Collective Worship
At Bathford, we call Collective Worship ‘Koinonia.’ Koinonia is Christian fellowship or communion, with God or with each other. Koinonia is an important part of our daily school routine and enables children and staff to think about our overarching whole school themes and values, particularly Christian values, the impact they have on children’s everyday lives and to reflect on God and the teachings of the Bible.
Bathford Church School has strong links with our local church, St. Swithun’s and we are very lucky that once a week, on a Thursday, Reverend Lauretta or Reverend Jane from the St Swithun’s team lead our worship. This might involve sharing stories from the bible, special events for special occasions such as Harvest, Easter and Christmas, and supporting the children to reflect on Christian values.
Our aims for Koinonia are to:
- Provide opportunities for worshipping God.
- Provide opportunities for participants to develop a closer relationship with God.
- Encourage a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty, power and mystery of the world.
- Encourage resilience in the face of local and global current events.
- Encourage the development of a sense of spirituality.
- Encourage a sense of community within and beyond the school.
- Foster a sense of fellowship by bringing together pupils and staff to celebrate shared values in the school and in the community.
- Share experiences such as special occasions and events in relation to individual pupils within the school, to the school as a whole, or to the wider community.
- Enable children to develop their understanding of the Christian faith and of the teachings of the Church.
- Acknowledge, understand and respect difference and diversity, recognising that we are all unique and loved by God.
- Enable children to consider moral issues.
- Give time for quiet reflection, prayer and other appropriate responses.
Worship should be a positive experience for all children. We aim to allow them the opportunity to explore different approaches to Christian worship.
Our Trust Collective Worship policy can be found here:
Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust – Policies (bwmat.org)
Christian Values
Our collective worship is based on a Christian value each term. We run a 3-year cycle, exploring the following values:
We have an SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) map for each big term which shows our Christian value for the term, our whole school theme, and special festivals and days. We use this to plan our termly Koinonia.
Pupil Involvement
Our School Council and House Captains help to lead Koinonia. Our House Captains ensure that our school values and rules of Be Your Best, Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be a Team are showcased in assembly, giving house points to children who are following these rules.
Each term, our classes take it in turn to write prayers that we then share in Koinonia.
In each assembly, there are always lots of opportunities for the children to participate, whether it is through helping to act out special stories, sharing their thoughts and ideas or leading the assembly.
Each big term, every class leads a Family Assembly, where each child stands up in front of the whole school and their parents. In the Autumn term, children share what is special to them, then in the Spring and Summer terms they showcase what they have learned about our whole school theme through their topics. These very special Family Assemblies are a highlight in the school calendar and always so well attended by parents.