Collective Worship

Collective worship Legal requirements: All schools must provide a daily act of collective worship for all pupils. The aim of collective worship is to develop pupils socially, morally, spiritually and culturally. The 1994 legal framework documentation regarding collective worship still stands. Added to this is the recent requirement to promote British values as part of SMSC (Ofsted, September 2014, DfE, November 2014). Collective worship should draw pupils’ attention to the values the school wishes to develop both as a body and in each individual. Collective worship is about the growth of the person, their character and social outlook, whatever their academic aptitudes.

Right of withdrawal: the right of withdrawal from collective worship stands for all parents and teachers. Some people argue that the daily act of collective worship is not an appropriate educational requirement for schools. The detail of the guidance in Circular 1/94 about the nature of such collective worship does not represent the law. However this requirement would have to be tested in law, which has not yet been done. The 2013 report by Essex SACRE explores this possibly contentious issue.