Collective Worship at St. Mary's

Collective worship at St Mary's is motivational and uplifting. As a strong heartbeat of our school, collective worship is a highly valued, rich and integral part of our school day that teaches us to live well together, celebrating festivals, events and achievements.

“In Church of England schools, collective worship is seen as more than a daily ‘awe and wonder’ moment… This form of encounter through worship should be truly welcoming, inclusive and exemplifying the principles of Christian hospitality. This is an approach that seeks to meet the needs of all, wherever they may be on their journey of faith and belief.” (Church of England)

Inclusive, Invitational and Inspiring

Inclusive, invitational and inspiring acts of worship enable children and adults, of Christian, other faith, or none, to encounter faith, explore big questions and develop their sense of spirituality through experiences of prayer, stillness, worship and reflection. Children and adults respect what each member of the school family brings to and takes from collective worship.

Children and adults reflect on spiritual, moral and philosophical issues through a carefully planned sequence of worship themes that visit and revisit our Christian vision and values, Bible stories and other Christian traditions throughout the liturgical calendar of the Christian year. Learning about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the Christian belief in the Trinitarian nature of God and the big story of the Bible in RE lessons and collective worship helps children and adults to understand what it is to live out our school’s Christian vision and values.

Worship enables children to understand that Christianity is a global religion and that Christians worship in a variety of ways around the world. In sharing their knowledge and first hand experiences of other religions and traditions, children understand that Christianity shares values with other world faiths.

To ensure that children understand key messages, worship themes are chosen carefully to link with the children’s own lived experience, their academic learning, the school’s Christian vision and associated Christian values of ambition, belonging, courage and discovery.  Collective worship also engages the children by making connections to world issues, events and courageous advocacy.

Offering opportunities for children to reflect on moral values such as compassion, thankfulness, justice, respect, forgiveness and reconciliation; and to develop virtues such as resilience, honesty, generosity and integrity help to develop character and contribute to academic progress.

Partnership with St. Mary's Church

Our Church is at the heart of our community and congregating as a whole school at St. Mary's Church enhances worship and spiritual development for our children, staff and families at key points of the liturgical and school calendars.

We have a weekly church service that is led by Reverend Paul, Reverend Jacky or Miss Blakey (Children and Families Worker).  The children at East Street have this service in the church itself whilst the service at Boston Avenue is held in the hall.

Reflection and Prayer

Place and time for prayer and reflection is highly valued at St. Mary's. Members of the worship committee (the 'Young Pilgrims') assist the RE Lead in monitoring these areas to ensure that they are inviting, suitably resourced and reflect worship and curriculum topic themes. Everyone is invited to connect with, reflect upon and share the messages that personally resonate with them.

Reflection and prayer focus highly in our collective worship. The school community is very familiar with the The Lord’s Prayer and have learnt how to sign it with the help of Miss Blakey. In class, there are three prayers that are said each day - one first thing in the morning (our School Prayer), a lunchtime prayer and a prayer at the end of the day.  These prayers are displayed in classrooms.

Prayer is invitational with children and adults invited to listen, read, recite and reflect, making the prayer their own by saying ‘Amen’ should they wish to.