Collective worship involves all members of our school sharing time together in quiet moments of reflection to celebrate life and to show reverence to God. Everyone takes an active part in worship time; although parents do have a right to withdraw their child from participation should they choose to do so.

Every day, we schedule quiet moments for prayer; we have a special school prayer, as well as prayers for lunchtime and home time. We have daily assemblies led by teachers, children and special visitors; the leaders will invite everyone to join them in quiet moments of reflection too. Children are particularly keen to say a spontaneous prayer at the end of the assembly. We light a candle and dim the lights which help to create a spiritual ambience which parents and governors enjoy too. We sing hymns and reflect on our lives, to show our thankfulness towards God.

Most of our assemblies are held in our hall, but sometimes we go to the church or even hold them outside! We also visit different places of worship, such as the Hindu and Sikh temples in Leicester; these help us to understand how other faith groups worship.

Weekly Worship

We use  suggestions from the Diocesan Board of Education when planning worship themes, which we adapt for our children and the posters we create are displayed in all rooms to reinforce the key messages of the assemblies. We always have a Christian value that links our weekly worship, with clear aims and Biblical references to help children understand the language of worship. 

We are very fortunate to work with an amazing team of clergy from across our cluster. They visit school when they can, and during lockdown they have join us every week via zoom. This has enabled all children, staff and families to link in and enjoy stories, songs, music, video clips, Bible readings, prayer and aspects of the Trinity to help celebrate the connection we have as a wider community.

Worship is planned to mirror the aims and values for the week.

I do my best to make my weekly assemblies as interesting as possible; occasionally one of my light-sabers or some LEGO makes it into the re-enactment of a Bible story, as we learn about how much we are loved by God, and how that should inspire is to be more loving with one another. (Our retelling of these stories always feature the children in starring roles!) I’m delighted to invite the school family into our church buildings a couple of times a term, and I’m always proud of how thoughtful, kind and funny our children and staff are.

Open the Book

Every fortnight, we enjoy a special assembly called ‘Open the Book’, led by members of the local community.

They use Bible stories as inspiration and link their assembly with our weekly theme. They then read and act out stories and often encourage the children to join them in acting these stories out as they are narrated.

The children always enjoy the opportunities they get to dress up and narrate parts of these stories together!

Activities have presented a challenge during lockdown, but our wonderful team have adapted beautifully to virtual presentations which has again enabled all our partnership schools to join us.

Hymn Practice

Time to learn Hymns (which are another form of worship) and discuss their meaning, is built in to our weekly schedule. Everyone looks forward to the teacher's singing demos!

Assembly Leaders

Older children plan, prepare and lead an assembly each week. They enjoy making PowerPoints, choosing the hymn and hold quizzes to support their evaluation. They are always keen to know what others think of their work! They encourage children of all ages to get involved with role play and have lots of fun encouraging them to make up dialogue. They write or say their own prayers and often have a story or reading from the Bible. These assemblies are very memorable and everyone looks forward to them.

We also have our special worship leaders who monitor and reflect upon our spiritual collective worship time. They help to set up the worship table and organise the music, books and seating arrangements. They are well-organised and do a great job.

Special Assembly

Each Friday, we invite parents and families to join us for a special assembly. These assemblies are always very memorable and are a special way of sharing with families what we have been doing each week. We sing songs and say prayers as well as sharing learning and celebrating the children’s achievements together with awards. Some of these awards include:

Merit Certificate

These are awarded to children who have worked hard and produced exceptionally good work. They link to Christian values such as perseverance, creativity, and wisdom.

Hand of Friendship Certificate

Hand of Friendship certificates are awarded for doing something special to help or showing an act of kindness without being prompted. They link to Christian values such as friendship, kindness, and love.

Special Events Award

These are awarded to children in recognition for those who have worked hard and made great achievements in sporting or music events, either individually or as teams. This links to Christian values such as koinonia, creativity, and friendship.

The Rainbow Llama

We present our colourful, cuddly llama to one child each week to celebrate how they have modelled our weekly Christian Value. Our children love this award as they get to care for the llama for the entire week.

At the end of this school year we give thanks to God:

For all the teaching and learning that has taken place in our school, both in and out of the classroom,

For the talents and gifts that have been shared and the challenges that have been faced during the last school year;

For the burdens that have been lifted and the hurts that have been healed;

For the respect and care that has been given.

We give thanks for the friendships that have been made and for those that have grown.

For the hope that has lifted our hearts on the dark days and for the love that has kept us going.

We give thanks for the community that we are, and we ask you Lord to Bless all of Year 6 as they move to their new schools in the autumn. Pour out your love on them and may your Spirit inspire them with confidence and calmness.

Bless our families too as we take holidays in the coming weeks and may our time together leave us with happy memories to cherish.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen