Collective worship is an integral part of our school day. Although our worship is expressly Christian in nature, it is fully inclusive for those of any faith. Collective worship at St Chad’s is inclusive, invitational and inspirational and pupil participation is encouraged. We want our children to ask those big questions and challenge injustice – something that is woven into not only collective worship, but our whole school curriculum.
Collective worship takes place daily:
| Monday | Headteacher’s Worship – introduce the theme and Bible passage |
| Tuesday | Songs of Praise linked to the value of the week |
| Wednesday | Reverend Jay/Mrs Morris Worship – extend Monday’s assembly |
| Thursday | Class Worship – tailored to the age and stage of the pupils |
| Friday | Celebration Worship – Vision and values |
During collective worship, myself, Reverend Jay and Mrs Morris follow the ‘windows, mirrors, doors’ model from the Roots and Fruits resources which include the four elements of Welcome, Learn, Reflect and Respond. Each week I will introduce a theme and value along with the linked Bible passage, which will then be extended by Reverend Jay and Mrs Morris later in the week. Each week we use our retrieval practice to ensure pupils remember what has been explored previously, as we do across the whole curriculum as part of High-Quality Teaching and Learning.
Whole school worship is enriched by the use of:
- Quotes and questions to encourage deeper thinking about each value.
- Photographs and posters to relate the teaching to the everyday experience of children.
- Stories, poems and art.
- Prayers and guided reflections from traditional and contemporary authors.
- Fruits from the Roots – ideas to develop the theme of the worship through the week
The themes covered in our whole school collective worship can be found by clicking the orange button below:
Tuesday’s ‘Songs of Praise’ is tailored to the theme of the week and we worship though music, using actions and instruments to accompany the lyrics. Discussions around the meaning of the songs are held in each session.
During the year, each class leads a class assembly, whereby a significant Bible story or significant person is turned into a performance for parents. Pupils plan these shows with their class teachers and also write and share the final prayer.
Our Friday Celebration Worship is directly linked to our vision of ‘staying close to the vine’. Pupils win awards for demonstrating or living out our school values and for ‘Growing their Hearts and Minds’.
Worship Leaders:
Our worship leaders work closely with our RE and Spirituality Lead to support the planning of collective worship, and they are an integral part of evaluating worship in school. Pupil voice is planned into every term to monitor the impact of worship and spirituality. Our governing board also take part in these sessions and conduct their own monitoring and evaluation of worship at St Chad’s.
Worship leaders are also responsible for planning and delivering weekly worship to their classes. They meet with our spirituality leader every Friday lunchtime to digest the Picture News resources for the following week, and tailor the lessons to the age and stage of their classes. They then set up the classroom to create a peaceful atmosphere. Each class has a worship box with resources that they can use to set up a class altar. All children are encouraged to help enrich worship by suggesting additional resources that could be added to our worship boxes.
Class worship sessions are a safe environment for pupil participation where individual opinions can be expressed. It is also space to challenge others in a respectful way and a place where children can share their own beliefs and religious viewpoints. We encourage spirituality through the sacred pathways and provide opportunities for reflection through different avenues such as, but not exhaustive to, prayer, silence, courageous advocacy, questions and answers and drawing/artwork.
In addition to whole school and class worship, each class take part in daily prayers before lunch and before home time. KS1 also participate in outdoor worship during lunchtimes.