We place Christ at the centre of all we do and say and therefore we believe that Collective Worship helps us all to build our relationship with Jesus and come to know him better.
All that we do in school is centred on the person of Jesus Christ who is our Way, Truth and Life and we believe worship in our school names and celebrates His presence in our lives and is an integral part of school life and central to the Catholic tradition.
Worship takes on many forms in our school but is always concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action, to God’s invitation to enter into relationship, made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
Collective Worship is an integral part of school life and central to the Catholic tradition.
Collective worship takes into account the religious and educational needs of all who share in it:
- Those who form part of the worshipping community in church;
- Those for whom school may be their first and only experience of church;
- Those from other Christian traditions – or none;
- Those from other faith backgrounds.
The Aims of Collective Worship:
We believe that Collective Worship in our school aims to provide opportunity for all pupils and staff:
- To contemplate something of the mystery of God
- To reflect on spiritual and moral issues
- To explore their own beliefs
- To respond to and celebrate life
- To experience a sense of belonging and develop community spirit
- To develop a common ethos and shared values
- To enrich religious experience
- To grow in liturgical understanding and development
- To reinforce prayers which are part of the Catholic tradition
- To reinforce positive attitudes
- To participate fully
- To take time out ‘to wonder at’, ‘to come to terms with’ and ‘to give worth to.’
Collective Worship in our school:
Collective worship is celebrated as a whole school on a Monday morning to share the ‘Scripture of the Week’ and is rooted in the teachings of the Gospel from the previous Sunday.
Pray and worship is celebrated daily as a class group and in Key Stage Two, pupils are encouraged to plan, prepare and lead a liturgical act of worship.
Over a period of time, staff offer children a range of opportunities and experiences, using for example:
- Spontaneous prayer
- Music and song
- Use of images, pictures, posters, PPP
- Silence
- Meditation
- Scripture
- Movement, gesture, dance
- Traditional prayers
- Litanies
- Objects e.g. crosses, Rosaries, candles, oil, holding prayer crosses, mirrors etc.
When we pray and worship together we know our community is growing in faith, love, understanding and compassion.
Mass – Mass is a very important part of our school life, as a school this we celebrate with our parish on a Thursday morning with classes visiting each week. We also celebrate Holy Days of Obligation. We are look forward to each class attending mass each week where the children write and lead the parish in the Prayers of Intercession, the music and the offertory. Parents are warmly invited to celebrate these Masses with us. Occasionally there may a funeral mass so we may not be able to attend each week.
Classroom Worship – each week we have child led worship day where children across our whole school plan their own class collective worship. Children are encouraged to do so in a variety of creative ways using a variety of creative resources. Every week, as a school, we celebrate class collective worship through music. Music is varied each week – some weeks focusing on contemporary worship songs and others on more traditional hymns. Liturgical dance is also a popular way to pray during our class worship through music days. We believe it is important and beneficial for the children to experience a wide a beautiful variety of music to enhance their prayer life. Jesus welcomed children and used them as models of faith for his followers and we try to do the same.
Family Collective Worship – Families are welcomed to various acts of Collective Worship throughout the year, particularly during Lent and Advent when we invite families in to share in Stay and Pray sessions with their children. During Lent and Advent each class also learns a liturgical dance to tell a story, where again, families are invited to come in to join in with this celebration.
Retreats – Every term our staff are invited to take part in a staff retreat where they are given the opportunity to nurture their own spirituality and faith. Staff then lead pupil retreat days in their classroom allowing children a day to grow in faith and to explore their faith in new ways.
See below for our Christ the King weekly worship timetable:
