When does Collective Worship happen?
At Hardwicke, we hold a Collective Worship every day at 10:25am. The staff take it in turns to deliver Collective Worships and all staff come together to watch and engage with children during the worships.
What does Collective Worship look like?
Each Worship follows the same structure:
The children are welcomed to the worship through the lighting of the three candles with our welcome words: We come together in the presence of: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, Amen.
The adult leader will then introduce which of our Christian values we will be focusing on today. Each half-term we look at a focus value, but each week we think about and act upon all of our Christian values.
The adult leader, sometimes with the support of the Year 6 Worship Leaders, will then lead the worship focusing on learning, reflecting upon what we have learnt and then responding. When we respond, we think about what the learning has taught us that we can take forward into our weeks ahead.
We then sing a song together, either based upon our value, vision or learning that has taken place.
The Worship leader or adult leader will then read a prayer which children are invited to join in with by being still and listening. If they would like to make the prayer their own, they are invited to join in with ‘Amen’ at the end, or they are given the option to be still and reflect upon the learning that has taken place today.
The worship then ends with our closing words: May the love of God hold us, Jesus help us learn, and the Holy Spirit live in us, Amen. The three candles are blown out during these special words.
What is the role of the Worship Leaders?
The teachers in the school are in charge of planning and delivering whole class worships and Spirituality sessions. They will ensure that new learning takes place whilst re-capping children’s knowledge about teachings and parables from the Bible.
Each year, six Year 6 children are interviewed and chosen to become a Worship Leader too. These children consistently show our Christian values and live out of school vision. They support the adults in leading worship by acting out dramas, reading prayers, welcoming children into worship and supporting other children in thinking deeper and responding to learning that has taken place during the worship.