Collective Worship
Let your light shine
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5 verse 6
Collective Worship is a focal point of each day at Winslow CE school. It is underpinned by our Christian , values – kindness, forgiveness, honesty, respect and love to learn – and Jesus’ teaching of shining our light before others and giving glory to God.
The pattern of Collective Worship is:
Years 1 to 6:
Monday – Whole school worship led by Head Teacher introducing the theme for the week and celebrating achievements
Tuesday – Picture News in classes
Wednesday – Key Stage worship including worship through singing
Thursday – Key Stage worship continuing the theme for the week
Friday – Key Stage worship led by the team from St Laurence Church, Winslow
Reception Children:
Monday – Bible story
Tuesday – Song and prayer
Wednesday – Stilling
Thursday – How do we let our light shine?
Friday – Key Stage church worship
As a Church of England school we follow the liturgical calendar and celebrate each of the Christian festivals. We learn about festivals from other faiths, our world and the environment and British traditions and customs over a 4 year cycle.
Our children are encouraged to participate in our worship. A team of worship leaders help lead collective worship , share our liturgy and Bible readings regularly.
This is a favorite song used during collective worship to help children understand the meaning behind the verse from Matthew 5 verse 16.
Prayer
Our school community is invited to pray both during collective worship and at other times during the school day. Each classroom has a reflection area where children can pause, be still and think about how they can let their light shine.
A prayer basket is available to all and prayers are taken back to St Laurence Church regularly to be blessed.
Collective Worship for our community
As a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, 3 prayer stations were placed around out school. These encouraged people to reflect on trust, hope and love.
Our prayer stations have developed and are currently focused on the ‘I am’ statements of Jesus taught from the gospel of John. They encourage the participant to think about letting their light shine. These will be in position over a 2 year cycle.
During the academic year all classes visit our local church at least twice. They visit as part of their RE topic and for a service which they lead.
Our Collective Worship is evaluated on a regular basis using our Gold Book. All adults are encouraged to give feedback and pupil responses are invited through the Gold Book and pupil voice.
The overwhelming feedback post-Covid was that everyone had missed worship as a whole community and that we wanted to worship through singing again too. However, the most successful elements of our class-based worship from during the pandemic have now been incorporated into our regular pattern of worship. This includes discussing wider aspects of our world through the use of Picture News, the practice of stilling (Contemplation Toolkit) and having the freedom to use outside spaces for worship.