Worship Time 2022-23 - Weekly Summaries

Below you will find a summary of the Worship Time for that week.  Please see the headteacher for a full copy of the weekly Worships (the files are too large for the website as include videos etc.).

Worship 3

This week we have started a series of worships on the theme of Teamwork.  We thought about the teams and groups we belong to and what makes a ‘good’ team player.  From the Bible, we looked at how Jesus began to put his team of disciples together by inviting Simon (Peter) and Andrew to leave their roles as fishermen and, as it says in Luke 5:10, “Not be afraid as from now on you will catching people.”  We also held a special service to celebrate the joy and energy that Dexter brought to the life of the school.  An enormous thank you on behalf of the school, Dexter’s family and the Dexter’s Arc charity for the very generous donations that were given today.  The final total will be shared once it has all been counted!

Worship 2

In this week’s worship time we have continued to look at the meaning of our school vision/motto – ‘Life in all its fullness.’  This is taken from the Book of John, “I have come so that you may have life, life in all its fullness.”  We demonstrated the idea of the school values (God’s Blessings) overflowing out of us by filling up a house point tube to the brim and then continuing to add more tokens.  If we use the spare blessings we don’t need ourselves to make a difference to the lives of others we are demonstrating an abundance of life.  As it says in John 7:38, “Rivers of life-giving water will flow from their hearts.”

Worship 1

In this week’s worship time we have looked at the meaning of our school vision/motto – ‘Life in all its fullness.’  This is taken from the Book of John, “I have come so that you may have life, life in all its fullness.”  We explain this to the children as using our supply of school values (God’s Blessings) within us to make a difference to the lives of others who are in need.  We have chosen Aspiration, Resilience, Wisdom and Kindness as the blessings for us to focus on as a school.  We also gathered together in the hall for a short worship to mark the passing away of the Queen.

Worship Time Summaries 2021-22

Worship 29

We finished the term with our Leavers' Service at a packed SML.  The Y6 pupils presented songs, poems and artwork linked to their Courageous Advocate work on Equality.  Each Y6 pupil was individually celebrated and we sang some of the children's favourite hymns.  Prizes were presented to individual pupils who had been role-models for the school's vision and values.  One parent commented, "Thank you Longfleet, what an amazing and uplifting service to celebrate every single child and how brilliant they all are."

Worship 28

This week we have been celebrating the recent adventures of the orchestra (The B&B Tour – Birmingham and Bournemouth).  Music plays a central role in many acts of worship and allows us to join together as one body to praise God.  As it says in Psalm 100:1-2, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!”  We also discussed the importance of times of stillness within our worships where we can focus our thoughts for a few moments on our faith away from the ‘noise’ that our busy lives bring us.

Worship 27

In worship this week we revisited the story of Noah’s Ark.  To show his promise to the people of the earth that he would look after us, God put a rainbow in the sky after the floods had gone.  In Genesis 9:12 it says, ““I have set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13).  The rainbow symbol is used for a variety of purposes including hope and equality.  Our outdoor whole school service on Tuesday was a joyous event where we celebrated our differences and shared our similarities with the wider school community.

Worship 26

In worship time we looked at the story of Jonah and the Whale.  In the story, Jonah was asked to go to Ninevah to share the word of God.  However, he went in the opposite direction on a boat.  There was a mighty storm which resulted in Jonah owning up to his fellow shipmates that he might be the cause as he was running away from his duties.  He jumped overboard and was swallowed by a whale.  He was transported by the whale and eventually ended up in Ninevah where he shared stories about God with the locals and calm was restored to the region.  We discussed the fact that sometimes we have to do things we might not be keen on because it helps other people e.g. tidying our room and also that if we have made a mistake we should own up to up it and take responsibility for our actions.

Worship 25

This week we continued the story of Moses and thought about how he was a courageous leader.  We introduced the idea of being Global Citizens who need to be mindful of the injustices of the world we live within and that there are some families that are forced to move from their home country in order to reach a place of safety.  We also held our Jubilee Celebration Service at St. Mary’s Longfleet Church which was a lovely occasion where the school came together in person for the first time in three years in an act of worship (the school hall is too small!).  As part of the service, the KS2 choir, the orchestra and the Rock Band all performed and we prayed for Queen Elizabeth II just as she asked everyone to do on her Coronation Day.

“I ask you all, whatever your religion, to pray for me on the day of my Coronation.  To pray that God will give me wisdom and strength to carry out the promises that I should be making.  I have been uplifted and sustained by the knowledge that your thoughts and prayers are with me.”

