At Henley, the daily act of collective worship is viewed as an integral and important part of school life.

Through this and in the general ethos of the school we seek to promote our school vision, whilst exploring our Christian values.

(See Ethos and Values page – each value is embedded in a biblical story)

It is a time where we come together to find out about God’s love for us and celebrate our achievements (and sometimes failures) together. The worship of the school promotes the Christian values which permeate the ethos of the school. As such, the contributions of staff, pupils, church clergy and other visitors are valued highly.

We have a weekly pattern for our Collective Worship which is held everyday at 9:00 am:

• Monday – Christian Values (Based on theme for the term) supported by the Worship Crew.
• Tuesday  – Celebrating and recognising festivals and celebrations from around the world
• Wednesday – Singing Collective Worship 
• Thursday  –  In class led by Class Teachers using Roots and Shoots to focus on our Christian Values (Based on theme for the term) 
• Friday – Celebration Assembly 

As a Church of England school, Collective Worship is Christian in character and based on the Anglican annual calendar. Worship may include singing, a story, prayer or sharing. We follow a theme of values each half-term which is shared in the monthly newsletter.

Liturgical Calendar

The annual cycle of the Christian year allows us to commemorate the life and ministry of Christ, to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit which led to the foundation of the early Church, and to recall the ministry of the apostles and martyrs who spread the Christian faith.

The liturgical year provides a structure for the Church’s collective memory, a way of consecrating our human experience of time in the celebration of God’s work – in Christ and in human beings made holy through Christ.

Distinct liturgical colours may appear in connection with different seasons of the liturgical year. The dates of the festivals vary somewhat between the different churches, though the sequence and logic is largely the same.

‘Garden of Reflection’

Our ‘Garden of Reflection’ is for children who may need quiet time or need to sit a reflect. There is also a prayer tree where each child in the school wrote a prayer to adorn it.

Mrs Dhugga, a previous teacher, presented the school with a beautiful carved wooden sign for our garden. We would like to thank Mrs Dhugga for her wonderful gift.

Sincere thanks to the Paine Family who have donated this beautiful hand-made wooden cross for our ‘Garden of Reflection’. Special appreciation goes to Chris Paine who has done such an incredible job painstakingly engraving it with the words from the Bible:

‘And he took the children in his arms and blessed them’

The Paine family kindly gave us the cross to commemorate the last of their four children passing through our doors.

Each class has a reflective prayer area in their classroom. In our reflective areas are Bibles, Prayer Books the children have made, our Christian Values, candles to represent the ‘The Holy Trinity’ and other objects  each class chose.

Our 12 Christian Values are:

Thankfulness, Forgiveness, Service, Courage, Compassion, Trust, Respect, Generosity,  Perseverance, Justice, Truthfulness and Friendship.

Supporting Local, National and World Charities

At Henley in Arden Church of England Primary School we believe in promoting social responsibility and over the years we have raised money for a number of charities, local and national.

Sometimes these are chosen by staff, children or parents. Often they are charities that have a particular significance to members of our community. Our aim is to encourage all children to feel a sense of justice. We continue to build and encourage their courageous advocacy. 

A huge well done to everyone for all of the contributions to these wonderful charities.