Collective Worship is an integral part of our school ethos and life. It involves all members of our school coming together to share moments of quiet reflection as we celebrate life, thankfulness and show reverence to God. Everyone takes an active role in our worship, although parents and carers do have the right to withdraw their child from participation if they choose to do so.

Every day, we create time and space for quiet moments of reflection and prayer; together, we say our special school prayer, as well as prayers for lunch time and home time. We come together for our daily assemblies which focus each week on a different Christian Value. Our assemblies are led by teachers, children and special visitors, telling stories, singing hymns and sharing themes which we invite everyone to reflect on and participate in.

Our children are keen to share a spontaneous prayer of their own at the end of our assemblies as we light a candle and dim the lights to create a spiritual ambience that our school community can enjoy together. Our children are encouraged to put their hands together and close their eyes or focus on the flicker of the flame of the candle as we show our thankfulness to each other and to God.

Most of our assemblies are held in the Village Hall but on certain occasions, we walk to our local parish church (St Botolph and John the Baptist Church) to enjoy services with members of our local clergy. We also create opportunities to visit other places of worship, such as the Hindu and Sikh temples in Leicester and the Baptist church in Hose; these create fun and memorable experiences of how other faiths celebrate and worship.

Leadership Days

At Croxton Kerrial CE Primary School, our Leadership Days are always a cause of excitement. We begin with Collective Worship, linked to Christians Values such as Love, Trust, and Thankfulness. The whole school then mixes into our Team Colours and work together to get messy and create different pieces of art and work linked with our theme of the day. This can include Harvest, Christmas and Lent. Once the children have worked through each activity in their groups, we host a Special Assembly at the end of the day, inviting parents and governors to celebrate the work the children have created and reflect together on the importance of these themes and values.

Hymn Practice

We host regular Hymn practice which forms another part of our worship. This gives us the opportunity to discuss the meaning and significance of the songs through singing and discussion.

Worship Leaders

Our assemblies are led by lots of different people in our community. Whilst our teachers take turns to lead many of our assemblies, our children also have opportunities to get involved in setting up and leading assemblies with their own PowerPoints, stories, quizzes and reflective questions and prayers. We have our extended partnership with members of the clergy, teachers across our school cluster and their teams who also join us in a weekly virtual assembly.

Open the Book

Every fortnight, we enjoy a special assembly called ‘Open the Book’. This is led by members of the local community from our cluster schools. They use Bible stories as inspiration and link their assembly with our weekly theme. They then read and act out stories and often encourage the children to join them in acting these stories out as they are narrated. The children always enjoy the opportunities they get to dress up and narrate parts of these stories together!

Open Worship

Each Friday, we invite parents and families to join us for a special assembly. These assemblies are always very memorable and are a special way of sharing with families what we have been doing each week. We sing songs and say prayers as well as sharing learning and celebrating the children’s achievements together with awards. Some of these awards include:

Merit Certificate

These are awarded to children who have worked hard and produced exceptionally good work. They link to Christian values such as perseverance, creativity, and wisdom.

Hand of Friendship Certificate

Hand of Friendship certificates are awarded for doing something special to help or showing an act of kindness without being prompted. They link to Christian values such as friendship, kindness, and love.

Special Events Award

These are awarded to children in recognition for those who have worked hard and made great achievements in sporting or music events, either individually or as teams. This links to Christian values such as koinonia, creativity, and friendship.

The Rainbow Llama

We present our colourful, cuddly llama to one child each week to celebrate how they have modelled our weekly Christian Value. Our children love this award as they get to care for the llama for the entire week.

Our Vicar

We love it when Rev. David comes to lead worship. He always makes them special as he includes things that we are familiar with, like lighting a candle or call and response, but also makes the stories and messages come to life by getting us involved. Children are often called to the front to act out a scene and he always involves in the prayer.

We think he is very entertaining, especially when he brings his lego book and talks about Honey, his dog. In one act of worship he turned water into wine, which was amazing! We were very impressed.

An End of Year Prayer

At the end of this school year we give thanks to God:

For all the teaching and learning that has taken place in our school, both in and out of the classroom,

For the talents and gifts that have been shared and the challenges that have been faced during the last school year;

For the burdens that have been lifted and the hurts that have been healed;

For the respect and care that has been given.

We give thanks for the friendships that have been made and for those that have grown.

For the hope that has lifted our hearts on the dark days and for the love that has kept us going.

We give thanks for the community that we are, and we ask you Lord to Bless all of Year 6 as they move to their new schools in the autumn. Pour out your love on them and may your Spirit inspire them with confidence and calmness.

Bless our families too as we take holidays in the coming weeks and may our time together leave us with happy memories to cherish.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen