Collective Worship
Collective worship:
Collective worship is an opportunity for us to foster a sense of community and to celebrate and reaffirm the school’s vision and values. It is a time where students can engage in conversations about God together or individually.
Collective worship at Altwood is invitational, engaging and reflective. We aim to inspire through asking big questions, encouraging reflection and exploring our role in our community and the wider community. All acts of worship are inclusive and are relevant to those of Christian faith, other faith and no faith at all, they are relatable to students and adults wherever they may be on their journey of faith and belief.
As part of our collective worship programme we include prayer, reading and reflecting on the Bible, and experience of both music and art.
Our Collective Worship aims to:
- Inspire and include
- Provide opportunities to explore deeper thinking
- Encourage aspiration by exploring the wonder and possibility in the world
- Allows all to experience a time of stillness, reflection and the worship of God on their own terms
- Be still and reflect.
- Explore the big questions of life and respond to national events.
- Reflect on the character of God and on the teachings of Christ.
- Share each other's joys and challenges.
- Celebrate special times in the Christian calendar.
Organisation:
Students and staff complete a daily act of collective worship through our Daily Reflections. These take place Monday to Thursday as part of tutor time or at the start of an assembly.
Examples of daily reflections:
‘The Bible reminds us that compassion is not only about feeling sympathy, but about taking action when others are in need.’
‘Great attitude is like a perfect cup of coffee–don’t start your day without it.’
‘Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.’
Every Friday our school blessing is shared in tutor time.
Altwood School Blessing:
God bless this school.
Bless our staff, students and our whole school community.
May we always feel inspired to be the best we can be.
Each day, help us help the less fortunate, give faith to those who feel different, find joy in all we do and give us hope when things get tough.
Please give us the strength to draw together as a community so that everyone at Altwood school can flourish, knowing that they are truly known, valued and will succeed.
Amen
Vision Icon:
Daily reflections are marked by our vision icon.
The icon has been developed from a student’s original design. The theological element of the vision is the roots of the tree. The house colours are the strength of the school community feeding through the trunk and the living aspect of our vision blossoms from the tree – being known, valued and ultimately succeeding within our school.
Student’s narrative:
‘The idea of the tree came from the family feel I get from the school as the tree reminds me of a family tree. The gold ring reminds me of the colour of lion fur which in the bible represents strength, so it shows our strength by community in the school.’
These daily reflections are further enhanced by the comprehensive assembly schedule. The assemblies follow the theme of the term and allow exploration of key events in the Christian calendar. Assemblies are led by Heads of House and the Senior Leadership Team.
We are fortunate to have close links with Father Jeremy, Rev Jo and Wayne Dixon, who regularly lead assemblies.
At key points of the academic year, celebration assemblies are held which bring together the school community to rejoice in the successes of our peers. These include prayer, reflection and music.
Additional opportunities for students and adults to participate in collective worship are offered through Chapel and Chat and our termly parent prayer group.
Staff reflections on the daily worship:
‘Gives students time to pause and reflect and open dialogue for discussion on topics.’
‘A calm start to the day with tutor, with a focussed discussion point to frame the tutor time with.’
‘I really like them as a positive and thought-provoking start to the day for our students.’
‘I think that they are a good activity to do - the students should have that moment of quiet to take a step back and think.’