Collective Worship

Andy (from RAISE) and Elisabeth (from Hope Community Church) are back again for another Collective Worship!

RAISE worksheet for Happiness Collective Worship

Our Church of England primary school welcomes children of all religious faiths and none and although our Collective Worship promotes our Christian foundation and vision, it does not assume that all children will be from Christian backgrounds.

We aim to ensure that our Collective Worship is inclusive, invitational, inspiring and is central to the life of the school by being relevant to the lives of our children.

Elements
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Prayer Spaces

Children are invited to use Prayer Zones or Reflective Spaces to express how they feel about the themes discussed in Collective Worship. These are interactive, creative activities.

Our recent Bottle of Tears activity invited pupils to process their sadness and pain by dropping a ‘tear’ into a big bottle. They could also write or draw something sad onto a big tear drop and stick it onto the cross as a prayer. You can read about the story behind the space here.

Please view our Teaspoon Prayer Board here.

The Structure of our Collective Worship

Gathering

  • To create a distinctive atmosphere, there may be music playing as everyone gathers for worship.
  • When everyone is gathered, a candle may be lit to signal the start of worship.

Engaging/Learning

  • This is when the main theme of the worship is shared by the member of staff, child or visitor leading the worship.
  • A variety of stimuli will be used to ‘open up’ the chosen theme – drama, visual images, video, Bible stories or other texts are some examples.

Reflecting/Responding

  • Everyone may be given the opportunity to consider how the chosen stimulus resonates with them. This could be through a ‘searching question’ or an opportunity for silent contemplation.
  • Everyone may be given an opportunity to respond in some form to the main theme. This could be an opportunity through prayer, a short written task, a conversation with a partner or a creative task.

Sending

  • As Collective Worship draws to a close, the candle is extinguished to signal the end of worship.
  • Everyone is challenged as they are sent out to try and make a difference in the world as individuals or as part of the school community.

Who leads Collective Worship?

  • Staff members
  • Children
  • ISing Pop
  • Fr. Chris and Revd. Cate
  • Visitors from the church community in the Open the Book team
  • Visitors from Christian groups e.g. RAISE or Norwich Youth for Christ

Collective Worship mostly takes place in the school hall. However, we do gather for worship in classrooms, indoor and outdoor prayer spaces and at our local village St Ethelbert’s Church to celebrate Harvest, Christmas, Easter and an end of year Thankful service.

Collective Worship is an important part of our school day and is usually organised each week in the following way:

Monday – Whole school Collective Worship following our selected school value or theme.

Tuesday – Singing Worship Assembly or Child led Worship

Wednesday – Whole school Collective Worship following our selected school value. The learning/engagement aspect is led by staff members using ISing Pop resources.

Thursday – Class Collective Worship following our selected school value and yesterday’s worship. Everyone is given further opportunities in some form to respond to the theme of the week. Each term, Open the Book Assembly (our local church group dramatises Bible Stories).

Friday – Whole school Celebration Assembly.

Resources

Diocese of Norwich                 Roots and Fruits                   iSingPOP

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