As a Church of England school, our worship reflects some of the rich traditions of Anglican prayer and worship. We follow the church calendar and celebrate major festivals of Christmas, Easter, Harvest and the Saints Day of St Andrew’s with our church family. When planning worship, we revisit key aspects of Christianity so that with pupils’ growing maturity they broaden and deepen their spiritual experience and understanding.

Collective worship is an integral part of the life in our school community. It gives expression to and the opportunity to reflect on our Christian and community values and experiences. In our Christian values curriculum ‘Roots and Shoots,’ we teach the twelve values of generosity, compassion, courage, forgiveness, friendship, respect, thankfulness, trust, perseverance, justice, service and truthfulness. Children learn about key teachings and individuals from the Bible and Christian tradition. They are given opportunities to reflect on their own spirituality, thoughts and experiences through moments of silence and stillness, wonder and awe. They are also given the chance to respond in various way, through creativity, action or discussion to explore the themes further in their own lives.

Each term we have a different Christian Value focus. In Tree Houses during the term, we consider this value and what it might mean in a practical sense in classes and in our wider school community. Our school council plans activities and projects, often linked to our Christian values, and the pupils who are ‘values partners’ also develop further ideas for collective worship and the ethos of the school.

At St Andrew’s, collective worship happens daily in a number of ways. Children are often encouraged to contribute. We come together as a whole school and classes. There is always time to reflect and pray; to be still and have time to think. Music is listened to or we sing together. We light a candle to begin every worship and repeat the words “God is light”. Children take an active part in our collective worship, either by writing and sharing prayers on Fridays, acting out Bible stories or contributing through music and song. Each class has the opportunity to lead a collective worship over the course of the year. 

Worship takes place in different ways throughout the week. The current pattern of worship is as follows:

Monday – senior leadership led worship on the weekly values theme.

Tuesday – class based worship developing the week’s theme

Wednesday – Church led worship

Thursday – Treehouse groups or singing worship (prayer/link to value/Monday assembly)

Friday – Celebration service