Woodthorpe Church of England Primary School

Collective Worship

Collective Worship  2023/2024

The theme for this term is Wisdom

 The theme for Collective Worship this term is Wisdom. We will be reading Bible stories and other stories linked to Wisdom, as well as asking ourselves questions such as:

What helps you make wise choices?

Who do you think is a wise person?

Where do you find wisdom?

Who are the sources of wisdom in your school and community? 

Books linked to values

Collective Worship

Collective Worship is an important part of each day at Woodthorpe C of E Primary School and we have an act of worship each day. We also have special days and weeks throughout the year where we look at celebrations in all faiths. 

Monday: Whole School Celebration

Tuesday: Whole School singing praise

Wednesday: Class worship

Thursday: Class/Key Stage Picture News linked to current events and British Values, Key Stage One stories from the Bible

Friday: Class/Key Stage based on Value

The themes for our Collective Worship come from The Values for Life programme, containing values which reflect both the Christian ethos of the School, whilst upholding key British Values. We also look at British and Christian values through events which are happening in the news using a resource called Picture News. 

Collective Worship Intent, Implementation and Impact

Spirituality in Collective Worship

Collective Worship is the beating heart of Woodthorpe C of E. It provides the opportunity for our school community to share experiences, ideas and understanding. The language of spirituality, which we use as a school, is regularly and explicitly shared in the context.

Collective Worship provides the opportunity for pupils to become aware of the importance of reflection and how our positive and negative experiences can be formative. It also provides a real sense of being present (now moments) which are often linked to invitations to pray. Through daily Collective Worship, pupils are offered a space and a place for hearing the Christian story. They are offered an understanding of worship by being invited to participate in, or observe, Christian spiritual practices such as prayer, reading and reflection on the Bible and liturgy and are introduced to different musical traditions.

Opportunities to reflect on the wows of life such as beauty and joy of the world are given, as well as time to reflect and empathise with the ow moments of disappointment or pain. Pupils are given time to consider their responsibilities to others and to grow in love and service. Time is given for celebration, both for the accomplishments of school members and to mark seasonal Christian festivals and celebrations in the calendars of other faiths. In this way pupils are offered time to be able to contemplate and develop spiritually. Collective Worship in (insert name of school) is invitational, inspirational and inclusive.

British Values

During Collective Worship we support children on their personal spiritual journey and promote respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. Children learn about different religions, their beliefs, places of worship and festivals such as Ramadan and Diwali. Mutual respect underpins all our worships as children are able to express their own views and beliefs in a safe and supportive environment. Through our school worship children are taught how to earn trust and respect and are supported to develop a strong sense of morality; knowing right from wrong and doing the right thing even when it’s difficult.  Our Collective Worship themes explore ideas of democracy and how people have significantly influenced changes in the World through;  teachings of The Bible, current news items, local news and related stories.

Prayers

In worship we use both the Lord's prayer and also the Class prayer photographed above. We also have prayers written and read by children across the school at the end of each worship. Each class also have a prayer book where children are encouraged to write prayers to share with their class.

Harvest

 For Harvest this year we collected food to send to the local food bank. We also held a Harvest Festival celebration in school.

Advent

The season of Advent lasts four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Each year, Advent will begin on the Sunday between November 27th and December 3rd. 

Advent is a time of celebration and anticipation of Christ’s birth. In school children will be listening to the Nativity story in worship and in class, as well as having their own advent calendars in each class during the last weeks of school in December.

Community Links

At Woodthorpe we are welcoming and show respect to everyone in our school and community. 

Children take part in acts of worship at St John the Baptist Church in Staveley where parents, relatives and friends are always welcome to participate. Regular visitors to school include  Father Adrian Arnold from Staveley Parish Church and the Crackpot Assembly Company from the Staveley Ministry.  Members of the local community are also regular visitors to School to participate in our termly Masses.

Collective Worship Assemblies 2022/23