The Supreme Governor of the Church of England (2^ndJune 1953)

Worship 24

This week we looked at the story of Moses as an example of a courageous leader from the Bible.  He led the Israelite slaves out of Egypt.  To do this, he placed his trust in God to provide a safe passage via the parting of the Red Sea.  In a moment of reflection, the children considered who they could turn to when life gets tricky.  One strategy that can be used is to rely on our beliefs.  As it says in Micah (7:8), “When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”  This is the Bible verse that goes alongside our school value of Resilience.

Worship 23

We were treated this week to a uplifting story from one of our YR pupils – Jessica.  We shared her photos of a recent cake sale which she had organised to raise money for a family friend who is currently receiving hospital treatment.  An amazing total of over £500 was donated from the event.  We related this story to that of the Good Samaritan.  Over the next few weeks, the Y1-Y6 children will be studying their Global Citizenship/Courageous Advocate unit of work where they focus on an area of inequality in the world e.g. access to clean water and learn about individual campaigners and organisations that are associated to the cause.  We shared the Bible verse from Mark 12:31, “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

Worship 22

This week we begun to think about the importance of our role in ensuring the world is beautiful place to live in for everyone.  Later this term we will be starting our Global Citizenship/Courageous Advocate units of work and so we talked about being proactive if you notice a change needs to happen.to make something better.  We looked at the story in the Bible of The Road To Emmaus (Luke 24:13-49) which is the start of the process of Jesus handing over responsibility to his followers to spread the teachings of the Lord and be role models for others to copy.

Worship 21

We celebrated Easter with three church services at St. Mary’s Longfleet Church.  A packed congregation joined in joyfully with the YR and KS1 service which involved hymns that required jumping actions, the KS1choir being spring chickens and a hot cross bun eating detective!  The Y5/6 service was led by the children and included some beautiful hymns, the KS2 choir, the Rock Band and a narrative incorporating soldiers, angels and a Roman Governor.  The Y3/4 service is always a moving act of worship as the Y4 children, supported in song by the Y3 pupils, perform a dramatic retelling of the Easter Story including the triumphant arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem, the events leading up to the crucifixion and finishing with the resurrection of Christ.

Worship 20

This week we have continued to look at the Easter story and first of all looked at Jesus’ triumphant arrival into Jerusalem.  We then focussed our attention on Peter, who was one of Jesus’ disciples.  When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied knowing him three times and afterwards felt incredibly guilty about his actions.  However, Jesus forgave Peter and put his trust in him to help spread God’s word.  We all make mistakes as we move through life and it is important that when we say sorry we mean it.  However, we also need to be willing to forgive other people who have upset us.  In Ephesians 4:32 it says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Worship 19

As we build up to Easter, we have started to look into aspects of the Easter story.  This week we heard about Mary Magdalene.  She was a follower of Jesus who had had a tough time during parts of her life.  Jesus showed her kindness and when it came to the moment of his death upon the cross, Mary was there for him.  In the days after his death, Mary visited Jesus’ tomb and was one of the first people he appeared to when he arose.  In our worships, we thought about how being kind to someone will often result in kindness being returned.  This directly links to what is often called the Golden Rule in the Bible, “Do for others what you want them to do for you.” (Matthew 7:12)

Worship 18

This week we have used some of our worship time to think about the reasons for engaging with Comic Relief and how some of the money raised is spent.  In Proverbs 22:9 it states, "Happy are generous people, because they give some of their food to the poor." Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen the school community show their generosity in several ways and the children have been keen to be fully involved in supporting those that are currently in need.  We were proud to be in the Daily Echo earlier this week for our charitable efforts towards Ukraine.

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/19989440.primary-school-poole-makes-thousands-donations-ukraine/

Worship 17

This week we have looked at two things.  Firstly, we talked about Lent and heard about the story of Jesus in the wilderness.  Lent is period of time before Easter where Christians will take time to reflect and pray in the build up to this important festival.  We know that some children have chosen to give something up during Lent or to do daily kind acts.  Secondly, we took a moment to think about International Women’s Day (8^th March) which resonates with our approach in school of sharing our similarities and celebrating our differences.  We shared a Bible verse (Romans 2:11), “For God shows no partiality (favouritism or bias).”

