“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs” (Psalm 100, v2)

Our Collective Worship is highly valued and a specified time in the school day where the whole school community gathers together to honour God.  It provides an opportunity for our school community to arrive in worship with the right attitude, engage with our own spirituality and Biblical teachings and leave feeling refreshed and inspired.

For us, worship is the ‘heartbeat’ of the school day.  It is a time when all can come together to be still and find quietness to reflect on our own spirituality, values and place in the world.

Collective worship gives the whole school community the opportunity to:

• Engage in an act of community
• Express praise and thanksgiving to God
• Reflect on the character of God and on the teachings of Christ through Biblical texts
• Affirm Christian values and attitudes
• Celebrate special times in the Christian calendar
• Experience and respond to Anglican traditions and practices
• Explore the big questions of life and respond to national events
• Foster respect and deepen spiritual awareness
• Be still and reflect
• Share each other’s joys and challenges

Collective Worship is inclusive in that it welcomes those of Christian faith, other faiths or none.  It recognises the collectivity of all participants, making no assumption that all have the same beliefs and values.   

Each adult and pupil will experience worship that is truly welcoming, inclusive and exemplifying the principles of Christian hospitality.

Collective worship therefore will be:

·   Inclusive – Our acts of worship recognise that pupils and staff come from homes of different faith backgrounds as well as no faith backgrounds, so it will be inclusive of, and fully accessible to all.  Care will be taken to ensure that language used by those facilitating worship avoids assuming faith of those participating, listening or watching.

·   Invitational – In our acts of worship, there is no compulsion to ‘do anything’. Rather, worship will provide the opportunity to engage whilst allowing the freedom of those of different faiths and those who profess no religious faith to be present and to engage with integrity. Pupils and adults will only be invited to pray and sing if they wish to do so.

·   Inspiring – By asking and discussing big questions about who we are and what we do in worship we hope to motivate pupils and adults into action. There will be opportunities to think, reflect and ponder on their and the wider community’s behaviour and actions.

In accordance with legislation an act of Worship happens daily at Woodchurch.  This can be either together in school or at All Saints Church, or as a class group. 

Our worship usually follows a weekly pattern:

On Mondays the whole school meet together and the Head of School introduces the theme for the week. The theme is explored through bible stories, scripture and prayer.

On Tuesdays the whole school meets together once again for a choral celebration of the week’s theme. Singing is important to us here at Woodchurch and our school community enjoys engaging with the weekly theme through singing and prayer. 

On Wednesdays we welcome visitors into worship, this is either led by the Open the Book team or we visit Rev. Sue in All Saints Church. The Open the Book team, share Bible stories  with the children in a way that is fun, interactive and memorable. Rev Sue, leads our worship and focuses on our school vision and values. 

On Thursdays, teachers lead their own worship in class. This allows the pupils to engage with the theme in a very personal and specific way and allows pupils the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the message for the week.  

On Fridays, the whole school comes together once again, to reflect and celebrate the achievements of the week. We invite our families to join us to this act of worship. 

Our pupils are regularly involved in leading whole worship sessions or parts of each one.  Pupils enjoy this experience and treat this opportunity with maturity and commitment. Pupils are also involved in the gathering and sending sections of each worship session, sharing bible readings, sharing their own thoughts and reflections and in leading prayers.