What does Collective Worship look like in our school?
At St Hugh of Lincoln, Collective Worship is central to school life and reflects our Catholic identity. It is a daily, meaningful opportunity for pupils and staff to engage with God through prayer, Scripture, reflection, and action.
Prayer and Liturgy are distinct from assemblies and follow a four-part structure: Gather, Listen, Respond, Go Forth. These acts of worship take various forms, including teacher-led, child-led, and whole-school celebrations, all rooted in the liturgical calendar and the Gospel.
Prayer is woven into the school day, beginning and ending each session, and includes formal prayers, silent reflection, and spontaneous prayer. Weekly opportunities include whole-school worship on Mondays, class liturgies, hymn practices, child-led liturgies, and Good News assemblies. Eucharistic celebrations such as Masses and Feast Days are key highlights, involving pupils, staff, and the wider parish.
Worship is inclusive, respecting all faith backgrounds, and aims to deepen each child’s spiritual life and understanding of Catholic tradition. Pupils are encouraged to take leadership in planning and delivering worship, supported by staff and the school chaplain. Monitoring ensures that worship remains meaningful and aligned with our mission and the Prayer and Liturgy Directory.
Weekly Structure:
On Monday, we gather as a whole school community to celebrate the Gospel message in our Monday Worship. Through this act of collective worship we explore the Gospel message, reflect on its meaning and have time to praise and talk to God in our hearts and heads. Being together first thing on a Monday promotes a sense of togetherness at the start of a new week. The Gospel message then becomes an important framework for our weekly actions.
On Tuesday morning, the children are given the opportunity to develop and grow spiritually by practising ‘stillness and meditation’ led by their class teacher. A prayer that refers to the liturgical season or special feast day will be read and children are encouraged to reflect.
Once a week, classes pray together in a ‘Celebration of the Word’ following our Gather/ Word/ Respond/ Go Forth structure. All pupils are developed as leaders of prayer and there is an expectation that in KS2 at least part of the Celebration of the Word is entirely planned and delivered by the children. By Year Six, our children have developed in knowledge, understanding and confidence and are able to plan and lead a reflective and responsive Celebration of the Word for their peers.This is led by ‘Prayer Leaders’ every other week and once a month the teacher will lead this class celebration.
Thursday is our school singing worship. We firstly gather in a quiet moment of prayer and reflection, linking to the Gospel message for the week. We then sing together as a school community, to praise the Lord with our wonderful voices and celebrate His Word together in a joyous, inspiring and uplifting way.
Friday is the day of our ‘Good News’ assembly. Here we spend time together as a whole school community at the end of each week, to celebrate the ‘Good News’ from across our school and give thanks to God for his support and endless love in our achievements and accomplishments.
