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Collective Worship
As a church school, we believe passionately that our inclusive and inspiring Collective Worship has a unique role to play in the life of our school.
It provides the opportunity for us to come together as a community whether that is whole school or class. It takes place every day making space for pupils and staff to come together and share and reflect upon the teachings and traditions of Christianity and our place in the wider world through music, reading and reflecting on the Bible, stories, silence and prayer. Furthermore, Collective Worship provides the heartbeat of our school as it allows everyone a chance to reflect on the Biblical roots and distinctively Christian nature of our school’s vision and values.
Our worship is inclusive and gives all of the school community the chance to be part of the experience, whilst respecting the integrity of family and cultural backgrounds.
At West Ashton Church of England Primary School our vision and values weave through our Collective Worship provision throughout the year. Each term we will explore one of our six values and consider how they connect with our collective worship themes. We will also reflect on what we can do to 'shine among them like stars in the sky' as part of our community and in response to what is happening in the world.
Aims
Collective Worship at West Ashton Church of England Primary School, provides pupils with the opportunity:
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to explore our school’s distinctively Christian vision and values and consider the moral, spiritual, social and personal consequences of these for themselves;
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to appreciate the relevance of faith for themselves through encountering the life and teachings of Jesus Christ;
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to appreciate the relevance of faith for themselves through encountering Christian faith and practice;
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to develop their own understanding of spiritual and moral issues and to explore their own beliefs and spirituality;
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to reflect on the teachings and traditions of the Christian faith through prayer, reading and reflecting on the Bible, liturgy, silence, story and experience of the musical and other imaginative riches of Christianity;
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to be inspired by the example of others – both within and beyond our school – and reflect on the example that they as individuals can set for others in their daily living; and
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to develop their skills in planning, leading and evaluating the impact of school worships
Fundamentals
With these aims in mind our Collective Worship is fundamentally:
Inclusive - Our worship is inclusive and accessible to all and does not assume the faith position of those within our school, but shows an awareness that we all have our own world-views which require nurture and development. We seek to provide the opportunity for children to explore and question the meaning of our school values, stories and traditions, as well as their own beliefs. Our times together are framed by language, images and music which models the diversity of the wider world and Christian faith.
Invitational - Our worship is consistently invitational and demonstrates an openness which allows all children to freely engage meaningfully in our times together. There is no compulsion to ‘do anything’. Rather, worship will provide the opportunity to engage whilst allowing the freedom of those of different faiths and those who profess no religious faith to be present and to engage with integrity. Pupils and adults will only be invited to pray and sing.
Inspiring - Our collective worship plays an essential role in helping us to fulfil our school vision by allowing children to reflect on the example of others – both within and beyond our school. As such, collective worship offers an opportunity for our pupils’ views of themselves, others and the world to be transformed as they are motivated by the seeing the diversity of human experience and the Christian faith. With this in mind, our collective worship is planned so as to inspire the children to think deeply about their own faith, world-view, beliefs, spirituality and philosophical convictions in order that they might become courageous advocates of themselves and causes in the wider world.
