path or situation, to do something creative to develop and apply our ideas and to learn to live out our beliefs and our school Christian values.