Collective Worship Curriculum Statement

Intent

At Pilsley C of E Primary School our aim is for collective worship to reflect the traditions of the Church of England, enabling children to develop an understanding of Anglican worship and practice and embed this in their daily lives. Collective worship sessions celebrate our school PRAISE values: Perseverance, Respect, Achievement, Independence, Service and Enthusiasm. These values thread through all aspects of school life. Through considered collective worship sessions, we strive to nurture children’s spiritual education. We encourage them to make time to reflect and wonder, celebrate and respond to God; to consider their opinions, actions and feelings and those of others. We ask them to think about themselves as individuals and how they can impact on their community and on the wider world; recognising the positive contributions we can all make. At Pilsley, fostering a sense of community is central to our aims; encouraging the children in the spirit of Service to care for one another, the school and wider community; celebrating difference and diversity.

Implementation

Our daily act of Collective Worship is led by teachers, pupils and members of the local church. Children have regular opportunities to demonstrate the values of Enthusiasm and Service by participating in collective worship and to helping to plan collective worship and church services as part of their class or the PRAISE team.

Collective worship sessions are planned to be invitational, reflective and engaging. Provision is considered to ensure all pupils to benefit without compromising their own beliefs.

We use the Imaginor 'Roots and Fruits' materials to ensure worship sessions are rooted in the bible and reflect the Church of England Liturgical Calendar. Collective worship sessions follow a framework of Welcome, Learning, Reflecting and Responding. Prayers and singing are key elements of worship sessions and link to the worship theme. Sessions include quotes and questions to encourage deeper thinking, photographs and posters, stories, poems and art, to prompt response and enquiry, prayers and guided reflections. Fruits from the Roots – provides ideas to develop the theme of the worship throughout the week beyond collective worship sessions.

Each half term Collective worship sessions are linked by a specific Christian value. Themes include:  Generosity, Compassion, Courage, Forgiveness, Friendship, Respect, Thankfulness, Trust, Perseverance, Justice, Service and Truthfulness. To support and extend our thinking about each value, we use resources from Church of England Schools Worship Workshop and the Cornerstones Assembly Programme. This enables our worship programme to explore British values, environmental and topical issues and to celebrate significant figures and their contributions to human thought and development which illustrate the theme. At the end of each term, we hold a service in a local church. Parents are and the wider community invited to this and also to our Celebration events throughout the year.

In line with the Church of England Church Schools Guidance, we aim to provide worship sessions which give pupils and school staff the opportunity to:

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

 Impact

At Pilsley in all areas of school life we set high expectations about pupil’s behaviour and we encourage children to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects our school values at all times. How children interact with each other and live out these values throughout the school day, coupled with their responses and level of engagement, provides a good insight into the impact of collective worship sessions at Pilsley.

In order to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of collective worship, pupil’s feelings about sessions are gauged through use of pupil feedback. This ensures worship can reflect children’s thoughts and ideas. Children are included in planning sessions to ensure collective worship remains interesting and relevant to them. Feedback from staff and visitors also feeds into the planning cycle to encompass their thoughts and contributions.