St George's as A Church School

Our vision that all members of our community have an opportunity to ‘let your light shine’ is key to everything we do in school. We have strong relationships with St George’s Church and the parish of Upper Stour.

The vicar and foundation governors work closely with the headteacher, in serving and supporting the local community and developing the spiritual and pastoral development of the children and staff. The importance of quality relationships within our community is an essential aspect of our Christian vision and values.

Worship at St George’s is important in fulfilling our vision for all members of our community. Key Christian festivals such as Harvest, Christmas and Easter are all celebrated in church along with regular opportunities to hold our weekly worships in church. Once a term we also hold our Achievement Assembly in church.

We regularly welcome our local clergy and parishioners into school to support our R.E. curriculum and lead Collective Worship. We also enjoy welcoming Open the Book each week.

Collective Worship

Our collective worship is an expression of our school Christian vision of offering a community, with a sense of belonging where everyone is known and loved by God; it is inclusive, invitational and inspiring. It is a time for worship, celebration, prayer, stillness and reflection. It is an opportunity, without compulsion for all pupils and adults to grow spiritually, rejoicing in what makes each one of us and our school special. It is a time for contemplation and for seeking to understand our roles and responsibilities in the school community, it is a time for praising God, for asking for his help and inviting Him to be active in the life of our school.

Worship is both planned and spontaneous. There is dedicated time for daily worship both as a whole school team in church and in school, and class team.

As a school we value the opportunity to join together as children and staff to share prayer, praise and reflection together. 

Through our worships we offer the opportunity to find a point of peace and quiet in a day where we can explore ideas, learn from examples of Christian teachings and aspects of other faiths and cultures how we can best live our lives and shine!

Our worships are inclusive and delivered so everyone present feels included.

Our Shining Lights Worship Group

Our Shining Lights group meet once a fortnight with Mrs Farndale to evaluate our worships, plan special worships in church and in school, plan prayers and Bible readings. They contribute to our daily worships; suggesting hymns and sones, reading Bible readings, and saying prayers.

Our Worship Timetable:

Monday: Whole School Worship in the school hall - led by Mrs Farndale or the Open the Book Team. During this worship we explore our Christian Values.

Tuesday: Key Stage Worship - We worship together in our key stage groups.  Our teachers lead worship, based on Picture News exploring current issues, and events reflecting on British values.

Wednesday: Whole School Worship in the school hall led by Rev.d Graham sharing stories form the Bible. 

Thursday: Whole School Worship in the school hall - this worship is through songs and hyms. We love learning new songs as well as revisiting some known ones too. 

Friday: Whole School Achievement Worship in the school hall (one a term we hold this in the church).  Our families and friends of our school join us for this worship where we celebrate all of our achievements from the week.

In addition to this, we also welcome visitors into school who come to lead worship.  We also have special services throughout the year at Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas, Christingle, Ash Wednesday, Easter and our Leavers Service.