Collective Worship & Spirituality
The Church’s vision (Church of England Vision for Education, 2016) to enhance the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and social development of children has been emphasised through four basic elements: Wisdom, Hope, Community and Dignity.
Church School Distinctiveness – The Church of England sees its church schools “as being at the centre of its mission to the nation”. Every church school, therefore, will have the support of the clergy and foundation governors in their local parish who will work in partnership with the Head Teacher and staff to develop and promote the school’s Christian foundation.
Our vision states we, ‘care about learning (listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise, Proverbs 19:20) and care about each other’ (Mark 12:31 “love your neighbour”). We have linked our vision to the bible story ‘Mary, Martha and Lazarus (New Testament Luke 10: 25–37) which we discuss with the children on a regular basis. This guides our curriculum, teaching and learning and leadership of the school.
- To provide an education of choice that allows learners to critically explore issues of faith, belief and God.
- To encourage those of Christian faith, of other faiths and of no faith to engage with what it is to be human.
- To provide an education of excellence rooted in Christian values.
- To give an understanding of the Christian faith and the customs and practice of the Anglican Church.
At our school we experience faith through:
Having a daily act of collective worship as opposed to assembly. During worship we read stories. Sometimes these stories are from the Bible and sometimes they are from other faiths or they are simply stories that help us explore a value or a moral. In worship we sing songs and hymns many of which parents / carers sang when they were little and some of which are new or written more recently. During worship we also have the opportunity for reflection and quiet thought. Worship is led by pupils from Year 6.
Having a school prayer. Our prayer is very important to us and we all enjoy saying our prayer together. Some of us hope that with lots of voices saying the prayer together – it will travel far and be heard by many.
Being part of our church. We are linked very closely with St. George’s Church. We go to the church for lots of visits and events (Harvest, Christmas, Easter, and Community Services) or as part of our RE work.
Having a well designed RE (Religious Education) Curriculum. Our RE Curriculum has been carefully designed to teach about a range of faiths including Christianity. RE is taught in every year group. Children also have opportunities to discuss our different values and what they mean to them; they are encouraged to record these discussions within each class’s Reflection Journal.
Celebrating as often as possible. Come and see our different values which are displayed around our school! We love celebrating and find every possible reason to do so. Every Friday we have a celebration service and we have a very special end of Year 6 award too.
Spending time with Reverend Steve and Our Open the Book Team. Steve is our local vicar and we enjoy worshiping with him. Many of our pupil’s families go to the church and attend services which we hold at our school.
Creating a time and place for spiritual reflection. We are currently looking at ways to develop our spiritual garden area at the moment, a space for quiet reflection in our busy fun school. Spiritual development is the development of the non-material element of a human being which animates and sustains us and, depending on our point of view; either ends or continues in some form when we die. It is about the development of a sense of identity, self-worth, personal insight, meaning and purpose. It is about the development of a pupil’s ‘spirit’. Some people may call it the development of a pupil’s ‘soul’; others as the development of ‘personality’ or ‘character’.
