Spiritual Development and Godly Play

What is Godly Play?

A creative and imaginative approach to Christian nurture, Godly Play

is based on long established, tried and tested approaches
uses symbols and objects as well as words
values process, openness and discovery
encourages people to make meaning for themselves

It invites listeners into stories and encourages them to connect the stories with personal experience.

Godly Play

is a non-coercive way to encourage children to move into larger dimensions of belief and faith
uses wondering questions and open-ended response time
aims to develop a deeper understanding of stories, symbols and rites
a way of preparing children to join in the worship and life of their faith community

Developed originally as a resource for children, Godly Play is now being used with a wide range of age groups in a diversity of settings.
Godly Play is one of several variations of the Montessori tradition of religious education and was developed in the United States by Dr Jerome Berryman. Many of our staff are trained Godly Play practitioners following their training course held at our partner school, Holy Trinity CE Primary School. Northwood.

So what’s a Godly Play Room?

In addition to the usual rooms you would find in any primary school we have a Godly Play Room.
Our Godly Play room is housed on our top floor near our hall. Our room has a deep-pile carpet to make it more comfortable for children to sit on.
Around the room are a number of resources that the Godly Play storyteller uses to tell a story.

Part of the room is not carpeted and this allows children to use creative materials to ‘wonder’ about the story.

We are delighted to show Godly Play practitioners our room and even see a session in action.

Opportunities for Children’s Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development

Our curriculum provides many opportunities for our children to develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. You can download examples of how we do this both now and as the school grows here.