Our vision of ‘Preparing, Sowing, Growing’ is at the heart of how we plan, deliver and reflect on our collective worship. Assemblies which we also call ‘Worship Time’ take place each day.
During Covid restrictions, assemblies took place remotely using Seesaw within classes, using a mixture of Headteacher led resources using ‘Roots and Shoots’, the weekly Hereford Diocese act of worship for schools led by Mark Harrington, our own Open the Book team recording stories and some of the Church of England ‘Faith at Home’ resources. Whilst we missed our previous pattern of gathering in the hall every day, teachers reflected that children’s spirituality and reflection muscles had deepened during these sessions as there was more opportunity for individual/pair/group reflection in a classroom setting. We decided to learn from this and have since September 2021 had a new pattern of daily collective worship which mixes gathering together and using a recorded resource for a class assembly.
Mondays – in class using a recorded Worship Time from Mrs Martin which develops spirituality and well-being using our values. Sometimes the children use a Reflection Journal – opportunities for paired talk, personal reflection and prayer and group activities.
Tuesdays – in class for ‘Worship with Mark’ (Mark Harrington from Hereford Diocese) – the focus is on Church Year or Festivals. Hereford Dicoese have had a Year of Prayer in 2023 and a Year of Faith in 2024 and so we have had the opportunity to develop our prayer and reflection skills.
Wednesdays – in class using ‘Roots and Shoots’ resources or similar and focused on our Christian value of the month which always has a link Bible story – led by Mrs Cansdale. Worship Council also help to lead a monthly Wednesday worship – the children on Worship Council from Y1-Y6 enjoy putting together a worship time introducing our value each month.
Thursdays – gathered in the hall altogether we use a Bible story and drama or storytelling to reflect on our Christian vision and values and how we are developing as a school. Sometimes we invite in visiting clergy, although we do not currently have a link vicar/rector. Nursery and Reception also have an additional ‘Jack in the Box’ worship time on a Thursday to ensure that our worship is inclusive of their age and stage of development. You can see our cycle of values and Bible stories here: Christian Values with Bible stories and verses
Fridays – gathered in the hall for Celebration Worship time with families of award winners invited too. In line with ‘Preparing, Sowing, Growing’ each teacher picks a Leaf and a Learner and talks about how our Christian vision and values have been demonstrated by that child. It is lovely that families hear that too. In feedback to Worship Council the children highlighted this assembly as being amongst their favourites for helping them know what our Christian vision looked like in practice.
We have invested in a high quality resource ‘Roots and Shoots’ to help us frame our worship and develop our children’s spirituality. We understand spirituality to mean that children develop a sense of themselves, others, beauty and the beyond (which for some includes a sense of God/divine). Our worship is Christian in nature, in accordance with our status as a Church of England Voluntary Controlled school, but is inclusive and invitational – no one is forced to pray – but everyone has reflection time.
Collective Worship gives pupils and staff opportunities for reflection, prayer and insight in to how our Christian values are rooted in the teachings of the Bible. Children are involved in leading, evaluating and reflecting on worship as part of Worship Council, one of our four school councils.
The children have also told us that they like Collective Worship outside and so we have used opportunities such as Advent Experience, Pentecost Experience and Easter Experience to encourage outdoor worship. Pupil Voice Council asked for an outdoor reflection zone in Summer 2023 and this was set up in a wooded area and is now in use at playtimes by all ages of pupil. All children are encouraged to identify somewhere outside or inside school where they can pray and reflect.
During the year, classes also lead assemblies sharing their learning with the rest of the school. Parents are invited to attend these events. At Harvest we invite Acorns parents in (the Reception children have newly started) for our Harvest Worship Time so that they can see early on in their child’s school career what Christian collective worship involves.
We also mark the Church seasons and use the liturgical colours on our Worship table. During Lent we have activities which help us all take part in preparing for Easter and you can see our Lent Journey here: Lent 2024 Journey
We also invite visitors to assemblies when appropriate, such as educators from charities such as NSPCC, Road Safety Awareness, Air Ambulance and Dogs’ Trust.
Parents have the right to withdraw their child from Collective Worship if they so wish. This must be done by contacting the headteacher in the first instance.
Useful Documents:
Click on Collective Worship Policy Sum 22-25 for our policy.
Parents can see how we are aiming to develop children’s spirituality and what our understanding of that is: Aspects of Spirituality
You can see how we evaluate the effectiveness of our collective worship here: Christ Church – How are we living out our vision March 2024