Collective Worship
At St Paul's we are educated for life with the love of God and Christian values at the heart of our school. The daily activity of Collective Worship is therefore viewed as an integral and important part of the school day. The nine Fruits of the Spirit are often referred to, as is Jesus' teaching as shown through the Bible. We also hold the learning of other faiths and religious celebrations in high regard, and value what they offer in educating our pupils about our diverse community. We are committed to respecting each other’s faith and culture, showing tolerance and understanding regardless of pupils’ beliefs.
Our collective worship is typically led by Mr Edmonds, Miss Luker and Mr Rylett, the vicar at St Paul's Church. Our music assemblies are led by Mrs Bartholomew. There are times when other members of staff and groups of pupils are involved or lead Collective Worship.
We aim to provide a variety of worship experiences for the children. Our current schedule is as follows:
In addition to this, visiting groups and individuals are welcomed into the school regularly to lead worship. We also take the opportunity of being together as a school to share about exciting developments within the curriculum or the world in general.
What have we been learning about in Collective Worship?
Summer 2019
We kicked off our summer collective worships reflecting on the Easter story. 6F shared their learning on the stations of the resurrection. 3R have led collective worship choosing to think about issues affecting our world including the fire in Notre Dame Cathedral, the situation in Sri Lanka and the climate protest. Reception have also led a collective worship on the parable of the sower.
Mr Rylett joined the children’s faith group in the summer term to get their feedback on his sessions with us! Mr Rylett was relieved to hear the children were enjoying his sessions and could recall many of the stories he has shared with the school. The children have also made suggestions of things they might like to see included in collective worships in the future.
Spring 2019
We have had another busy term and covered many areas in our collective worship sessions.
Mr Rylett has got his guitar out and taught us a new song. He has also continued to journey through key stories in the Old Testament helping us to see the Christian idea of the bible having a ‘big picture’. Some of the stories he has covered include:
The Story of Leah – we are all loved
The Story of Joseph - repairing friendships
The Story of Passover – God listens to our prayers
We have also found out more about the life of Jesus and some of his parables. The Easter story was also a key part of our collective worship this term.
As well collective worships led by staff, we have also enjoyed collective worships from classes and groups like the eco-captains. Some of the topics chosen by the pupils include:
Overcoming difficulties
British Values eg school council’s collective worship on the rule of law
Environmental issues like reducing waste and fair trade fortnight
Our spring collective worships finished with Year 3 taking part in the Easter service. They told the story of Palm Sunday through drama and readings.
Autumn Term 2018
We covered many different themes to help our pupils understand themselves and the world around them. Some of the highlights have included finding out more about our school vision and values, understanding British values, Harvest Festival celebrations in the church and Chrsitmas.
Having said goodbye to Mr Coupland last academic year, we were delighted to welcome Mr Rylett into our school in October. Mr Rylett has quickly become part of our school family; the pupils and staff have enjoyed his involvement in our church services and Collective Worships. He has even taught us all a new song!
Our church services have continued to be an important part of our life here at St Paul's. Year 5 took a leading role in the Harvest Festival, sharing poems and prayers. Through our connection to the church, the school community donated many items to Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness. The St Paul's singers & school orchestra were fabulous during the service as well!
Christmas is always a wonderful time of year at our school. This year we had:
The Reception and Year 1 Nativity - It's a party
The evening church celebration including the St Paul's singers, the orchestra and for the first time ever involvement from Year 2
The morning church service led very creatively by Year 4
We also shared the learning we did on Christmas theme day, building up a nativity scene on the stage with our artwork.
