Collective worship.
A daily act of Christian Collective Worship is provided for all pupils with participation from all encouraged.
A mixture of senior leaders, local clergy or our worship group lead a Worship each week. Our children take an active part in our Worship and are encouraged to take leading roles. Each term there is a Eucharist, led by a member of the local clergy, which is celebrated in school or at one of our local churches.
Within classes there are dedicated ‘Reflection/Prayer areas’ where children can spend time to reflect on their thoughts and feelings whenever they wish. These special areas reflect and support the current values being studied at the time.
We respect the beliefs of our parents who do retain the right to withdraw their children from Collective Worship or Religious Education by written request. Alternative provision for the withdrawn child can be negotiated with the individual's family.
Our Church links.
Although situated in the parish of St. Wilfrid’s (Bognor), our school catchment area covers three further parishes. The partnership that we foster between ourselves and these churches, together with the wider community is crucial to our success in developing our school as a Church of England School.
We are very proud to work in partnership with:
Throughout the year clergy regularly visit the school to hold worship, Eucharist, events and meeting with pupils. Children also get the opportunity to visit and learn about the local churches and parishes through our RE curriculum taught in school.
The Colours of the Church Year
The Anglican Church Year
Anglican churches follow a liturgical calendar. This is a pattern for their worship (liturgy) through the year.
As a church school, this provides an ideal opportunity to mirror what is happening in our parish and local church. It also provides a colourful and visual way to mark the festivals throughout the year. Most churches will use different coloured vestments (a priest’s clothing) and altar cloths as signs of the season of the church year.
As a school, we are able mirror this by changing the colour of our liturgical cloths. We find that the children recognise the colours and their meaning, that when they enter the worship space they will notice the colours have changed and begin to make links between the seasons and the festivals throughout the year.
The meaning of the colours:
Green | Used during 'Ordinary time' between the main festivals and seasons. This covers most of the year and can represent growth |
Red | Used to either mark saints' days where it represents their death as a martyr, or to represent the flames of the Holy Spirit (for Pentecost/Whitsun). |
White | Represents being pure, in celebrations such as baptisms, weddings, and some funerals. Also used for celebrations wither on it's own or with gold. It is also used for saints who did not die as martyrs. |
Gold | Key celebrations, for example Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. |
Purple | Used for times of preparation and waiting, the reflective seasons. Key times are Advent and Lent. |