All Saints' C of E Junior School
Emscote Infant School
All Saints' C of E Junior School
Emscote Infant School
Emscote Infant School
and
All Saints' C of E Junior School
Collective Worship
In Church of England schools, collective worship reflects the traditions of the Church of England and develops learners’ understanding of Anglican traditions and practice.
Collective worship gives pupils and school 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.
At All Saints’ C of E Junior School, the daily act of Collective Worship is the beating heart of our day and is highly valued. It is a time when we pause, reflect, think, celebrate and ensure that all children and staff take part in a meaningful spiritual experience within a distinctly Christian context. Each child brings to collective worship their own unique being, personality and background. The opportunities they are offered invite them to explore who God is, the world around them, and through this to understand their place in their school, their wider community and their world.
Under no circumstances will pupils be asked to accept beliefs, which are contrary to their own.
All Saints' Easter Service
In our service, children performed a poem which retold the Easter story; each year group led on a different part of Holy Week, acting it out too. The children sang beautifully throughout the service and their voices shared the emotion of the story as it progressed. And when the service ended, as is tradition, the children absolutely loved singing 'Spring Chicken!'
Harvest Festival
On Friday 14th October All Saints classes took turns to sing a Harvest themed song. We sang other songs as well in including “Imagine” which is about God’s wonderful creation and “Never Give Up” which encourages us to stand up for justice and hope. Year 6 children had written prayers and Mrs Sutherland thanked parents for providing food items which the church will donate to the Foodbank.
Alive!
On 15th June, all of our children attended a praise party at Stoneleigh, organised by the Diocese for all pupils attending Church of England schools in Warwickshire. Year 5 and 6 children attended during the morning then Year 3 and 4 children arrived for a joint picnic lunch, staying on for the afternoon session. Approximately 5000 children attended the day and our children enjoyed joining in with the singing and dancing, finishing with a special song we had all learned in school – ‘World Changers’.Christmas service
On Tuesday 13th December, we held our Christmas service in All Saints' church, the first for 3 years! The service was led by the children, with each year group retelling a section of the Christmas story. In the middle, we had an amazing performance of the carol 'Silent Night'. It is one of the most well-known Christmas carols and is sung in different languages across Europe and beyond. Some of our children sang in their first languages - starting with English, followed by Ukrainian, then Polish, French and finishing by collectively singing in English. Ania, our Family Link worker (who works between the church and both schools) rehearsed with the children to prepare them and introduced it as a really appropriate song to share, thinking about the lyrics - 'Sleep in heavenly peace' - when there is war or conflict going on in over 30 countries around the world at present. Mrs Garrett accompanied the group with her cello and the performance was very moving. The whole school sang beautifully and read their sections really clearly. Y4 children sang 'Hope of Heaven' which they had performed in Coventry Cathedral last week in the Christingle service, Y6 shared some prayers and Rev Diane explained the meaning of each candle in the advent wreath. It was a lovely community service, thoroughly enjoyed by all the parents and families who attended. It certainly felt as if our vision: 'Working Together, Valuing Everyone, Learning for Life' was being lived out.
There was also time on the way out of church to admire the many displays which had been created, both inside and outside of the entrance - they were very imaginatively and creatively made. Have a look at the photos below to see for yourself and click the link to watch a video of the performance of Silent Night.
Federation collective worship
On 9th December, we held another federation gathering in All Saints' church. We were pleased to welcome Moira Dickson and Sally to join us once more; Sally mimed a performance of the Christmas story, as Moira read it from the bible, with children from Y1 joining in to create a tableau. Children from each school sang some of their favourite Christmas songs and hymns and we sang together as a federation. We are loving the opportunity to bring all of the children together once more.
Christingle Service at Coventry Cathedral
Year 4 visited Coventry Cathedral for a special Christingle Service along with hundreds of children from other schools. They sang songs and listened to readings which all celebrated this special season for Christians who use the Christingle as a reminder of Jesus.
They thought the huge building was incredible and enjoyed walking round at the end as well as popping into the ruins to see the Reconciliation statue and 'Father Forgive' message which they'd learnt about in assembly.
Back at school we made more Christingles to take home.
Kevin Johnson is the pastor at Castle Hill Baptist Church in Warwick. We were delighted to welcome him into school to lead our collective worship (on 29th Nov) on the theme of Advent.
Eleanor Jeans is a vicar at St Paul's Church in Leamington - she came to lead our Collective Worship on All Saints' Day (on 3.11.22). She taught us a great new song called "Shine"
On 20th October, we held collective worship in All Saints' Church, bringing together all of the children across both of our schools. It was a special experience to have everyone together again and the children enjoyed singing to each other and collectively as a federation.
On 14th October, we held our Harvest Service in All Saints' Church. It was the first time we had been able to get together to celebrate Harvest since Autumn 2019, pre-covid. Each year group led a part of the service and the children sang together beautifully. During the service, children learned more about the Foodbank as we were collecting goods for them - please see the slides and video below if you missed the important message.
The Foodbank confirmed that we collected 190.89kg of donations this year and were really appreciative. You'll see that we were all dressed in yellow; this was to mark World Mental Health Day and it just happened to work well with autumn colours too! The service generated a special community feel, enjoyed immensely by all the families who attended.
