Collective Worship

We aim for collective worship to be a special act or occasion, the purpose of which is to show reverence to God.  Collective Worship involves pupils and staff coming together and participating in a daily gathering.  Collective Worship in our school is based on the teachings of Christ and traditions of the Christian Church.  However, we also aim to conduct our Collective Worship in a manner that is sensitive to the individual faith and beliefs of all members of the school.

Collective Worship contributes significantly to the ethos of the school and it is our aim that it is a special time that gives pupils and staff the opportunity to:

• Engage in an act of community.
• Express praise and thanksgiving to God.
• Be still and reflect.
• Explore the big questions of life and respond to national events.
• Foster respect and deepen spiritual awareness.
• Reflect on the character of God and on the teachings of Christ.
• Affirm Christian values and attitudes.
• Share each other's joys and challenges.
• Celebrate special times in the Christian calendar.

Weekly Worship

Each week we follow a specific worship theme across the school. The Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher and other members of staff conduct Collective Worship but usually on Thursdays, the vicar of the St.John’s Church, Ryhall leads the session. This brings greater variety to our worship times and strengthens links between the Academy and the local church. Parents / carers are invited to Monday Collective Worship and other special services, e.g. at Christmas, Easter and the end of the academic year. This promotes the community spirit of the Academy. We welcome governors’ attendance at our Collective Worship at any time.

Being a Church School

Many schools will talk about educating the whole child and teaching children to be good citizens – but we believe that being a Church School means much more than that.

At Ryhall CE Academy all that we do is driven by our Values – those values also taught by Jesus. These values are central to our Ethos Statement and therefore all that we do.

Teachers' planning and displays show which Values we are promoting and developing through our teaching and children's learning. We firmly believe that these values are not 'add ons', they are part of all we do, not something separate.

Values Day

We held a special Values Day where children from across the year groups came together to create displays linked to the values. The different ages worked together as a team to create amazing displays depicting each individual Value.

To conclude our Values day we held a special Collective Worship. The whole school came together for a presentation all about the Values and took time to reflect upon the significance for us as a Church school; this helped the children to develop a greater understanding.

Opinions

At Ryhall CE Academy, we feel that we are a reflective and self-evaluative school that is always keen to move forward and to reflect our Pupil’s thoughts and opinions. As a Church School, Worship is an intrinsic part of everyday life. Therefore, we asked the children to take part in a Pupil Voice Survey in September 2015 about RE, our school as a Church School and Collective Worship so that they could have the opportunity to feedback to us about their feelings.

When asked what they like most about collective worship, the children say:

‘When we get a chance to pray’;

‘We learn about Jesus and God and other people in our World’;

‘I am up with highest up King in the Universe and I feel special’;

‘I enjoy our morning prayer and how we light the candle and have time to think’;

‘We get time to think about God’;

‘Having visitors in collective worship’;

‘When we are all together and we ask God to be thankful’;

‘I can reflect on the day’;

‘Quietness and reflecting on what God has done’;

‘I love to pray and worship, I like to find out about other religions’;

‘Lighting the candle’;

‘The times and places where we get to sit quietly in the day. The trees. The field’;

‘They are sometimes funny but peaceful’;