Collective Worship is at the centre of the school day at St Uny CE Academy and takes place at 1.15pm each day. It provides the opportunity for the school to meet together in a variety of contexts and to consider itself in terms of the great ideas and events of the world and be able to see its life and the lives of its pupils and staff as part of the rich tapestry of human experience and existence.
Collective worship provides opportunities for pupils to:
- Consider spiritual and moral issues and to explore their own beliefs.
- Encourage participation and response, whether through active involvement in the presentation of worship or through listening to and joining in the worship offered.
- Develop community spirit, promote a common ethos and shared values, and reinforce positive attitudes.
- Celebrate achievements and pupils who 'let their light shine'.
- Pray / reflect about the world around them.
Prayer is an enriching part of human life and certainly there is an expectation that prayer will be one of the features of Collective Worship in a school. Prayer is often understood as a way that humans can articulate their gratitude, their hopes and fears and, by bringing these to the fore, be better equipped to deal with them in a positive way. An alternative to prayer in an act of Collective Worship might be the singing of a hymn or a time for reflection, nevertheless there should be some reference to a ‘divine being or power’ during the act. Collective Worship should be a formative and nurturing experience. Prayer, singing hymns and silence should be encouraged and can be expected. Certainly the use of prayer should be a regular feature of Collective Worship along with singing. There is a significant role for silent reflection and for contemplation.
Visitors to Collective Worship can have a really positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Visitors might be clergy, they might be other members of the community who have something to offer or they might be occasional visitors to the County.
The KS2 pupils at St Uny CE Academy have been approached by the Diocese to create a G7 Collective Worship to be shared with Church schools across the country. Please click on this link to view it:
Pupils are actively involved in Collective Worship. The school has half-termly Worship Leaders who support the members of staff in setting up and leading the session. The role of the Worship Leaders is also to work with Class Teachers and groups of children to generate and gather worship reflections and hold discussions about the different types of worship taking place.
Each week, Collective Worship is planned and led by a different class. The theme of these sessions depends on what the pupils want to share / discuss in Collective Worship and are delivered independently by our pupils.
