Collective Worship

Every day children take part in Collective Worship. This takes different forms and is sometimes as a class or a key stage or as the whole school. All our Collective Worship is Invitational, Inspirational and Inclusive, recognising that our school community is comprised of people with a wide range of beliefs and worldviews.

Collective Worship is led by different members of staff and also by visitors, with either the vicar from St. John's Church or one of their Lay Ministers typically leading Collective Worship once each week. 

We find that having a consistent structure to most of our Collective Worship supports children in knowing what to expect and mirrors the predictability of the liturgy of the Anglican Church, whilst also enabling flexibility and individual approaches. 

GATHER - We use music as we gather and light a candle as we say an opening prayer.

ENGAGE - This is the main content or message of the Collective Worship, often linked to our weekly themes.

RESPOND - This element encourages a personal response to the content.

SEND - We prepare to go back to our days by using a 'call and response' linked to our school values and by playing music.

Spirituality

We appreciate that the concept of Spirituality is difficult to understand and that it is very personal and unique to each individual. We believe that spirituality is central to what makes us human, irrespective of individual beliefs, and it is about how we live life and the connections we develop. 

In order to help children with their understanding, we have developed a shared understanding of Spirituality using the following simple words:

IN - ourselves

OUT - others and the world around us

UP - something greater than us

Our children are encouraged to ask, consider and answer big questions about life, religion, nature, science and anything that fascinates them. We recognise that spirituality can be about the 'wow' moments in life; for some there is a direct link with religious beliefs while for others it is more about a deep empathy for someone/something or an 'awe and wonder' moment. 

Further information can be found in the documents below: