Our Collective Worship

Our daily act of Collective Worship is BLESSED!

B Biblical 

L  Liturgical

E Ecumenical

S Seasonal

S Symbolic

E Eucharistic

D Diverse

B – All acts of collective worship in our school contain Christian elements and teaching – the Bible and Bible stories retold at an appropriate level, feature regularly in worship. 

L – Liturgical refers to the structure of worship.  Our collective worship is best described as gathering, engaging and responding.  The gathering uses familiar responses such as “The Lord be with you” “and also with you”. 

E– The Anglican Church is an Ecumenical Church and in the same way Church schools can draw freely on worship materials from other Churches.  Materials from the World Church, particularly songs and prayers, are also used.

S– The round of the Church year – beginning in Advent – passes through special festival seasons which tell the Christian story over the pattern of the year.   We plan our worship themes around the great festivals of Christmas and Easter, and also include other special days and celebrations, linking with St. Andrews Church for example for our Harvest Service.

S– We use symbols and symbolism to prepare our worship space whether this is in class or in the hall.  This includes the use of crosses and candles as well as colours which represent the current liturgical colour of the church calendar. 

E- Our vicar leads us in a Eucharist service each half term.  We also teach about the Eucharist at an age appropriate level.

D – Worship is a rich experience which takes many forms from quiet meditative reflection to exuberant celebration.  We draw on many different worship styles and resources to give pupils a generous diet of worship experiences, including weekly worship led by our vicar and visiting groups such as GENR8.

Values for Collective Worship

Our collective worship uses our school values as a theme each half term.  Our children are able to explain why these values are so important and many can share examples of how these values have helped them both inside and outside of school.

When we last reviewed our vision and values, children were asked which values they felt were the most important for us here at Abbots Ripton Church of England Primary School.

These were the values which were decided upon by the children:

• Love/Agape (which they felt was the most important value and so should shine through all other values)
• Respect
• Peace
• Hope
• Faithfulness
• Perseverance
• Compassion
• Thankfulness
• Courage
• Forgiveness
• Generosity/Service
• Justice
• Trust & Truthfulness

These values are the focus for our Collective Worship.

We share an overview of each of these themes with parents in our newsletters so that they can support the children in reflecting on living by these values.

We also hold a Eucharist Service once every term in school and parents are welcome to join us for this service.  The dates are published on our school calendar at the start of term. We follow the Church of England's liturgical year and celebrate some of the key festivals over the year; harvest, Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.

Prayer within the school day

The whole school prayer is beautifully displayed in the school hall and is said during each daily Collective Worship. We also have a class prayer which links closely to our vision: 

Dear God,

Please help us together, to learn for life, achieve our best and grow in faith.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

Our School Prayer

Dear Lord,

All together we are Abbots Ripton School

Bless each one of us this day.

Bring joy to our lives.

Open our hearts to peace

Together we pray to you our Father

Stand by us as we grow.

May we:

Reflect your goodness

In all that we do.

Protect the world around us and

Take care of your creation.

Our family and friends we trust to your care

Now and forever we say