Collective Worship

As a Church school, Collective worship acts as the heartbeat of each school day and we feel that by coming together at the start of every day, we can start the day well, with a common purpose and tone. 

During collective worship, we  share in celebrating God's love and learning more about our Christian faith.  Through stories, songs, games and prayer, we aim to help the children to develop their spirituality, as well as becoming more understanding of the beliefs of others.

Our worship is inclusive and gives all of the school community the chance to be part of the experience, while respecting the integrity of family and cultural backgrounds.

The weekly pattern of collective worhip looks like this:

• Monday - Headteacher's worship, introducing the theme for the week
• Tuesday - Singing worship
• Wednesday - Led by Open the Book/Class Teacher worship focused around PSHE themes or St. John's WAYS and expectations
• Thursday - Picture News, with links to current news stories with chances for rich and thought-provoking discussion
• Friday - Celebration worship led by the Headteacher 

Each week at school has a theme, with the first collective worship of the week setting the tone. These themes are linked to our termly values of LOVE, HOPE and TRUST. For example, themes of compassion, friendship, generosity etc are used throughout our value of LOVE.

During collective worship, we use the concept of windows, mirrors and doors:

• The window symbolises the learning element when the bible text is ‘opened up’ using a creative medium, such as the work of visual artists, storytellers, poets, photographers or film-makers;

• The mirror symbolises reflection, and provides an opportunity for everyone to take time to consider how what they have heard, seen or felt has resonated with them or challenged them;

• The door symbolises the response, providing an opportunity to consider how those present might want to respond to what they have experienced and step out (as if through the door). A prayer will often be used that draws together the themes in the worhip.

A welcome and school prayer opens each worship, and is always child led:

"God...

Be with this school as we learn to grow strong together, hand in hand, in our journey along the paths of justice.

Lead us to the gift of love, the strength of friendship, and the power of respect for our neighbour.

In all our challenges, guide us to trust in you to show us the way.

Amen."

This is followed by that same child addressing God directly, and a candle is lit at each stage:

"God, we have gather in the name of:

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,

To worship together and think about our way of..."

Depending on the term, a value (LOVE, HOPE or TRUST) is added in here.

The Christian values we promote through collective worship are important for all of our pupils to learn, whether they come from a Christian background or not.  Parents do have the right to withdraw their children from Collective Worship, but we encourage the involvement of all pupils so that their sense of belonging as a member of our school community can be strengthened.

We are fortunate to be supported by our church community in our Collective Worship.  Clergy and other church members regularly lead worship along with our Open the Book Team. 

Each collective worship is then closed by a child:

"God bless our school, that working together and playing together we may learn to love you and love one another. Amen."

Then the candles are put out at each stage.

"Together we walk through the door with... in the name of:

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,

Let us bless the Lord (Thanks be to God)."

There are many opportunities for parents, family and friends to join the school in Collective Worship throughout the school year. The school leads services at Church once a term including other special services such as Christmas, Harvest and Easter. We also hold a Carol Service each year where families and staff from school come together to worship together at this special Christian time. 

We have chosen to have these arrangements for collective worship as we see this as the best way to express and deepen our understanding of our vision and values, strengthen the culture of the school, support our whole school community’s spiritual development, and carry our thinking through into all aspects of our conduct and attitude throughout each school day. Most importantly, collective worship enables our vision – Together we grow stronger – to be brought to life.