Collective Worship

Collective Worship at Crowton

“…with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Collective Worship is the unique heartbeat of a Church school and is a time each day in which we develop a sense of pride in belonging to our school community, when we explore moral and spiritual values in an act of worship and teach the principles of our Christian faith. We also use Collective Worship time to explore global and local issues and events, supporting children in forming and voicing their views and in becoming courageous advocates for change when they see injustice in the world. We celebrate worship as a whole school or in our classes. Worship at Crowton is led by Miss Hill, our teachers, members of the NCK clergy and KS2 Ethos Group. We ensure that all children are encouraged to respond and reflect to enable them to internalise key messages from the Bible. Worship is intended to be accessible for everyone, for the teachers and for the children alike. We aim to bond our school family and make our worship the most important time of the day. As a Church of England school, we work closely with our church. Our relationship with Crowton Church is very important to us and we are proud to belong to the family of the church here in Crowton.

Collective Worship must be according to the rites, practices and principles of the Church of England. Our central aims of collective worship (as detailed in the Diocesan guidelines) are to:

• Enable children and staff to explore and celebrate the differences and diversity found in the variety of forms of worship in the Anglican Christian tradition.

• Lead the school community to the ‘threshold of worship’ in order for them to make an informed choice about their own involvement and to consider their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

• Seek to deepen and widen the experience of those of ‘faith’ and encourage those of ‘no faith’ so that they begin to feel for themselves something of what it means to worship.

• Use celebration, silence, stilling, reflection, contemplation, meditation, prayer, song, symbols and imagery as vehicles for worship and spiritual growth.

• Provide opportunities for the whole school community to address God directly through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit through acknowledging his presence, reflecting upon his character and giving Him praise and honour.

• Use a vocabulary of worship that encourages the whole school community to attend, participate and lead worship.

• Encourage all present to explore their own beliefs and understanding of God within a Christian framework by learning more about the Christian faith and by encountering Christ through worship.

• Raise awareness through reflection of the ultimate questions of life relating to matters of faith.

• Reaffirm, strengthen and practise key Christian values and celebrate each unique individual member of the school community as made in the image of God.

• Nurture and encourage respect and care for God's created world by promoting a positive attitude to environmental issues locally, nationally and globally.

• Seek to provide opportunities for spiritual, social and moral development that is characterised be feelings such as awe, wonder, being uplifted, elation, appreciation, gratitude, respect, and reverence.

• Develop a sense of community within the school, the locality, (e.g. local church) and foster the sense of being part of a wider community though the celebration of achievements, festivals and special occasions.

• Foster a concern for the needs of others.