Collective Worship

Collective Worship in our school enables every child and adult to flourish and to live life in all its fullness. It helps educate for wisdom, knowledge and skills, hope and aspiration, dignity and respect, and develops a sense of community and understanding of living well together.

Our Collective Worship policy draws on guidance from the Church of England and strengthens and supports the Christian ethos of our school whilst exploring our vision and our values: fairness, kindness, respect, service and forgiveness. Our worship reflects the variety of traditions found in the Church of England and will recognise and follow the Christian liturgical year.

At Radwinter, worship is not simply a statutory duty: the daily Christian act of Collective Worship is the heartbeat of our school, central to our ethos and vision of ‘together-ness’ and ‘fullness’. It makes an important contribution to the overall spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the whole school community so that everyone can embrace life in all its fullness.

Collective Worship reflects an act which is special or separate from ordinary school activities. It is a time when the school comes together to worship God, consider spiritual and moral issues, develop community spirit and promote a common ethos of shared values.

Collective Worship at Radwinter is:

Inclusive – Our acts of worship recognise that pupils and staff come from homes of different faith backgrounds as well as no faith backgrounds, so it will be inclusive of, and fully accessible to all. Care will be taken to ensure that language used by those facilitating worship avoids assuming faith of those participating, listening or watching.

Invitational – In our acts of worship, there is no compulsion to ‘do anything’. Rather, worship will provide the opportunity to engage whilst allowing the freedom of those of different faiths and those who profess no religious faith to be present and to engage with integrity. Pupils and adults will only be invited to pray if they wish to do so.

Inspiring – By asking and discussing big questions about who we are and what we do in worship we hope to motivate pupils and adults into action. There will be opportunities to think, reflect and ponder on their and the wider community’s behaviour and actions.

Collective Worship Structure

Everyday, we gather together as a school to worship. Our Collective Worship structure use aspects of Anglican liturgy to create a framework for worship e.g. gather, engage, respond, send.

Gather: Entrance music is played and an ‘awe and wonder’ image is sometimes displayed. Then a shared greeting is read, followed by the lighting of the candle to invite God’s presence into the worship.

Engage: A hook image/prop/question/story is used to provoke discussion and biblical scripture and teachings linked to the theme is shared.

Respond: A period of reflection for pupils to contemplate on their own thoughts, feelings and beliefs with question and discussion prompts.

Send: Sung worship is used as a time of closure and reflection before a prayer is shared, the sending is read and the candle is blown out.

Windows, Mirrors and Doors

We use the imagery of Windows, Mirrors and Doors to think about what we see, how it makes us feel and what action we can take.

Windows = Giving children opportunities to learn and be aware of the world in new ways when new possibilities or perspectives are 'opened up' through the use of drama, images, poetry, video clips. Children will be guided in their reflections: What are we looking at? What can you see? How do our vision and values link to this? What is our 'now' moment?
Mirrors = Giving children opportunities to reflect on how the Bible story or stimulus has resonated with, or challenged, them using 'searching questions' or a guided meditation as a focus for reflection: How does this make you feel? Have you experienced this? Is it a 'wow' or 'ow' moment? How does this link to British Values and our school values? What does this learning mean for my understanding of others and of God?
Doors = Opportunities for children to respond, moving onto a new path or situation and living out their beliefs and the vision and values of the school. Doing something as a creative form or expression so that they are learning to live life to all its fullness by putting into action what has been discussed: What's the impact? What questions have I got and how will I get the answers? What action can I take? What can I 'vow' to do?

We use the language of ‘nows, wows, ows, and vows’ to develop our spirituality by thinking about what is happening now, is it a wow or ow moment and what vow we can take as global citizens to help move forward.

Throughout the week, we rotate through 5 different styles of collective worship, each with a different focus:

- Faith foundations = Collective Worship aligned with the Christian Calendar
- Roots and Fruits = Biblical teachings surrounding Jesus’ life, Christian values, parables and miracles
- Harmony and Hope = A time to come together to engage in sung worship and feel the benefits of being a chorus
- Flourish Together = Wellbeing and Citizenship Collective Worship focusing on nurturing mental health needs and preparing pupils for being a global citizenship
- Vision and Values = A ‘zoomed in’ focus on a particular part of the vision or a value followed by a celebration of how staff and pupils have displayed the school’s vision and values through their actions

Throughout the year, we attend services at our local church and build links with our community by having guest speakers come in to lead collective worship. We also have regular worships led by Open the Book and Saffron Walden Assembly team.

Radwinter School Prayer

Dear God,
Help us grow and learn together, embracing life in all its fullness. May we support each other with kindness, celebrate our unique gifts, and serve our community with love. Guide us in wisdom and compassion as we journey together in faith.

Amen.

Radwinter School Creed:

This is our school.

Let peace dwell here,

Let the rooms be full of contentment.

Let love abide here, love of one another,

Love of mankind, love of life itself and love of God.

Let us remember,

That as many hands build a house,

So many hearts build a school.

Amen, Amen.