Collective Worship
Christingle Service, December, 2023.
Collective Worship Overview
All Church of England schools must provide a daily act of collective worship for all pupils which must be ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’.
Collective worship fulfils part of the school’s duty to develop pupils spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. Pupils are given the opportunity to learn about interesting cultural traditions and their meaning, listen to stories with a moral message and reflect on the Christian values we hope to develop and promote both within our school community and in each individual; Respect, Hope, Kindness and Courage.
Collective worship gives pupils and school staff the opportunity to:
• Engage in an act of community.
• Express praise and thanks to God.
• Be still and reflect.
• Express the big questions of life and respond to national events.
• Foster respect and deepen spiritual awareness.
• Reflect on the character of God and on the teachings of Christ.
• Affirm Christian values and attitudes.
• Share each other’s joys and challenges.
• Celebrate special times in the Christian calendar.
Worship takes place every day and may be whole school, key stage or class worship.
On a Monday, the Worship is always whole school and led by the Head Teacher. Each half term, a different Christian value is celebrated, and the weekly Monday worships look at that value in depth, relating key learning to biblical scripture.
On a Tuesday, the Worship is always whole school and led by the Head Teacher. The focus is on ‘Worship through Song’ and provides the children with an opportunity to sing a range of different traditional and contemporary worship songs.
For worship on a Wednesday, the whole school session is either led by Revd. Kate or the Head Teacher. When Revd. Kate is leading the worship, it is based on the same theme as the Monday worship, reinforcing the main message for the week. When the Head Teacher is leading the worship, it is based on our school understanding of ‘Spirituality’. Within the worship a range of key texts, art work and biblical scripture are used to promote Spirituality and a deeper understanding of our core Christian and British Values.
On a Thursday, the Deputy Head Teacher reinforces our key values of Kindness, Courage, Respect and Hope when talking about ‘Opal play’. The whole school collective worship on Opal play reinforces our Christian values by promoting kindness through cooperative play, fostering hope by encouraging creativity and exploration, demonstrating courage in trying new activities, and cultivating respect for others' ideas and feelings. This aligns with the school's vision of love and kindness in action.
On a Friday, we celebrate the children’s successes in our ‘Celebration Assembly’. We celebrate those children who have been showing our Christian values (hope, kindness, respect and courage) in school and at home and any achievements they have had outside of school.
In addition to our daily Collective Worships, each year group will experience a 'Worship in the woods’ session once a term (therefore 3 times a year). ‘Worship in the Woods’ is a time for spending intentional time and space with God and each other outside the confines of a building. It provides children and adults with a time to enjoy creation, nature and be together. It allows us time to deepen our relationships with God and each other through connection and a greater understanding of the natural world.
The Foundation unit conduct their own assemblies throughout the week, using stories, poems and songs to reinforce the week’s theme in an age-related format.
Collective Worship themes
The Collective Worship themes follow a three year overview. In the Academic Year 2024 – 2025, we are working on Cycle A.