Collective Worship
At Cubbington collective worship is the "beating heart of our school". It is a special time for us to come together as a school family, offering a space for shared experiences, quiet reflection, and engagement with Christian stories and practices. Collective worship is central to our school's life, helping us to step away from our busy days to explore bigger questions of meaning and purpose.
Cubbington’s Vision
Our aims are as simple as “ABC” Achieving, Belonging, Caring. We believe that accomplishing these requires courage.
‘Be courageous for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go’ Joshua 1:9
Through worship, we explore how this vision calls us to discover the courage within us and then use this courage not only to achieve our goals, but also to build a strong and supportive community where others can belong, and to care for the world and those around us.
A Daily Act of Worship
Collective worship at Cubbington is always inclusive, invitational, and inspiring. We warmly welcome every member of our school community, whatever their beliefs, to participate in a way that feels right for them. We invite children to sing and pray if they wish, but always provide the opportunity for quiet, personal reflection and contemplation.
When we talk about the Christian belief of being loved as God's children, we also reference being loved by our parents/carers and significant people in our lives. When we talk about learning from the teachings of Jesus, we also reference learning from each other and the important people with whom we connect and share experiences.
Structure
Our Collective Worship is structured into four sections; Welcoming, Learning, Reflecting, and Responding.
Gathering and Welcome
Once we have gathered together we signal the start of our collective worship by asking one of our collective worship leaders to light the candle on the worship table and we share the following liturgy Peace be with you. And also with you.
Learning
This part of worship encourages us to look at the world through "windows," recognising both its "WOWS" (awe-inspiring moments) and "OWS" (challenging experiences), prompting wonder and questioning.
Adults share Bible verses and stories, linking them to our school values, we also discuss the meaning of songs, and learn about different seasons of the church year.
Reflecting
This is a time for “mirrors," reflecting inwards on our own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, and connecting external experiences with our inner selves. We also acknowledge the "NOWS" of life—the stillness and ordinariness of everyday moments where spiritual opportunities can arise.
We have the opportunity to take time to consider how what we have heard, seen or sung has made us feel and how we could choose to respond. This is often a quiet time of stillness which gives us the chance to pause and think in a very hectic day.
Responding and Sending
This element is about "doors," which encourages us to respond actively and creatively to what has been learned, leading to transformed attitudes and actions.
Questions or scenarios are posed where we think about our own lives and the decisions that we make on a daily basis. Responding moves the story on from something that we've heard to something that shapes us. This is the time of transitioning from this special time back into the school day and enables us to take what has been learned in collective worship to the classroom, playground and home. It gives an opportunity to put into practice what has been explored and reflected upon. At the end we share the following liturgy Go with courage. We go with courage.
Weekly Schedule
Monday: Church Collective Worship
Led by visitors from St Mary’s Church. Mr Young and Canon Jo deliver open the book stories, and Reverend Ann explains the different events in the church liturgical year.
Tuesday: Vision and Values
Led by teachers, we explore our core values of courage, perseverance, creativity, wisdom, friendship, kindness, thankfulness, trust, compassion and forgiveness. We explain that these values are the "tools" that help us to achieve our school vision. Living out these values within our school and community enables everyone to meet our “ABC” aims – Achieving, Belonging and Caring.
Wednesday: Worship Wednesday
Led by Mrs Mills or Mr & Mrs Kreeger, children are invited to sing a range of traditional and contemporary songs. The songs are chosen to be inclusive with our community and to connect with our worship themes, allowing us to express ourselves through music.
Thursday: Wow Celebration and Achievement
Staff lead our celebration worship, a time to recognise and celebrate wow moments for individuals who have demonstrated our school's vision and values in their actions.
Friday: Head Teacher
Mrs Jones leads a whole-school assembly rooted in the school values, encouraging pupils to reflect spiritually and make meaningful connections with their own lives. Where appropriate, this may be enriched through reflections on current affairs or charity initiatives, helping children to understand faith in action within the wider world.
The Church Year
Anglican churches follow a liturgical calendar. This forms a pattern for their worship throughout the year. We learn about the different church seasons and celebrations during some of our Monday collective worships which are lead by members of the church.
Our collective worship leaders are responsible for changing the cloth on our worship table so that it reflects the current church season.
The Big Story
At Cubbington we use the Understanding Christianity Big Story frieze to support our children's understanding of the Bible. We refer to this resource in both collective worship and RE.
