Collective Worship
Collective worship at Bolsover Church of England Junior School is the heartbeat of our school and the golden thread that runs throughout all aspects of our school life.
Worship is also a ‘time to be still’; a time when all can come together to find a space, silence and stillness to reflect upon our own spirituality, values and place in the world.
Our worship is led by many different groups of people or individuals. Children help to lead acts of weekly worship and lead their own class worships every week.
Collective worship gives the whole school community the opportunity to:
Engage in an act of community.
Express praise and thanksgiving to God.
Reflect on the character of God and on the teachings of Christ through Biblical texts.
Affirm Christian values and attitudes.
Celebrate special times in the Christian calendar.
Experience and respond to Anglican traditions and practices.
Explore the big questions of life and respond to national events.
Foster respect and deepen spiritual awareness.
Be still and reflect.
Bolsover Church of England Junior School Collective Worship Policy
1. Aims and purpose
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Collective worship at Bolsover Church of England Junior School is planned to:
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- Be inspirational and inclusive. It should engage all learners and they should be able to talk about the impact it makes on their relationships and on life in the school.
- Be based on biblical material and Christian teaching and this should explore and relate to the school’s core Christian values.
- Have a strong focus on God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit enabling all learners to embark on an understanding of the Trinity.
- Help all learners to understand Anglican and other Christian traditions found in the UK and worldwide.
- Challenge all learners of all backgrounds to understand and embark on their own spiritual journey. They should understand the value of Prayer, Reflection and Stillness.
- Contribute significantly to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; by providing all learners with “something more than the obvious, something to wonder at, something to respond to”.
- Be an opportunity to Celebrate and give thanks for achievements within the school, local and international community and occasions of significance, including festivals.
2. Collective worship
At our school we understand worship to be a special act or occasion whose purpose is to show reverence to God. Collective worship involves all members of the school coming together and participating in an act of worship. We expect everyone to take an active part in collective worship.
In line with the 1988 Education Reform Act, which states that collective worship should be 'wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character', we normally base our assemblies on the teachings of Christ and traditions of the Christian Church. However, we conduct our collective worship in a manner that is sensitive to the individual faith and beliefs of all members of the school.
While the majority of acts of worship in our school are Christian, we also hold assemblies that reflect other religious traditions that are represented in the school and the wider community.
3. Organisation of Collective worship
We hold a daily act of collective worship in our school.
We conduct collective worship in a dignified and respectful way. We tell children that collective worship is a period of calm reflection. We regard it as a special time and expect children to behave in an appropriate way. We ask them to be quiet and thoughtful and to listen carefully to the teachings. We also invite them to participate in discussion, question and answer sessions, prayer and hymns/songs of worship. We create an appropriate atmosphere by playing music, displaying images and using other objects that act as a focal point for the attention of the children. Lighting candles plays a special part in our collective worship. Each class has its own trinity of candles which are lit with: “We light these candles in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
The head teacher leads collective worship weekly. There is a theme for these taken from the 'Roots and Fruits' programme. The theme is displayed at the entrance of the hall so everyone in school knows what it is. It is followed up in Key stage Worships. Once a week a member of staff leads collective worship with a PSHE/ British Values theme. Children participate in hymn practice, singing a selection of traditional hymns as well as learning new hymns and songs of worship. On Fridays we celebrate 'Rejoice' where children are selected to share what they have been doing outside of school with the rest of the school. We also acknowledge attendance, the Times Table Rock Stars leader board and those who have received a Special Recognition for their contribution to the school community.
We invite parents and governors into worship for a variety of reasons and we encourage them to attend, as this promotes the community spirit of the school and is a practical demonstration of the way the home and the school work together to support the achievements of our children.
4. Right of withdrawal
We expect all children to attend collective worship. However, any parent can request permission for their child to be excused from attending religious worship and the school will make alternative arrangements for the supervision of the child during the period concerned. Parents do not have to explain or give reasons for this. This complies with the 1944 Education Act and was restated in the 1988 Education Reform Act.
5. Monitoring and review
It is the role of the head teacher and the collective worship co-ordinator to monitor the policy and practice of collective worship.