1. Collective Worship in the Classroom

2. Collective Worship in all schools must be: daily
wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character
(Education Reform Act 1988)

3. Reasons to be Prayerful One Two Three

4. Collective Worship in schools should aim to:
provide the opportunity for pupils to worship God
provide the opportunity for pupils to consider spiritual and moral issues and explore their own beliefs
encourage participation and response
develop community spirit
promote a common ethos and shared values
reinforce positive attitudes
(DfE Circular 1/94, January 1994)

5. At the heart of the Christian faith
is its lived out expression in worship.
In daily worship,
pupils and members of the school community
will observe, encounter and be impacted by
the living faith of Christians.
(Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools,
September 1993)

6. Eutychus in Troas (Acts 20)

8. Cells on Skellig Michael

10. “Children … live without thought or care.
They keep no secrets but repeat all that they see and hear. 
Suddenly they laugh, suddenly they weep,
and are continuously yelling, chattering, and laughing. 
They are scarcely silent when they are asleep. ”
Bartholomeus Anglicanus, 13th Century

11. “What is youth but an untamed beast?
Ape-like, delighting in nothing but toyes and baubles?”
Lewis Bayly, The Practice of Piety, 1611

12. “The strongest support is given,
not only to protect the young
from evil,
but also to rouse them
and attract them
more easily and gently
to the performance of good works.
Like the twigs of plants,
the young are easily influenced,
as long as someone works
to change their souls.
But if they are allowed to grow hard, we know well that the possibility
of one day bending them
diminishes a great deal
and is sometimes utterly lost.”
Saint Joseph Calasanz ( )

13. “Children are looking for a little help
in knowing what this life is about.”
Robert Coles, The Spiritual Life of Children (1990)

14. What is Collective Worship?

15. How do learners and adults engage with collective worship?
What difference does is make?
How is Collective Worship distinctively Christian?
How does it set out the values of our school?
How well does it develop personal spirituality through a range of experiences, including a focus on prayer?
How does it enable participants to develop an understanding of Jesus Christ and a Christian understanding of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
How effectively is the school community involved in the planning, leading and evaluation of collective worship?
(Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools,
September 1993)

17. Gathering
Engaging
Responding
Sending

18. Gathering

19. Engaging

20. Responding

21. Sending

22. Why me, Lord? WHY ME?

23. “I would sit in the dim light of the school chapel, and listen to him preaching about the Lamb of God and about Mercy and Forgiveness, and my young mind would become totally confused.
I knew very well that only the night before, this preacher had shown neither mercy nor forgiveness in flogging some small boy who had broken the rules.”
(Roald Dahl, Boy, 1984)