Here at Baston, Collective Worship is integral to our Christian identity and sense of belonging to the world. The daily act of Collective Worship is a central and significant part of school life and it is at the heart of all that is done at our school. We also recognise that Collective Worship is an important time to provide opportunities for the Spiritual, Moral, Emotional, Social and Cultural development of all.

Collective Worship is a time when we come together to share our love of God and celebrate our achievements. The worship of the school is based on promoting the Christian values which form the foundations of the school whilst also recognising other world religions. The contributions of staff, pupils, members of the church and other visitors are valued highly with worships being attended by all children and staff. Visitors to the school are always very welcome to join us in worship.

Aims

It is our aim that worship should provide members of the school community with the opportunity to:-

• Praise and reach out to God.
• Respond to Christian language and symbolism
• Experience stillness and quiet
• Focus on God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and recognise and express this with understanding.
• Experience a variety of forms of prayer and meditation. These might include: praise, seeking forgiveness, asking on behalf of self and others or quiet reflection.
• Help children to begin to understand the nature and purpose of worship
• Provide a foundation for a mature understanding and practice of worship in the future.
• Contribute to the spiritual, social, emotional, moral and cultural development of each child.
• Allow reflection and response to the fundamental questions of life and those things that are of eternal concern and value to human beings
• Foster and enable a concern for the needs of others, a recognition of the vulnerability of self and of others
• Celebrate and give thanks for the achievements within the school, local and international community and occasions of significance, including festivals.
• Promote community cohesion
• Give expression to, and reaffirm and practice the values of the school community

 

Collective Worship

In our school, every pupil and adult is welcomed to join collective worship in a way that reflects their own religious or spiritual journey. Rooted in the traditions of the Church of England, we invite everyone to participate and work hard to ensure everyone feels included. Our collective worship provides a safe space for everyone in our school community to reflect on their own spiritual, religious and philosophical convictions. We encourage everyone to flourish spiritually by challenging preconceptions and encouraging curiosity. We hope that collective worship provides a source of inspiration for our pupils; as such, it is an essential part of ‘preparing the way’ for their futures. We see collective worship as an integral part of the thriving of our school community.

Our collective worship is structured using the Roots and Fruits materials. We have adapted these to ensure they are structured around our vision drivers. This is so that we can be confident that the collective worship we offer fits the context of our school community.

The materials are organised in a two-year cycle:

	Inclusion	Inspiration	Challenge
Year A	Justice, Truthfulness	Thankfulness, Service	Perseverance, Trust
Year B	Compassion, Friendship	Generosity, Forgiveness	Courage, Respect

 

We aim to provide a variety of worship experiences for children. Currently we follow this schedule:

Monday: Whole School worship. This worship links a specific idea to the term's theme and introduces a focus value for the week ahead.
Tuesday: Led by a member of staff themed around the 'Roots and Fruits' resource. Rooting learning from the Bible and the Church year.
Wednesday: Continues the week's idea linking into current affairs and national issues. This encourages the children to think of others outside of our community and local experience.
Thursday: Continues the week's idea including a more global approach. This worship may also include learning about other world religions, traditions, customs and festivals across our diverse world.
Friday: This whole school Collective Worship is all about the joy of celebration and it embraces all that we do. We give an award to children who have done something well, demonstrated a school value, or simply been a superstar!