Church of England schools are committed to offering high quality collective worship. They are places that recognise and value collective worship as central to fostering a sense of community and to expressing the school’s Christian vision.

Collective worship in a Church of England school will do the following:

• Explore the school’s vision and how that underpins shared values and virtues. In doing so, it will reflect on moral values such as compassion, thankfulness, justice, trust, forgiveness and respect; and develop virtues such as perseverance and courage that develop character and contribute to academic progress.

• Help pupils and adults to appreciate the relevance of faith in today’s world by encountering the teachings of Jesus and the Bible and developing understanding of the Christian belief in the trinitarian nature of God.

• Offer the opportunity, without compulsion, to all pupils and adults to grow spiritually through experiences of prayer, stillness, worship and reflection.

• Enable all pupils and adults to appreciate that Christians worship in different ways, for example using music, silence, story, prayer, reflection, as well as through the varied liturgical and other traditions of Anglican worship and festivals.

• Enable pupils to develop skills through engaging in the planning, leading and evaluation of collective worship in ways that lead to improving practice.

https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/collective-worship-guidance-18052021.pdf

Our theologically rooted Christian vision is based on the Parable of the Sower, and recognising the potential for all children to grow and flourish is a core belief at St Leonard's. We recognise that every child is a unique individual growing and learning with God's love and our daily acts of collective worship are central to realising this vision as a whole school community. 

Our daily worship is intrinsically linked with our school’s Christian values and focuses heavily on how to live out those values in our daily lives. We celebrate and consider significant events, festivals and faith days in a fully inclusive way. Our collective worship is: 

• Invitational, offering everyone the opportunity to engage in the act of worship, whilst allowing the freedom for those of other faiths and none to be present with integrity. 
• Inspiring and creative, impacting the whole community and motivating them into action to be courageous advocates. 
• Inclusive, where all are welcomed, have a voice and are listened to. 
• The heartbeat which breathes life into our daily lives 

Worship is highly engaging and interactive.  As part of our continued desire to improve, staff receive training and support to ensure high quality provision, which is monitored, and feedback is provided as part of our improvement cycle.  Visits to Church and visitors into school (Salvation Army, Open the Book, Father Noel from St Leonard's Parish Church) ensure our children are engaged in a range of worship styles. 

We use the “Roots and Fruits” resource as a main framework for Worship. Our school vision is reinforced further by looking in depth at one value each half term with therefore 12 values across the two-year cycle.

These being:

Generosity “God Loves a cheerful Giver “Corinthians 9;2

Compassion “Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” Colossians 3:12

Courage “Be Strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Forgiveness “Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive others.” Colossians 3:13

Friendship “Encourage one another and build each other up”. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Respect “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12

Thankfulness “Always be thankful.”1Thessalonians 5:16

Trust “My God is my strength in whom I trust.” Psalm 18:2

Perseverance “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Justice “Learn to do right. Seek justice.” Isaiah 1:17

Service “Serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13

Truthfulness “Tell the truth to each other.”  Zechariah 8:16

"The School has many outstanding features and Christian Values clearly underpin its ethos. It makes an excellent contribution to the spiritual, moral and social development of pupils."

SIAMS inspection January 2017

We have adopted the Windows Mirrors Doors approach which we encourage as part of our daily collective worship.

Windows

Opportunities to look out on the world to gaze and wonder: The Wow and Ows moments. The things we find amazing and bring us up short.

Encounter: The learning about life

Mirrors

Giving opportunities for children to reflect, to look inward to consider some of the big questions of life: To explore their own insights and those of others.

Reflection: The learning from.

Doors

Giving opportunities to children to respond, to do something to go through the door of a creative expression of their own thoughts and convictions.

Transformation: The learning to live by putting into action what they believe.

Please see policies and planning below for further details about Collective Worship in school and if you would like to discuss this further please contact Sarah Bowley, Headteacher.