We Start the Day Together
Our School Day starts at 8.50am in the Hall with a Collective Act of Worship. A child will light a candle to remind us that God is with us and then sing a song together. We like singing; we enjoy the feeling of togetherness that it gives us and we’re especially keen on songs with actions! We have a theme for our assemblies that changes each term. We have 12 themes that we look at on rotation, these are: Generosity, Compassion, Courage, Forgiveness, Friendship, Respect, Thankfulness, Trust, Perseverance, Justice, Service and Truthfulness. These fit in well with our School’s Community Values which form the basis of how we behave in School. Assemblies may involve a short interactive talk, a story with a moral, a short video clip, a drama, a quiz or an illustration. All will involve a short period of collective or individual reflection and a prayer.
This year (2024/25) our themes will be:
- Term 1: Generosity
- Term 2: Compassion
- Term 3: Courage
- Term 4: Forgiveness
- Term 5: Friendship
- Term 6: Respect
We also sometimes send home an activity sheet for parents to use with their children for each theme.
On Mondays we ‘Open the Book’ with members of our local faith community.
Tuesday is ‘Newsday Tuesday’ when a member of staff shares a news bulletin style Collective Worship with child-friendly news stories that are local, national and international. Animal and space stories feature quite heavily! We also sing a little more on this day than usual, as we learn new songs or prepare for upcoming Christian festivals.
Wednesday’s Collective Worship is our main assembly to explore our termly theme.
On Thursday children meet in their Class or Key Stage which enables them to explore a theme that is more closely aimed at their age group.
On Friday it is our ‘Well Done’ assembly where the achievements of two or more children from each class are celebrated, House Points may be totalled and the children from each class choose a ‘Star of the Week’ from their peers and share the reason with the rest of the school. Other achievements, from in or out of school, such as swimming, music or sports awards may also be applauded.
Parents are welcome to attend any of our Acts of Collective Worship except the Thursday Class worship, but parents most usually attend the Friday ‘Well Done’ assembly – especially if their child is receiving an award! We let parents know with a ‘Well Done Postcard’ the day before if this is the case.
Collective Worship finishes with the candle being extinguished by a child whose Birthday it is (or the nearest if their Birthday falls at a weekend or during the holidays) and at 9.15am children return to their classrooms ready to enjoy their learning.