Collective Worship
Collective Worship
Through our Collective Worship sessions, we are provided with the opportunity to spiritually develop. This is a dedicated and time in our school day. Four times a week as a whole school and once a week as a class where pupils also participate in the leading of this special time. Each Spiritual Development time is evaluated by a pupil and their response is added to our ‘evaluation tree' in the main school hall.
During these time slots we gather the All Saints family together, engage in an act of worship, reflect on what has been learnt, decide individually how we can apply this to our own lives and then send a golden promise of how we can try to be an even better person (to shine) up to God . A daily prayer, a choral recital of the school vision and the inviting of the Holy Spirit into our midst is expressed during this time too.
The whole school family attends each spiritual development session and appreciate it as a time for individual reflection, stillness and meditation.
Through our Collective Worship time, pupils extend their awareness of and respect for the beliefs and feelings of those within the school and wider community as well as developing their own spirituality through the carefully structured sessions.
The Global Neighbours Team (a group of pupils representing year groups 2-6 from within the family) lead our Worship sessions once a term. They educate the rest of the school on a specific issue of global injustice and their news sheet produced for everyone to take home advises us on how we can help to take social action and tackle the unjust issue we have been told about.
The Family Trust Christian organisation come into school and lead Spiritual Development once a term.
The school vicar leads Spiritual Development time on a termly basis during which she teaches the school family about how Christians worship in different ways.
We invite as many speakers as possible in to talk at Spiritual Development time as we see these visitors as role models for others, a means of inspiration for the children and a way of keeping our All Saints family highly engaged at this time. If you would like to support in delivering a Worship session please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.
In addition to daily Spiritual Development, the whole school attends St Paul with All Saints Church on at least four occasions during the year to celebrate the beginning of our new school year, Harvest festival, Christmas, Easter and to celebrate our Y6 cohort going to shine at secondary schools. Parents are invited to join us to celebrate and worship on these occasions. They are asked to evaluate these acts of worship in a school comments book.
The children also attend festivals and special school services at Rochester Cathedral during the school year.
Teachers base the content and delivery of their Spiritual Development sessions on the Rochester Diocese Board of Education materials.
Parents have the legal right to withdraw their child from Spiritual Development sessions/ if parents do not wish their child to participate in them they should speak to their child’s Phase Leader or the Headteacher so that alternative arrangements can be put into place.