Collective Worship

The Christian foundation of the church school points to worship as a central focus for its ethos.

The Christian foundation of the church school points to worship as a central focus for its ethos. A church school should be a place where pupils experience worship as a quality activity, important to the life of the school and to its religious character. It is one of the means whereby Christian values and principles may be reflected and affirmed, and God will be the focus of worship. The church school is an important part of the work and mission of the parish. The school should have close connections with the local parish and worshipping community, and enjoy its support and encouragement. In the same way, the church school should contribute to the life of the local worshipping community. Worship is, therefore, an area of church school life which presents special opportunities to promote spiritual and religious development. It also has the potential to contribute to faith nurture, providing a means by which all pupils - both those of the faith and those from other backgrounds - may understand more about the Christian faith, while experiencing and learning about worship and what it means to those who take part.

Worship is, therefore, an area of church school life which presents special opportunities to promote spiritual and religious development. It also has the potential to contribute to faith nurture, providing a means by which all pupils - both those of the faith and those from other backgrounds - may understand more about the Christian faith, while experiencing and learning about worship and what it means to those who take part.

Church Schools: the communities they serve

It must be recognised that pupils in church schools come from a wide variety of backgrounds. The school community is a collection of people from different backgrounds and if school worship is to be meaningful, it must be sensitive to this.

Whilst the Christian context will be explicit in church schools, the overall pattern should be collective rather than corporate, as shared beliefs and values cannot be assumed. The use of the term collective is important in that it recognises that pupils and staff will subscribe to a range of beliefs, and that there is a need for the church school to provide opportunities for all to share in worship in a way which make sense to them and is appropriate to their stage of development.

In reality, our schools are being challenged to develop a unique kind of experience. One which is analogous to faith group worship, but which still retains the openness and integrity of learning.

Collective worship should play a central role in the life of a church school and it should reflect the Christian vision, values and ethos of the school. It should therefore:

Be grounded in distinctively Christian teaching

Be inclusive, engaging, inspiring, inclusive and accessible

Be clearly visible in key school documents and on the school website

Be well organised, resourced, planned and delivered

Be effectively monitored and evaluated as part of the school’s cycle of review.

Worship Workshop Worship Workshop is a project created by the National Society, The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) and the Liturgical Commission. It aims to empower and enrich the practice of worship in Church schools. Worship Workshop will help you to create your own patterns of worship around your own themes. Worship Workshop provides prayers, songs, Bible readings and other useful words and ideas which are taken from the liturgy of the Church of England. These can be sorted with Season and Value indexes to make patterns where you can slot stories and other things to go with your themes.

Below, you can download the Diocesan guidance document for Collective Worship