“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” - 

William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury 1942-44

Collective Worship occupies an important place in the life of St John's. It brings us together as a school community to learning about, and reflect upon, Christian beliefs and values as well as offering us an opportunity to pause within our busy lives.

Our daily gathering provides a chance to reflect on what is of ultimate worth in people’s lives, based upon broadly Christian values. It draws on a variety of sources including stories, reading, hymns or songs, drama and imagery. It provides a time of reflection to allow children to respond personally, perhaps through a time of silence. However, it also acknowledges and enables children to make a personal choice of reverence, prayer or response to God.

We aim to: 

• create a time and space where we can come closer to God and God can come closer to us;
• enable children to appreciate their worth and value to God, and to the community, and to respect the integrity of all individuals as a child of God;
• give memorable and enjoyable experiences
• provide an opportunity to celebrate Christian beliefs, celebrations, traditions and religious festivals in the Church's year
• enable pupils to make effective use of silence in opportunities for reflection, contemplation 
• establish, explore and reinforce the common Christian values
• provide children with a vocabulary of worship and an experience of a wider variety of worship forms, including symbols and imagery.

Collective Worship happens every day at St John's. At the beginning of the week, we gather together as a whole school. This is where our theme for the week is introduced. Every other Monday we also welcome members of the Basingstoke Church's 'Rising Generations' team to lead our worship. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the children take part in class worship or key stage worship. These allow the children to consider the theme further in a more intimate setting and with the opportunity to express their own feelings and opinions. On a Friday, we again gather as a school to thank God for everything that has happened in the week and to offer our achievements to him.