Worship at Stoke Canon C of E Primary School

Nurture and Grow Together through Compassion, Integrity and Kindness

As a small rural village primary school, we are surrounded by the amazing landscape of the Devon countryside. Planting and harvesting are part of our daily lives so therefore we use the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13 to show our pupils that if we nurture each other and give each other the right support to grow as individuals then we will develop love, honesty and respect for each other and everyone in our global community. 

‘But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields’

Parable of the Sower  Matthew (13:23)

Our curriculum is underpinned by the set of values including our core Christian values of Compassion, Kindness and Integrity that enable us to live

‘Life in all its fullness’ John (10:10)

At Stoke Canon C of E Primary School collective worship aims to be inspirational, invitational and inclusive and will lead people to a threshold where they can witness worship and join in, if they wish.

Through Collective Worship pupils will be offered a space and a place for the telling of the Christian story. They will be offered an understanding of worship through being invited to participate in or observe prayer, reading and reflection on the Bible, liturgy, sacrament and experience of the musical and other imaginative riches of Christianity. Opportunities to reflect on the beauty, joy and pain of the world will be given. Pupils will be given time to consider their responsibilities to others and to grow in love and service. Time will be given for celebration, both for the accomplishments of school members and to mark the seasonal festivals of the Christian (and other faiths calendar) Pupils will be offered time to be able to contemplate and develop Spirituality. 

Monday

On Monday we have a whole school act of worship in church. This act of worship is based around our values in the 'roots and fruits' scheme but we also look at Modern British Values and relevant Christian festivals.  We look at a value for three to four weeks and link it to the time of year. All pupils are invited to take part in this act of Worship, including Little Acorns. 

                                                                              Tuesday

On Tuesday praise worship focusses on music and we practice our hymns and songs that are relevant to our area of worship. Our hymns/songs are linked to our focus value and we explore the meaning of the hymns to encourage our understanding and praise.  We have worship monitors who support our Praise Worship. 

Wednesday

On Wednesday we have Class Worship which focusses on the development of Spirituality and gives everyone the opportunity to consider a 'Big Question' 

We use our Spirituality Emblem as a focus for the pupils. Please see our spirituality policy below. This is split into four areas and represents our relationship with ourselves, others, the natural world and God.(other). We recognise that Spirituality is a holistic approach but we often highlight an aspect of this within the half-term, for example, our relationship with ourselves. Our spirituality act of worship encourages the children to explore their own spiritual focus throughout school life. 

Thursday

On Thursday we focus our act of worship focusses on our focus Christian value through both Christian festivals, World views and festivals in other religions from around the world. We also look at special events in the calendar. We continue to have time to develop spirituality and time for reflection and prayer. 

Friday

On Friday our act of worship focusses on the  celebration of the achievements of our children in our Celebration Assembly. We feel that developing our sense of self and personal development is a very important part of our school.