Spirituality Links
Our Whole School Spirituality Links
At Westbury CE Junior School, spirituality is woven throughout our curriculum, collective worship and wider school life. It gives children opportunities to pause, wonder, ask meaningful questions and consider their relationship with themselves, other people, the world and something beyond themselves.
Each term, the whole school will explore one Spirituality Link. These questions link learning across different subjects and year groups while reflecting our Christian vision, “Let your light shine” (Matthew 5:16), and our values of Respect, Care and Inspire.
There is no single correct answer to a Spirituality Link. Children will revisit it through lessons, collective worship, discussion, prayer, creativity and personal reflection. Their responses may draw upon Christian teaching, other religious and non-religious worldviews, personal experiences and their growing knowledge of the world.
Four Spiritual Connections
Each Spirituality Link will be explored through four spiritual connections: self, others, the world and beyond. These help children approach the same question from different perspectives and recognise that spirituality can be expressed in many ways.
Connection with Self
What does this mean for me?
The connection with self encourages children to reflect on their identity, experiences, feelings, beliefs and values. They consider what matters to them, what influences their choices and how their learning might change the way they think or behave.
This reflection helps children develop self-awareness and recognise their own strengths, responsibilities and hopes. It provides a safe opportunity to form and express a personal response without feeling that there is one answer they are expected to give.
Connection with Others
How might another person answer differently?
The connection with others helps children understand that people may have different experiences, beliefs and ways of seeing the world. Children learn to listen carefully, consider another person’s perspective and respond with curiosity and respect.
Through this connection, children explore how their actions affect other people and how communities can make everyone feel valued and included. They learn that disagreement does not have to create division and that thoughtful conversations can help us find understanding and common ground.
Connection with the World
What does this encourage us to notice or change?
The connection with the world invites children to look closely at nature, science, history, society, art and the environment. It encourages wonder and appreciation, while also helping children recognise injustice, inequality and situations in which people or the planet may need care.
Children consider their responsibility towards the world they share. They reflect on whether their learning should lead to a change in their choices, relationships or treatment of the environment. This helps children understand that spirituality can be expressed through practical action as well as reflection.
Connection with the Beyond
Does this connect to faith, mystery, hope or something greater than ourselves?
The connection with the beyond gives children space to explore life’s larger questions. They may consider God, faith, prayer, meaning, hope, mystery, creation or what it means to be part of something greater than themselves.
Children learn how Christianity and other religious and non-religious worldviews respond to questions that do not always have simple or certain answers. They are encouraged to wonder, ask questions and reflect respectfully without being required to adopt a particular belief.
Term 1
How can we show respect for the people, beliefs and world we share?
During Term 1, children learn about different communities, countries, beliefs and environments. Their learning includes European neighbours, changes within our local area, India, climate change, animals and humans, and religious worldviews including Islam, Sikhi, Judaism and Sanatana Dharma.
The question encourages children to consider what it means to belong to a diverse community. They will reflect on how respectful words, choices and actions can help other people feel valued, while also considering our shared responsibility to care for the natural world.
Children might consider how they show respect in their own lives, why another person’s beliefs may differ from their own, what needs protecting in our shared world and how faith can inspire people to care for others and creation.
Term 2
How do stories from the past help us understand who we are and what we should care for?
Across the school, children encounter stories from the Stone Age, Roman Britain, the Battle of Britain and the Shang Dynasty. They also explore religious stories, festivals, Jesus, Sikhi and beliefs about the natural world.
This question helps children recognise that stories carry memories, beliefs, values and lessons between generations. They will consider how the past has shaped their identity, community and understanding of the world. Children will also reflect on which stories matter to them and what those stories inspire them to value or protect.
They might explore the stories that have shaped their own identity, consider why communities remember the past differently, notice what history can teach us about the world today and reflect on how sacred stories connect people with faith, hope and meaning.
Term 3
What makes something truly valuable, and how can our choices bring hope and fairness?
Children explore different ideas about value through learning about homes, cities, Fairtrade, space, natural forces and disasters. In Beliefs and Values, they encounter Judaism, Jesus, forgiveness and Christianity.
The question encourages children to look beyond financial value and consider the importance of people, relationships, justice, forgiveness and the natural world. They will reflect on how everyday choices can affect others and how their actions might bring fairness, hope or positive change.
Children might identify what they value most, consider why another person may value something different, explore unfairness within the world and reflect on how faith and hope can inspire people to work for justice.
Term 4
How can we use our influence and power to help other people and the world flourish?
Learning about the Bronze Age, Anglo-Saxons, the British Empire and Ancient Greece provides opportunities to examine how people and societies have used power. Science learning about plants, living things, materials and light also helps children consider what living things need in order to flourish.
Through Christianity, Islam and philosophical Big Questions, children explore how beliefs can influence leadership, responsibility and service. They consider the influence they already have and how they can use their words, actions, talents and choices to help others thrive.
Children might reflect on how they use their own influence, consider how power can affect different groups of people, identify what needs to change for people and nature to flourish and explore religious teachings about leadership, service and responsibility.
Term 5
How do journeys change us, and how should we care for the people and places we meet?
During Term 5, children explore physical, personal and spiritual journeys. Curriculum links include rivers, mountains, sustainability, habitats, pilgrimage, rites of passage, Humanism and spirituality.
The question encourages children to think about change, growth and new experiences. A journey might involve travelling to a significant place, moving through a stage of life, overcoming a difficulty or developing a new understanding.
Children might consider how their own experiences have changed them, why another person’s journey may be different, how visitors and travellers should care for places, and why a pilgrimage or spiritual journey may help someone feel connected to God, faith or a greater purpose.
Term 6
How can our ideas, beliefs and creations let our light shine and leave something good behind?
The final question brings together learning about identity, creativity, discovery and legacy. Children explore the Iron Age, Vikings, the Maya, local history, scientific discovery, natural materials, sculpture, cathedrals, spirituality, Buddhism and Humanism.
Children consider what buildings, objects, ideas and stories reveal about the people who created them. They then reflect on their own developing identity and the contribution they would like to make. The question links directly to our Christian vision by encouraging every child to recognise their strengths, use their gifts and make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Children might reflect on the gifts they can share, consider how another person may wish to be remembered, notice the effect human ideas and creations have on the world and explore how faith, hope or a sense of purpose can inspire people to contribute something meaningful.
Reflecting Together
The Spirituality Link are intended to create an ongoing conversation between school and home. Children may respond through words, artwork, music, prayer, quiet reflection or practical action. Their ideas may develop and change as they encounter new knowledge and listen to different perspectives.
Staff and families can support this reflection by returning to the four spiritual connections:
- Self: What does this question mean for me?
- Others: How might another person answer differently?
- World: What does this question encourage us to notice or change?
- Beyond: Does this question connect to faith, mystery, hope or something greater than ourselves?
By approaching each question through these four connections, we aim to help children develop curiosity, empathy, self-awareness and a deeper appreciation of the world around them. Most importantly, we want every child to recognise that their thoughts, choices and actions matter and that they each have a light to share.