Worship Time 16

Love has been the theme for this week to coincide with St. Valentine’s Day last Monday.  We heard about the story of Valentine (226AD-269AD) – a bishop in Italy who shared the Christian message of love and forgiveness.  Emperor Claudius, the leader of the Roman Empire at the time, did not want his men to get married as he felt they would not want to join the army and therefore he banned all marriages.  Valentine continued to perform secret wedding ceremonies for which he was sent to prison.  Whilst in prison, he prayed for the lead jailer’s daughter, Julia, who was blind.  In time, her sight returned and the jailer freed Valentine.  However, for continuing to spread God’s message of love, Valentine was eventually rearrested and Claudius ordered for him to be executed.  On the day of his execution, 14^th February, tradition has it that he left a note for Julia and signed it ‘Your Valentine’.  Throughout the Bible there are many references to ‘love’ including the following verse from 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.”

Worship Time 16

This week in our worship time we have been using the Children’s Mental Health Week resources and ideas.  The Captains’ Council led the worship at the start of the week to introduce the focus and this was followed up in class through watching the assembly on the CMHW website (https://youtu.be/dySvIlAuiEk) and taking some time to discuss how we can look after our own mental health and support those around us.  Each of us is a unique person in the eyes of God and we all have our own special talents.  As it says in 1 Peter 4:10-11, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.”

Worship Time 15

The lion has been our focus animal of the week.  We heard the story of Androcles and the Lion where, due to the kind actions of Androcles in removing the thorn from the lion’s paw, he was saved when he thrown to the lions many years later.  We also looked at the story of Daniel and the Den of Lions from the Bible (Daniel 6).  Daniel’s determination to continue with his prayers resulted in him being put into a den of lions.  However, because of his strong faith, Daniel was saved by God.  From these stories we took a couple of messages.  Firstly, to treat other people and things with kindness as it will often result in kindness being shown to us.  Secondly, that even when we have to enter a difficult situation (the Lions’ Den), having a strong faith can provide us with reassurance that someone is there to support us in a time of need

Worship Time 14

We started the week looking at the Hare and the Tortoise fable written by Aesop.  The tortoise showed tremendous aspiration in being positive and striving for excellence despite the fact that it would have started the event knowing it was going to be difficult for him/her to come first.  Having the ‘right’ attitude towards a task is part of being properly prepared.  We shared the Bible stories of the Ten Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13) and the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27).  In both of these stories, some of the characters involved were like the hare and did not think things through in enough detail.  Ultimately they ended up not achieving as well as they could have done.  In our busy lives, taking a moment to pause and consider how we approach things or how we communicate with other people, can pay dividends in the long run.

Worship Time 13

We have been thinking about our school value of Wisdom this week, linking this to several verses from the Book of Proverbs.  To stimulate our thoughts, we considered the wise status that owls are given. Throughout many cultures and books, the 200+ species of owls are viewed as a creature that represents wisdom.  Like owls, humans have some similarities and many differences.  These differences can be within families, within people of the same culture as well as between people of different cultures.  One way of showing wisdom is to show respect, tolerance and interest towards everyone within society in order to create harmonious communities.  As it says in Proverbs 3:17, “Wisdom will make your life pleasant.  It will bring you peace.”

Worship Time 12

Our theme for this half-term is ‘Learning from Nature’ and this week we thought about the effort that a butterfly has to go through to break out of its chrysalis.  Through this effort, the butterfly strengthens its wings and is therefore able to fly once it is free.  We took two lessons from this point.  Firstly, it is a good thing to have to grapple with a problem because it helps build either, or both, mental and physical resilience for the future.  Secondly, we discussed that if someone had broken the chrysalis for the butterfly it would not have developed its own wing strength enough.  Therefore, we thought about the fact that it is better to help someone solve a problem for themselves rather than just doing it for them (e.g. tying shoelaces) so that in the future they can be more independent.  To further understand that building resilience is a something positive to work upon, we looked at a Bible verse from the Book of James (1:1-2), “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because it produces perseverance.”  To quote a line from a Miley Cyrus song, “Life’s a climb, but the view is great.”

Christmas Worships

This week in our worships we have shared with the local community a variety of services and nativities linked to the celebration of Christmas (please read Newsletter 2 for articles and photos of the services (Newsletter 2). Comments from parents and grandparents included:-

- "I sincerely wanted to thank you for a wonderful service at SML yesterday.  This year has been extremely difficult for a lot of people and there is an incredible amount of uncertainty at present with the pandemic.  I was so proud and grateful to have experienced that little bit of magic and I think above all, it gave me hope that our beautiful children can still be part of something truly special.  This will stay with me forever."

- "I'm writing to say thank you for the most beautiful service this morning.  The atmosphere in the church was truly magical and I felt emotional from the moment I walked in.  It was very special.  I felt so proud to be a part of the Longfleet community."

