In Church of England schools, collective worship should be inclusive of pupils and staff of all faiths and beliefs or none, invitational where all are invited, not required, to participate, and inspiring all to reflect on their lives and the world, wherever they may be on their journey of faith and belief.
Latest Collective Worship Resources
These documents change over time, so do keep revisiting to see what’s new:
Latest available Collective Worship Materials - scripts and slides will be added a couple of weeks before you need them.
Autumn Term 2024: The Topsy-Turvy, 'How-to-Be'-at(t)itudes
At the beginning of a new school year, it is always good to help pupils to re-engage (or engage for the first time!) with your school’s vision and values, so please ensure that you do this each week using the suggestions in each of the scripts. This term, we are reflecting on some of Jesus’ words in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, containing the statements known as the ‘Beatitudes’ which set out the topsy-turvy manifesto of God’s Kingdom. We reflect on how these ideas might help to shape our school community life in the way that we try to treat each other. The ‘how-to-be-at(t)itudes’ also line up with significant calendar events in this term, such as Harvest and Remembrance, and even towards Christmas, when we will celebrate the topsy-turviness of the story of how God came to earth as a tiny baby through some prophecies, including Mary’s own song of worship on hearing the news from Angel Gabriel.
At the request of clergy who often lead collective worship in their local school. This term we have added some suggestions for additional Bible content which could be used in a second collective worship. You will find this on a separate overview.
We have also included a set of prayer stations for schools based on the beatitudes, there is an overview so that you can se what is included and separate labels for the individual prayer stations.
The overview for the term, weekly scripts and slides are in the resources above. We add the weekly scripts and slides as we complete them.
Note the whole of the autumn term 2024 is not yet uploaded.
Collective Worship Extras - World Events
From time to time we create an extra collective worship to enable school communities to respond to major national, and international events. You will find these scripts and slides in the Latest Collective Worship Materials link above.
Support for Schools
To support schools, we have written and curated prayer and worship resources for use at festivals and seasons throughout the year.
We offer training for school staff responsible for planning and leading collective worship in their school. This includes:
- A regular Collective Worship Leaders' Briefing - an online session to receive updates about new resources and thinking in school collective worship.
- Training for clergy and church visitors ‘Top Tips for Leading a Primary Assembly’. See the diocesan training calendar for the next session.
- Courses, staff meeting and inset days to help schools developing aspects of spiritual development collective worship
Church of England Education Office Guidance
Spiritual development is about enabling all in the school community - pupils and adults - to live life in all its fullness; recognising that humans are made up of body, mind and spirit.
It is not about making pupils ‘religious’ but creating opportunities for the pupils to reflect on the big issues. Spiritual development should be threaded through the life of the school and across the whole curriculum.
This video is a useful introduction