Collective worship involves all members of our school sharing time together in quiet moments of reflection to celebrate life and to show reverence to God. Everyone takes an active part in worship time; although parents do have a right to withdraw their child from participation should they choose to do so.

Every day, we schedule quiet moments for prayer; we have a special school prayer, as well as prayers for lunchtime and home time. We have daily assemblies led by teachers, children and special visitors; the leaders will invite everyone to join them in quiet moments of reflection too. Children are particularly keen to say a spontaneous prayer at the end of the assembly. We light a candle and dim the lights which help to create a spiritual ambience which parents and governors enjoy too. We sing hymns and reflect on our lives, to show our thankfulness towards God.

Most of our assemblies are held in our hall, but sometimes we go to the church or even hold them outside! We also visit different places of worship, such as the Hindu and Sikh temples in Leicester; these help us to understand how other faith groups worship.

Weekly Worship

We use  suggestions from the Diocesan Board of Education when planning worship themes, which we adapt for our children and the posters we create are displayed in all rooms to reinforce the key messages of the assemblies. We always have a Christian value that links our weekly worship, with clear aims and Biblical references to help children understand the language of worship. 

We are very fortunate to work with an amazing team of clergy from across our cluster. They visit school when they can, and during lockdown they have join us every week via zoom. This has enabled all children, staff and families to link in and enjoy stories, songs, music, video clips, Bible readings, prayer and aspects of the Trinity to help celebrate the connection we have as a wider community.

Worship is planned to mirror the aims and values for the week.

Open the Book

Every fortnight, we enjoy a special assembly called ‘Open the Book’, led by members of the local community. They use Bible stories as inspiration and link their assembly with our weekly theme. They then read and act out stories and often encourage the children to join them in acting these stories out as they are narrated. The children always enjoy the opportunities they get to dress up and narrate parts of these stories together!

Activities have presented a challenge during lockdown, but our wonderful team have adapted beautifully to virtual presentations which has again enabled all our partnership schools to join us.

Hymn Practice

Time to learn Hymns (which are another form of worship) and discuss their meaning, is built in to our weekly schedule. Everyone looks forward to Mr Cope’s singing demos!

Assembly Leaders

Older children plan, prepare and lead an assembly each week. They enjoy making PowerPoints, choosing the hymn and hold quizzes to support their evaluation. They are always keen to know what others think of their work! They encourage children of all ages to get involved with role play and have lots of fun encouraging them to make up dialogue. They write or say their own prayers and often have a story or reading from the Bible. These assemblies are very memorable and everyone looks forward to them.

We also have our special worship leaders who monitor and reflect upon our spiritual collective worship time. They help to set up the worship table and organise the music, books and seating arrangements. They are well-organised and do a great job.

Special Assemblies

Every Friday morning, our families are invited to attend our special assembly to share worship time, to share learning that has taken place during the week and to celebrate   

achievements. We sing songs, say prayers together, show work and celebrate success. Parents usually arrive a little earlier so that they have time to grab a cup of tea or coffee and catch up with friends; with our catchment being wide spread, this opportunity to meet up with one another is highly valued. Some of the awards we present include the following:

• Merit Certificate - awarded to children who have shown great effort in lessons and produced fantastic work in line with Christian and British values.
• Hand of Friendship Certificate - awarded to children (sometimes staff and parents too!) for doing something really special to help others, or showing an act of kindness without being prompted. 
• Endeavour Cup - a special trophy awarded to a child who has received both a merit and hand of Friendship certificate on the same day.
• Merlin Award - the charity, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, gave us a cuddly puppy who we call Merlin, after the clever dog who showed us how Hearing Dogs care for their owners. He is awarded to someone who demonstrates excellence linked to our Christian Value of the week, eg. someone who has good manners (Thankfulness), a peace-maker (Peace), someone who looks after the younger children without being asked (Compassion) or someone who is honest and truthful (Trust).
• Class of the Week Trophy - the Headteacher's decision is final! She's always on the lookout for good manners, tidiness, hard work and positive attitudes.
• Team Point Trophy - all children are in a team and collect points during the week. They are added up on Friday and the winners have their coloured ribbons attached to the special trophy.
• Special Awards - swimming certificates, sports certificates and medals are just some of the extras awarded to children throughout the year.

The Redmile Rap

Give it 1 (clap), give it 2 (clap, clap), give it 1,2,3 (x 4)

Chorus:
We are the children of Redmile School,
We take a pride in the things we do.
Learning together and having fun,
Who's for a good day? EVERYONE!

Give it 1 (clap), give it 2 (clap, clap), give it 1,2,3 (x 4)

Verse 1:
Give it all you've got
'Cos you've really got a lot.
Give it heart, give it mind,
Give it Soul don't stop! x 2

Chorus

Verse 2:
Everyone is special,
Everybody has gifts
So we're gonna work together
And we're gonna learn to give. x 2

Give it 1 (clap), give it 2 (clap, clap), give it 1,2,3

Repeat verses 1 and 2

Give it 1 (clap), give it 2 (clap, clap), give it 1,2,3

Chorus

Prayer for the End of the School Year

At the end of this school year we give thanks to God:

For all the teaching and learning that has taken place in our school, both in and out of the classroom,

For the talents and gifts that have been shared and the challenges that have been faced during the last school year;

For the burdens that have been lifted and the hurts that have been healed;

For the respect and care that has been given.

We give thanks for the friendships that have been made and for those that have grown.

For the hope that has lifted our hearts on the dark days and for the love that has kept us going.

We give thanks for the community that we are, and we ask you Lord to Bless all of Year 6 as they move to their new schools in the autumn. Pour out your love on them and may your Spirit inspire them with confidence and calmness.

Bless our families too as we take holidays in the coming weeks and may our time together leave us with happy memories to cherish.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen