Collective Worship
Our Collective Worship Leaders:
All children take part in a daily act of Collective Worship, which is wholly or mainly of a Christian character and can draw upon fables, stories, legends and current affairs. Collective Worship at Stoborough Primary actively promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development. We believe collective worship should engage and and inspire our children and be relevant to their lives. We encourage our pupils to take ownership of collective worship and they regularly lead whole-school and class worship.
What is Collective Worship and why is it important in a church school?
Collective worship is an important part of the life of a church school. It is a time for community, where our school family comes together to reflect and celebrate. It is a time of challenge, where all are encouraged and inspired to wrestle with the 'big questions' of life and relationships. It is a time of intentional spirituality when, in an invitational and inclusive way, members of the school community can experience spirituality through story, prayer, silence, liturgy and song, and equip themselves for the ongoing journey of life.
Collective worship includes prayer, song and reflection. As we enter our times of Whole School Worship, each class brings a lighted candle to symbolise unity and to remind us that in times of worship, we enter the light of God.
Collective worship starts with the assumption that within the school there will be many shades of belief, from committed adherence to differing faiths to strong assertion that there is nothing beyond our physical experience. Many will be unsure of what they believe or will not have even considered these sorts of questions. Collective worship is for everyone, whatever their starting points and world views. Grounded on the Christian foundation of our school, we seek to use the Christian narrative and understanding, from the Bible and Christian teaching, as a springboard for all to consider how we live together and how we each find our own answer to the universal questions humanity has wrestled with over the centuries. It is not about telling people what to believe, but about encouraging them to think, grow and become more confident in who they are and how they understand the world to be.
Each half-term, our worship theme is linked to a Christian value, one of our core school values and our PSHE (Jigsaw) theme. Each week, the children are given the opportunity to explore a question to develop their spirituality.