Collective Worship

Promoting spiritual, moral and cultural development

Priestley Smith School carries out collective worship each day. This takes a variety of forms including form assemblies, departmental assemblies and whole school assemblies.

Assemblies focus on broad, moral issues such as honesty, equality, fairness, caring for and supporting others, rights and responsibilities, loyalty, trust, staying safe, anti-bullying, remembrance, sustainability, the environment, peace, citizenship, homelessness etc. Assemblies encourage reflection on a wide range of spiritual, moral and social issues and help to develop empathy, compassion and shared understanding. They are based on a wide range of stimuli, including thoughts for the day, fiction and non-fiction stories from a wide range of religions and cultures, inspirational figures, key events in history and world events. Assemblies, while of a broadly Christian character, celebrate key events and celebrations across a wide range of religions and encourage students to respect the faiths of others.

While parents have the right to withdraw their child from collective worship, the school hopes that they do not choose to do this as we feel strongly that helping children to understand and respect each other’s religions, while also considering a wide range of spiritual, moral and social issues, is the right way to develop informed, respectful citizens of the future.

We would ask any parent wishing to withdraw their child from collective worship to make an appointment to discuss this with a member of the senior leadership team before doing so.