Collective Worship

We hold daily acts of Collective Worship which are broadly Christian in nature, whilst also celebrating and embracing other major world faiths. Worship is led by clergy and lay readers from St Nicholas Church. School staff regularly lead worship and pupils also prepare and feed into ideas for celebration. Pupils regularly learn about how school and Christian values are put into action, through bible stories and global events.

We celebrate that Christianity is a global faith, and enjoy learning about the lived experiences of people all over the world.

We are a singing school! Staff and children enjoy selecting music for the school to listen to on arrival for Collective Worship. Additionally, children enjoy singing action songs, learning Makaton to accompany some in the time together. We sing about values which are important to us, alongside using songs which are of a Christian nature.

Children’s Worship in School

Children are regularly encouraged to contribute to collective worship, with thoughts, ideas and prayers. Children will assist in different ways, such as setting up resources and opening collective worship time with a selected prayer or bible verse. In addition to this, children actively contribute practical ideas to how we can show our values in action.

We have a pupil Collective Worship Group, made up of children in KS2. They contribute ideas for Collective Worship, gather feedback from pupils and deliver a session of Collective Worship each term. Our Collective Worship feedback book is run by the group, who gather thoughts from pupils and adults – ever popular at Dunnington, is the opportunity to sing a song!

Visitors for Collective Worship

We like to welcome visitors from many different faiths and christian denominations.

We love to hear about the way in which their faith helps them lead their lives. We are also interested in the many similarities there are between the  values and principles of all religions.

Each term YOYO, the York Schools and Youth Trust, comes in to deliver Collective Worship, based on a Christian theme, such as Easter, Harvest or Christmas. 

Classrooms

Classes enjoy celebrating and signposting different values, and verses which are important to us. These are displayed creatively in each year group.

For more information, please see our Collective Worship Policy, which is available on our Policies and Documents page.

Spirituality

‘Spirituality includes the sense of otherness beyond the immediate and physical. It includes the sense of wonder and creativity, of awe and excitement, working more often through the imagination and intuition than through the rational .’
John Cox

Here at Dunnington CE Primary School, we see spirituality as the ability to reflect inwards, have a sense of awe and wonder relating to the world around us, and a curiosity about life, in all its fullness. We believe there are opportunities to grow in this across the curriculum,and woven into the interactions of day to day life in school, and our community.

Windows, Mirrors and Doors:

  • Windows are for looking out onto the world and becoming aware of its wonders, both the ‘wows’ and ‘ows’; things that are ‘awe-full’ and make us wonder and be grateful and things that are ‘awful’ and make us wonder and ask questions.
  • Mirrors are for looking into and reflecting, alone and together, to see things more clearly, for thinking and asking important questions learning from our own and each other’s responses.
  • Doors are for looking through in order to then act or express this in some way in response; for moving on, making choices, and doing something creative, active and purposeful in response.

For more information, please see our Spiritual Moral Social and Cultural Policy, which is available on our Policies and Documents page.

Our Local Church

We hugely value our links with St Nicholas’ Church, which is just a short walk away in the village. We are fortunate to be able to celebrate many key moments throughout the year, such as Easter and Harvest, in the beautiful building which is grade 2* listed, with the oldest stonework dating from the 11th Century. The main section has been much extended and re-ordered over the centuries. There is a peaceful Lady Chapel dating from the 1930s and the “Tower Room”, which was added in 1987 and takes its name from the Norman style clock tower, acts as a church hall. St Nicholas’ Church is one member of the Benefice of Rural East York. The Benefice also includes Holy Trinity, Holtby; Holy Trinity, Stockton on the Forest; and St Mary’s, Warthill churches. It is part of Derwent Deanery, which is part of the Archdeaconry of York, which is part of the Diocese of York.

You can read more about St Nicholas’ Church (including its mission, history, information about services and events, and much more) on the church website.

Community Links

Links to external websites are provided so that users of our website have additional relevant information, which they may wish to explore.  However,Dunnington Church of England Primary School is not responsible for the content of external websites, and the inclusion of a link should not be understood as an endorsement.