Smallwood CE Primary AcademyWorship, Church and Community
Worship
Our worships this school year reflect on our School Values, Christian Values and British values alongside themes of Diversity. Our focus this term is on 'Following in Jesus' Footsteps' and being a Courageous Advocate.
All our worships are Inclusive, Invitational and Inspiring, consisting of:
- Gathering with reflective music playing and Lighting the candle to welcome Jesus the Light of the world in to our worship.
- The Word (from the Bible) Passages from the Bible linked to the worship theme are shared for reflection, discussion, and prayer.
- Response to The Word: Pupils and staff respond to the Bible readings by reflecting on their meaning, discussing their relevance, and connecting them to their own lives. This can involve peer discussions, personal reflections, or sharing with everyone.
- Sending Out with a Mission: Worship concludes with a prayer, a liturgical blessing and sending the children back into their daily lives with a sense of purpose. They are encouraged to live out the values and teachings they encountered during the liturgical experience in worship.
Worship Structure
Monday- Mr Lewis introducing the theme for the week.
Tuesday- Revd. Heather continuing the theme as a whole school or in Key Stages.
Wednesday- Staff leading or class worships with parents coming in to watch.
Thursday- Mrs Darlington leading hymn worship & orchestra playing
Friday- Celebration worship, led by a member of SLT.
Spirituality at Smallwood
At Smallwood we encourage all children and adults to develop a growing awareness of themselves, their relationship with others, with God and with the world. We use the anaolgy of:
Windows: Look out and discover the world
Mirrors: Reflect on our experiences
Doors: Respond with action
We embrace moments of Spirituality and reflective times throughout the day and in all areas of the curriculum. Each class also has a daily ‘Moment of Spirituality’ before the home time prayer.
We celebrate examples of Courageous Advocacy and ‘Following in Jesus' Footsteps’, with children's photograph's going on the display in the hall sharing their experience.
Prayer Box
This can be found on top of the piano in the hall for children to write a prayer if they would like to. These could include a sorry prayer, a thank you prayer or a please prayer. Children are welcome to write their names on or keep the prayers anonymous if they wish. Prayers are then shared together every Thursday afternoon in our hymn worship.
Church
Our Welcome Service was held in church on Friday 9th September and was a lovely occasion to welcome all our new pupils into our school family.
The Harvest Service on Sunday 28th September was well attended with the traditional procession around the village and donations of food for the local food bank, 'The Food Store' and New Life Church.
On Tuesday 11th November we held our reflective Remembrance Service in church, with each class having decorated one of the church windows with children’s artwork.
New Life Church came in to school on Monday 8th December to lead a 'Christmas in a Box' workshop with Maple Class. The children explored the Christmas story through a range of lively activties and craft, deepening their understanding of the story of Jesus' birth.
EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 all retold the Nativity story in their own special way in beautiful performances in church in our final week of the autumn term. We then finished the term with our Christingle Service in church on Friday 19th December.
YAAS Club (Youth at Astbury and Smallwood, for pupils aged Y6 upwards) made colourful ‘Holding Crosses’ for each class to have in their Reflection Area for moments of Spirituality and prayer. There are some on the Worship Area in the hall and one in the prayer basket on the piano. Annie Molyneux (Y6), Ellie Goodwin (Y6) and Lily Dowson (Y3 but sister to Isaac Dowson- Y7) handed them out to each class. There has been positive feedback from the staff and children about the crosses. Thank you to Nicola Holt, Sophie Molyneux and all the members of YAAS Club! YAAS Club are now going to look at making some Reflection Stones with Christian Values on for our reflection areas.
Community
On Saturday 8th November we had a great turnout for our annual 'Children in Need' Countryfile Ramble at Macclesfield Forest, raising money and spending a great morning together.
Throughout Advent we ran our usual 'Reverse Advent Calendar' with children bringing in donations each day for our local food bank, 'The Food Store' and New Life Church.
'Spotlight' Music Club went out in to the community throughout December to spread some Christmas joy. They performed at the Senior Citizen's Christmas lunch, Rode Hall Christmas market, Lawton Manor Care Home, New Milton House Care Home and at the Rotary Christmas Concert at Daneside Theatre.
School, Faith, and Ethos Council
School, Faith, and Ethos Council continue to meet once a fortnight. The children planned a range of Pudsey themed activities for Children in Need, selling merchandise and raffle tickets for a giant Pudsey, raising over £500 to the online giving total.
They are now finalising plans for the House-Point awards for our school house:
St Sebastian (Red): Patron Saint of Sport
St Cecelia (Blue): Patron Saint of Music
St Philomena (Yellow): Patron Saint of Children
St Gregory (Green): Patron Saint of Education