The Law
The Law requires
- a daily collective act of worship
- wholly or mainly Christian in character
Full details are available at: www.dcsf.gov.uk
The major points are:
- Maintained schools
All maintained schools should provide for collective worship and
religious education for their pupils. The precise nature of the collective
worship and religious education at a foundation or voluntary school will depend
on the religious character of the school. Whether a foundation or voluntary
school has a religious character and the particular religion or religious
denomination concerned is set out in The Designation of Schools Having a
Religious Character (England) Order 1999 (SI 1999 No. 2432). There are no
foundation special schools which have a religious character.
All maintained schools must provide daily collective worship for all
registered pupils (apart from those who have been withdrawn from this by their
parents). This is usually provided within daily assembly.
The head teacher is responsible for arranging the daily collective
worship after consulting with the governing body. Daily collective worship must
be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character. The precise nature will
depend on the family background, ages and abilities of the pupils.
Most schools should be able to include all pupils in their act of
collective worship. There may be exceptional cases, however, where, in view of
the family background of some or all pupils, the head teacher and governing body
feel that a broadly Christian act of worship is not suitable. In these
circumstances, the head teacher can apply to the local Standing Advisory Council
on Religious Education (SACRE) to have the Christian content requirement lifted.
Before doing so, the governing body should consult the parents of pupils at the
school.
- Foundation Schools with a Religious Character and Voluntary Schools
Collective worship in foundation schools with a religious character and
voluntary schools will be in accordance with the school's trust deed. Where
provision is not made by a trust deed, the worship should be in accordance with
the beliefs of the religion or denomination specified for the school.
OFSTED's view
Each year OFSTED produces an Annual Report based on inspection evidence. The latest Report had this to say:
- Primary Schools:
33 Provision to promote pupils' spiritual development is
judged to be good in over half of schools. It is mainly fostered, however,
through acts of collective worship and RE lessons, rather than through the
curriculum more widely. The vast majority of schools provide a daily act of
collective worship, mainly of a Christian nature. Assemblies frequently deal
with aspects of personal relationships and the central themes of Christianity
and other major world religions. Provision for moral development is good in nine
in ten schools. Appropriate emphasis is placed on the difference between right
and wrong. Social development is also effectively promoted in a large majority
of schools. Pupils are encouraged to take on responsibilities which increase as
they get older. They help with tasks around the school and increasingly act as
mentors for younger or new pupils. Pupils respond very well to such
opportunities and take part enthusiastically in activities such as school
councils or fund-raising for charity.
- Secondary Schools:
90 Provision for pupils' personal development continues to
improve and is good or better in seven in ten schools. Pupils' social
development in part depends upon the extent to which schools recognise and
provide opportunities for the pupils to play an active role in the life of the
school. Such experiences often continue to be confined to older pupils. The
majority of schools make a significant contribution to pupils' moral
development. Subjects such as PSHE and religious education give pupils good
opportunities to consider moral and ethical issues. Spiritual aspects of the
curriculum are not covered adequately in a minority of schools, especially where
RE has insufficient curriculum time to cover the agreed syllabus. The majority
of schools provide a good range of opportunities for cultural development. A
minority of schools, including some with multicultural populations of their own,
do not do enough to build an appreciation of cultural diversity.
QCA's View
QCA has produced a useful document: RE and collective worship - An analysis of 2006 SACRE reports
The main points include:
- It is the quality of the experience rather than its daily occurrence which
is important... Members generally support the continuation of some form of
collective worship which affirms and supports the spiritual
dimension...
- They also expressed concern that any dilution of the present arrangements
which were still referred to as 'worship' might undermine the value and
understanding of what worship really is within a faith community...
- Best practice was characterised by thorough planning, the use of themes over
a term or half term, the evaluation of collective worship, and the use of
outside speakers who were able to bring insights directly from their own faith
and cultural traditions. Collective worship often allowed for the clearest
expression of the school's ethos, affirming the importance of relationships and
the sharing collectively of both joy and sadness...
- Where there was weakness it was frequently that insufficient time was
allowed for the children to reflect on their own thoughts, feelings and
beliefs...
- In the secondary schools inspectors found collective worship to be well
planned, orderly and contributing to a sense of community in the school. It made
a significant contribution to pupils' social and moral development but often
failed to make a contribution to the pupils spiritual and in some cases,
cultural development. This was particularly the case during "tutor time
assemblies"...
- Collective worship is also an important vehicle for pupils to explore and
share beliefs, consider the importance of prayer, meditation and silence, the
relevance of ideas and beliefs to their own lives, think about the needs of
others and develop a sense of community.
Preparing for Worship
1. Some points to bear in mind when planning:
- Do you have a Collective Worship policy in school with someone taking a lead responsibility?
- Is collective worship allowed adequate time?
- Create a time / sense of occasion for worship
- Does the worship have a clear beginning and ending?
- Ensure the act of worship is separated from administration
- Link worship to the life of the school
- Using the right language is important
- for the age group;
- recognising the 'theology' (what is being said about God, His people and His world).
2. Using different approaches - involving people and providing a variety of worship experience. You might consider using some of the following - if you are not already doing so.
- Telling a story
- Describing a situation / event
- Drama
- 'Part' speaking
[all of which need to be presented in an appealing way, with voices which are loud enough and 'listenable']
- Using visual aids / artefacts
can provide powerful illustrations, but shouldn't be so powerful that they are remembered at the expense of the message
can be used to listen to - as well as for singing. A well chosen piece of music can help create an atmosphere for worship and reflection
Is important in allowing time for thought and reflection
- Involving pupils / students
- Using visitors
Involve extra planning and preparation and the results can make worship memorable for the right reasons.
3. Helping Visitors be effective is important. They are your guests and need to
know what the traditions and customs in your school are. Visitors also need to
know the parameters within which you want them to operate, pupils and students
can be a tantalisingly 'captive audience'!
- Keep visitors to your own agenda
- Preparing the visitor for school
- Giving honest feedback
Useful guidance for visitors can be found at: www.culham.ac.uk/care/
This is part of the 'Clergy and RE Project' managed at Culham Institute, although there is plenty of valuable information for all visitors in school who lead worship. There is a useful 'Resources' section with references to print materials for Collective Worship.
The National Society has a number of publications on Collective Worship which are well worth purchasing. Details can be found at:
www.natsoc.org.uk (Search for: Collective Worship Publications).
RE Today provides 'Space for Reflection', an online resource of assemblies, articles and other support for collective worship, updated every half term and to reflect topical news. This is available to all RE today subscribers, details can be found at: www.retoday.org.uk/subs.htm
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