Collective Worship

 “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God. It is He, who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.”

Psalm 100: 1:4 of the Bible 

Worship is a fundamental part of every day life at The John Wesley Church of England Methodist Primary School, and all staff and children are encouraged to come together as a community to worship in a variety of ways whether that's through words, prayer, dance, signing, or just their everyday actions.   It is a child centred (and sometimes child led) time, based on the Bible which  has clear understanding that Jesus came to give us life in all its fullness as well as our using our School Christian Values. 

 

 

For us, worship is the ‘heartbeat’ of the school day. It is a time when all can come together to be still and find quietness to reflect on our own spirituality, values and place in the world.

Collective Worship is inclusive in that it welcomes those of Christian faith, other faiths or none. It recognises the collectively of all participants, making no assumption that all have the same beliefs and values.

 

Collective worship gives the whole school community the opportunity to:

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

 

Daily Worship

Every day, a different member of staff or clergy leads our collective worship it usually follows the following pattern:

• Monday: We meet together as a whole school community. This is led by the Headteacher or in her absence, another member of the Leadership Team. 
• Tuesday: Our class teachers lead class worship along with the Children Worship leaders, introducing the theme for the week through Bible stories and prayer but in a more specifically class and age-related way.
• Wednesday: The whole school joins together once again for Choral/ Praise and Reflection Worship. As an Anglican and Methodist school, worship through singing is very important to us and the weekly theme is explored through hymns and prayer. This is led by Worship Lead 
• Thursday: We gather as a whole school again. During this time, we have Reverend Cathie Aldis-Saunders or Tom Lewis Methodist Community Chaplin lead worship.
• Friday: We celebrate all that has happened during the week as a whole school. We share certificates to children demonstrating our Christian Values throughout the week and reflections from the class Jars of Joy. This is also a day throughout the term a class may share what they have been learning to the rest of the school community.

 

JWS Collective Worship Overview

 

During all of our daily collective worship sessions, we say prayers and sing songs. 

 

Parts of Our Collective Worship

 

We are mindful of the variation in personal spiritual styles and provide a range of creative opportunities including music, silence, symbolism, drama and use of IT.

 

We also celebrate the major Christian festivals throughout the year. Parents are often invited to join us at school with our local Methodist minister and Church of England Vicar. These include the Christmas, Easter and Harvest services.

 

Children Worship Leaders

At The John Wesley Church of England Methodist Primary School, we believe it is important to involve the children in the delivery of our worships so we have a group of children from across the school Year 1 to Year 6 who are our worship leaders. These children regularly welcome the school community to the hall for worships and are involved in leading different aspects of our worship including lighting the candle, reading gathers, sends and prayers and choosing music. 

As a group, they have chosen welcomes and sends to share with the school as well as having written their own they believe are important for our community. 

They have become very keen to lead worships so they have had meetings to discuss different themes and how it can be delivered to then in small groups deliver a worship to the school house groups. This year they have delivered a worship about David and Saul, where they used a science experiment of vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to model the idea of David not exploding and keeping control of his emotions. They have also delivered a worship about Feeding of the 5000, where they read a story and encouraged the rest of the school to join in with different actions for parts of the story. 

 At Christmas, they created a competition for children in the school to create a poster to celebrate Christian Advent. They choose winners from across the school and these posters were then displayed in a daily changing advent calendar in the front window of the school. 

  

 

School Prayer

Our school prayer reflects our Christian values and John Wesley’s rule and is said in Collective Worship. It was written in discussion with children, staff and governors. It is also displayed around the school and children are encouraged to live out the school prayer in all of their interactions.
 
Lord,
May our school be filled with love and friendship.
Let compassion thrive here.
Please guide us with your wisdom and let learning fill our days.
Help us to take every opportunity to serve others.
Help us to be forgiving when we feel wronged.
Be our guide and keep us safe in all that we do.
Lord, make our school a welcoming family and your home too.
Amen 

Withdrawal from Collective Worship

While The John Wesley CEM Primary School is a Church of England Methodist school, we are committed to respecting individual beliefs. Upon entrance to the school, parents are made aware of the Christian basis of our teaching. If parents wish to withdraw their child from Collective Worship then please consult the Headteacher.
 
We celebrate the cultural diversity of all the members of our school and have a cohesive community. Whilst Collective Worship will always reflect the Christian ethos of our school, we respect and acknowledge the variety of religious observances which are represented in our school and within the wider community. We acknowledge too that there are those of no faith who choose to be part of our school community.

For further information, please refer to our Collective Worship Policy:                                                 Policies (Key Information Menu Tab)