Collective Worship & Time to Reflect
We are committed to offering high quality collective worship. We recognise and value collective worship as central to fostering a sense of community and to expressing our school’s Christian vision enabling all children to flourish and to ‘live life in all its fullness’ John 10:10.
What is collective worship?
We meet daily to come together and to reflect as we journey through a sequenced collective worship programme. You can find out more about this overview here.
Our overview of class worships, that explores topical questions through the PICTURE NEWS resource, can be found below as an attachment.
Inclusive, Invitational & Inspiring
Inclusive: Worship is collective in that it involves meeting, exploring, questioning and responding to others and, for some, to God. Children can expect to encounter worship that is inclusive of, and fully accessible to, all. We know that many pupils and staff in our school will come from homes of different faith backgrounds as well as of no faith background. Children are given the opportunity to think and ask questions. There is space to participate and to stand back; and to consider.
Inclusion requires child involvement in planning, leading and the evaluation of worship. We are proud that children regularly lead whole school collective worship helping to build their confidence and providing an opportunity to hear their voice.
Invitational: Here at Flax, children expect to encounter worship that is consistently invitational. There is no compulsion to ‘do anything’. Rather, worship provides the opportunity to engage whilst allowing the freedom of those of different faiths and those who profess no religious faith to be present and to engage with integrity.
Inspiring: Our collective worship enables children and adults to ask big questions about who we are and why we do what we do. It motivates children and adults into action, into thinking differently, and into reflecting on their and the wider community’s behaviour and actions.
As a result of inspirational collective worship, they should be inspired to become courageous advocates of causes.
As part of our journey of learning over a term of collective worship, we explore who might inspire us in the value for the term and what our response is to this.
We learn about what the value means to me, its place in Christianity and how it is understood in other religions. We also explore local heroes who have lived lives modelling this value to those around them.
Each worship follows the GERS model which is based around four key areas: “Gathering, Engaging, Responding, Sending”.
Time to reflect
We understand school life can be extremely busy and that it is important for children to have time and space to reflect on their own beliefs and values. 
Every classroom has a Reflection Area, which are changed and added to regularly. They are a place where the children can go to ponder, reflect and pray.
The areas may include artefacts, prayer books, Bibles, pictures and verses to engage the children in thought and prayer.
They enable the children to deepen their understanding and thoughts behind each Christian message.
We also have an outdoor Reflection Garden which is accessible to all children and staff throughout the school day.
The Church of England recognises the right of withdrawal from collective worship for those parents or children who wish to exercise this option. This, and how to exercise this choice, is explained fully in our school’s collective worship policy found on policy webpage.