Collective worship is often referred to as the beating heart of a church school as it offers a wonderful opportunity for all members of the community to meet together, explore issues together, think through questions together, and respond to others and, for some, to God.
All Church of England schools should be committed to offering high quality collective worship, recognising and valuing collective worship as central to fostering a sense of community and to expressing the school’s Christian vision.
Collective worship in schools is grounded in the historical past and enshrined in educational law to be ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’. In church schools, this also includes the requirement to reflect the Anglican status of the school as expressed in its trust deed. This liberates those leading collective worship to build on the rich, lived diversity of Anglican tradition and identity. Understanding and reflecting Anglican liturgy is key to this and the education team have developed a range of resources to support schools using liturgy.
Collective worship in our family of schools should be inclusive, invitational and inspiring.
Schools should also intentionally ensure that Collective Worship enables pupils and adults to flourish spiritually. (SIAMS 2023 – IQ3)
If you have any specific questions around collective worship, please contact Debbie Helme, Principal Advisor for School Christian Character.
Church of England Collective Worship Guidance
The following documents are intended as support and information for collective worship leaders.
Diocese of Gloucester Model Policy for Collective Worship May 2023
Explore Collective Worship Series
For ideas for getting to grips with Anglican Liturgy and ready to go collective worship ideas on unusual themes, look at the following resources published by Jumping Fish, the publishing arm of the Diocese of Gloucester.
Explore The Language of Spirituality in Collective Worship
There is various training support available for collective worship:
Collective Worship, Spirituality & SIAMS
For all
Collective worship and spirituality can have a huge impact on shaping both the character of your school and the character of individual pupils and adults. To help ensure that this is happening in your school, this course will aim to inspire your engagement and leadership of worship and develop your understanding of spirituality, enabling you to encourage spiritual growth throughout your school community.
We will also explore how these themes link to the SIAMS framework, with the hope that by the end of the day you will be looking forward to SIAMS style conversations which will enable you to share all your good practice!
“Excellent. So much shared to take away”
Spring Term
Wednesday 26 February 2025 9.45am-3.00pm
Holiday Inn, Crest Way, Barnwood, Gloucester, GL4 3RX
COST: £120.00 per delegate
Book here
Bespoke In-School MOTs
Please see the 2024-25 training brochure for information on all our training on our Schools Training, Support & Events page.