Collective Worship

Intent

Our Collective Worship Policy is based on the Vision and Values of our Christian School. This is underpinned by Jesus’ Mustard Seed Parable “from the smallest seeds grow the greatest shrubs” (Mt13v31-32) alongside the 6 values that are the foundation of our Christian belief in school - respect, optimism, wisdom, determination, enthusiasm and love. 

Our daily act of collective worship aims to ensure that the Christian character of our school is preserved and developed. This requires worship to be consistent with the faith, principles and practices of the Church of England. In addition to this, we also take into account DfES legislation. 

At Rowde, our daily act of collective worship is viewed as an integral and important part of school life. We come together every morning and it is through this, and in the general ethos of the school, we seek to promote our mission statement of Learn, Grow, Love.

It is a time where we come together to share our love of God based on promoting the Christian values which permeate the ethos of the school. As such, the contributions of staff, pupils, church clergy and other visitors are valued highly. We also actively seek to encourage the attitudes of awe, wonder and reflection. Our school ensures that every child is entitled to an opportunity for daily worship.

At Rowde Church of England Primary Academy, our intent is to provide regular opportunities for the children to participate in collective prayer and reflection.

• Frequently share and discuss stories from the Bible and discover the meaning and learning of these stories.
• Explore the meaning of each School Christian Value and express what this means to them.
• Build strong relationships with members of the school church and local community via the holding of regular Family Worships and Community Events.
• Encourage the children to think about current issues in the world and what they can do to contribute to the healing or improvement of this – i.e. charity work/prayer/changing their actions etc.
• Explore with the children the power of faith and how this can guide and support them in all that they do.
• Submerge the children in the joy of singing God’s words.
• Create opportunities for the children to explore that of other faiths and gain a good understanding and mutual respect of their beliefs, culture and traditions.

Implementation

We gather every morning at 8.50 for Collective Worship - it is a lovely way to come together and start the day positively. We use the Roots and Fruits worship planning as well as Picture News. Both of these programmes root all learning in the Bible and Church year, which enables us to make strong and meaningful connections with both our Rowde and British values.

Each assembly follows four elements of Welcome, Learning, Reflecting and Responding and is enriched by the use of:

• A weekly news story and discussion stimulus
• Quotes and questions to encourage deeper thinking about each value
• Photographs and posters to root the teaching in the everyday experience of children
• Stories, poems and art
• Prayers and guided reflections from traditional and contemporary authors

From this base, worship is based on: Liturgical church calendar; our Christian values; PSHE and British Values; special events such as ‘World book day’; global affairs; issues which arise from everyday life and the Christian ethos of the school, taking into account the age, aptitude and family background of our pupils.

We provide a variety of worship experiences for the children.

Our current schedule is as follows:

Monday

Whole School Picture News and values worship led by the Head Teacher who introduces the key theme and focus for the week.

Tuesday

Understanding the Bible –  we take the theme introduced on Mondays and look at connected Bible stories and teachings.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we continue to delve into the theme of the week, connecting to our school and British values - a chance for reflection and connection. Every other week, we are joined by Church volunteers for Open the Book. 

Thursday

Thursdays are a reading worship - we read a picture book together connected to the key theme of the week. These are always connected to our values and give us a further opportunity to develop a love of reading. Occasionally, the children read some of their own work and are involved in choosing the text for the whole school. 

Friday

On Fridays, we have whole school worship led by the Head Teacher. This is a celebration worship where Value Champions are celebrated, as well as other celebrations which are important to children including birthdays. Parents are always welcome to stay and join us for our celebration worship at 8.50, after drop off, on Friday morning. 

In addition to this, visiting groups and individuals are welcomed into the school regularly to lead worship. Parents are informed about the themes for worship and there is a weekly reflection on the Head Teacher's newsletter.

We ensure that we sing together as a community everyday, rather than a specific 'sing and praise' worship. We learn a range of songs together, across the year, to ensure we have those we know really well, as well as learning new songs that the children have some ownership of. 

The right of parents to withdraw their children from all or part of the act of worship will be respected. Pupils withdrawn will be appropriately occupied within the school. Parents wishing to do so are advised to discuss the matter with the Head Teacher in the first instance but are not obliged to state their reasons for doing so. It is expected that staff convey their commitment by participating in and leading worship.

Impact

Collective worship is accessible to all children of any religious background, or none, regardless of race, gender or disability. The collective worship and RE coordinator collates and draw conclusions through evaluation forms and by speaking with the children, staff and other adults on the quality of acts of worship. 

Monitoring is carried out throughout the year. Here the children, members of staff and trustees are asked to share their views and feelings about collective worship, offering suggestions for any changes or improvements they feel are needed. Findings are passed onto the coordinator on a regular basis. Suggested developments are discussed with the Senior Leadership Team and Worship Trustee, as well as the Academy Council and members of the Diocese. 

Worship Policy