Collective Worship Policy Principal Aims: To promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils To provide an opportunity for pupils to engage in a time of worship To enable pupils to explore their own and other people’s beliefs General Aims: Each of these contributes to the principal aims. 1. To enable pupils to engage in a time of reflection, contemplation and meditation. 2. To enable pupils to explore the choices they make in their relationships with other people and with the environment. 3. To enable pupils to have the opportunity to experience a sense of awe, wonder and gratitude, appreciation and reverence. 4. To celebrate those attitudes and aspects of behaviour held to be of worth within the school community. 5. To enhance the sense of community within the school. 6. To introduce and develop the sense of belonging to a wider community. 7. To heighten aesthetic awareness and celebrate the creativity and achievements of those around them in the school and in the wider world. 8. To enable pupils to share aspects of their own lives and the lives of other people, which give meaning and purpose. 9. To stimulate thoughts and challenge the ideas that pupils hold. Guiding Principles for Collective Worship: Educational Principles: That there is an educational value That there is a relationship to pupils’ experiences That there are links with other areas of school life including the curriculum That they should be properly planned, prepared and executed That they are not for indoctrination or evangelism That they reflect the age and aptitude of the pupils Spiritual Principles: That time is provided for reflection and stillness That the content should enable pupils to enter the spiritual side of life That a distinctive atmosphere and feeling is created That opportunity be allowed for individual and collective responses That time is given for worship Individual and Community Principles: That pupils should be active participants That aspects of life within the school community are explored and celebrated That aspects of the wider community are drawn upon That the context is relevant to the pupils, the school community and the wider community in which they live That the Collective Worship is not according to any denomination That pupils are not made to feel uneasy or their integrity questioned General Principles on Aspects of Content: Music: We use a variety of music for pupils to listen to on entering and leaving collective worship. This creates an atmosphere conducive to worship. It is drawn from recorded sources. Hymns and songs play an integral part in the acts of Collective Worship, they are accompanied by the orchestra and usually contribute to the theme. They are introduced in a way in which all can join together and share a common experience. Pupil performance as groups / individuals is encouraged and takes place on occasions. Time for Reflection: A time for reflection is an important part of Collective Worship. To encourage pupils to engage in personal reflection or a time of stillness, prayers, poems and readings are used. Pupils are helped to understand that the thoughts and ideas contained in these readings represent important ideals to the various authors. Pupils’ own contributions have a relevant part to play here. During this part of an act of Collective Worship, pupils should be made aware that the ideas of others should be treated with respect. Elements of Religions other than Christianity: Elements from religions other than Christianity are used to contribute to the themes, where appropriate. These enable pupils to widen their understanding that the beliefs and practices of people throughout the world, can contribute to their own lives and should be treated with respect. Stories: Stories, contributing to the acts of Collective Worship, are drawn from a wide variety of sources. Stories from the Old and New Testaments, from faiths other than Christianity, from fiction and children’s own writings, all have an important part to play. Festivals and Celebrations: Pupils are assisted to understand that people of different faiths celebrate in a variety of ways and that many of these are inter-related. References are made throughout the year to some of these important festivals. Pupil Participation: Pupils are given the opportunity, on occasion, to participate in acts of Collective Worship. Collective Worship – Parents’ Rights: Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Collective Worship within the school. The school brochure informs parents of this right, i.e: “Collective Worship within the School is in accordance with the 1988 Education Reform Act and the 1993 Education Act.” All children attend an act of worship at some time during the school day. This may be either as a whole school or in a class group. The content of the majority of these acts of worship reflect the broad tradition of Christian belief. Parents have the right to withdraw their child from collective worship. If they wish to do so, they are asked to put their request in writing to the Head Teacher, but they might wish to discuss the matter first. Parental Requests For Their Own Worship: Should parents wish to provide an act of worship for pupils withdrawn from school Collective Worship, they should formally request to do so in writing. The Governing Body will consider each such request. Children Withdrawn From Acts of Collective Worship: Any pupils withdrawn from Collective Worship will be dealt with sensitively. Aspects of “Assembly”: “Assembly” implies those occasions when various groupings of pupils are gathered together, not necessarily for the purposes of Collective Worship. Children withdrawn from Collective Worship will be included, where possible, in those parts of the whole “assembly” where information of a general nature is disseminated. Collective Worship – Teacher Rights: Teachers have the right to withdraw from acts of Collective Worship. To exercise this right, the teacher should discuss this with the Head Teacher and, preferably, confirm it in writing. Teachers may be required to attend that part of the whole “assembly” which does not constitute the act of Collective Worship. Organisation of Acts of Collective Worship: The Head Teacher organises the acts of Collective Worship. Acts of Collective Worship are provided through whole school and class worship, which enables a variety of approaches to be used to give a wide range of experience to the pupils. • Planning: The Head Teacher will produce a termly plan incorporating weekly themes, with daily references to stories/readings. This will be made available to all members of the teaching staff. This will help to ensure that: Staff have opportunities to link in with the themes. Adequate thought is given to the content and form of worship. Staff / visitors are able to make adequate preparation. Festivals and other important events in school life can be integrated into the pattern. • Visitors: The school invites visiting ministers and speakers to assist in leading Collective Worship. This policy will be reviewed annually. Reviewed March 2006 |