Worship Time 11

This week in our worships we have continued to look at the Christmas story with a particular focus on the journey that Joseph and Mary took from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  A census had been called by Emperor Augustus and therefore everyone had to return to their ancestral town.  The ninety mile walk took approximately five days to complete.  In our worships we talked about the word ‘anticipation’ and discussed how our emotions change in scenarios such as going on a long car journey or waiting in line for a turn on a fairground ride.  We thought about how Mary would have felt during her long trip, particularly when she arrived in Bethlehem to find that Joseph had not booked a room!  One imagines that during the adventure, Mary will have had to show a lot of resilience and a ‘bouncebackability’ attitude.  This is one of our core school values and when life challenges us the most, having a strong faith can be of huge support.  As it says in the Book of Micah (7:8), “When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”

Worship Time 10

We have focussed our attention this week on the start of Advent which is the period where Christians prepare themselves to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.  We imagine a number of the children will be enjoying the daily routine of opening the next window on their Advent calendars.  Windows in buildings enable the outside light to enter and Jesus’ arrival is referred to in the Bible (John 1:9) as, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”  Advent wreaths can be found in most churches at this time of year with the four candles representing hope, peace, love and joy surrounding a central light to celebrate Jesus.  In our Class Worship this week, we watched a video made by St. Mary’s Longfleet Church which talked about the purpose of the Advent wreath.   

Worship Time 9

We have focussed our energies on the theme of kindness this week. In our worships we have been thinking about how we can be kind to those around us including people we might not necessarily usually talk to. Each class has produced a Kindness Charter to share ideas of how they can be kind to their class peers. Some children spent time at the Poole Food Bank helping to organise the donated goods into the correct areas whilst another group delivered a gift to Mr Hedges the Lollipop Man to thank him for his hard work in keeping us safe. Random acts of kindness have been taking place around the school, including the office team being given a lovely bunch of flowers. Kindness is one of our core values and around our kindness badge we have a verse from the Book of Proverbs (3:3), “Do not kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”

Worship Time 8

Our worships this week have focussed on the theme of remembrance.  We learnt about the origins of John McCrae’s famous ‘In Flanders Field’ poem and held a two-minute silence at 11am on the 11^th.  The Captains’ Council walked down to the Poole Park War Memorial to commemorate the ex-pupils of the school who died or were injured whilst serving in the armed forces. From the Bible, we looked at the story of Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8:23–27, Mark 4:35–41, and Luke 8:22–25) and discussed that trusting our faith is one method of getting through a difficult time in our lives.  We shared the following Bible verse (Romans 12:18), “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone.”

Worship Time 7

In KS2 this week we have launched the Accelerated Reader competition between the classes.  To celebrate our love of books, we have spent time in our worship sessions reminding ourselves of the special nature of the Bible.  We have thought about which Bible stories are our favourites and what we can learn from them to apply to our lives today.  The children held their own Bible quiz to see who in the class had the most knowledge.  Here are some of the questions:-

• What is the symbol of God's promise to Noah?
• What was the name of the Sea where Jesus calmed a storm?
• People look on the outward appearance, but what does God look on?
• Who received the Ten Commandments from God?

As it says in Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”  So if you are unsure of one of the answers above, perhaps have a look in a Bible.

Worship Time 6

We enjoyed visiting the church for our Harvest services this week where the children led the worships through their readings, prayers and singing.  The Reception children shared a short worship in the school hall with their family members.  We also heard about how our food donations are organised and distributed by the Poole Foodbank. In our class worships, the children learnt about the story of The Feeding of the Five Thousand and discussed which of our school values Jesus had demonstrated in the sharing of the loaves and the fishes.  Being generous towards others (through donating goods, time, knowledge, friendship) is a key Christian trait that provides joy to the both the giver and the receiver.  As it says in Proverbs 11:25, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

Harvest

It was a delight to hold our Harvest services at St Mary's Longfleet this week.  Visiting the church is always a special occasion and the children from Y1/2, Y3/4 and Y5/6 led lovely worships which included hymns, readings, prayers plus a video from Poole Foodbank which explained how the children's food donations would be processed and shared.  Our Reception children joined in with a worship in the school hall and sang enthusiastically alongside their parents.  One member of the school community wrote to the school following the YR Harvest Worship, "Thank you to you and all the team for the fantastic Harvest Worship this morning.  It was lovely to see how you explained how they were going to help with the worship by saying their responses and giving them a chance to have a quiet practise before they said it 'for real'.  I've been hearing snippets of songs for a while and this morning my two granddaughters walked ti school singing their Harvest songs!"

Worship Time 5

This week we have looked at the story of Jesus healing a man with leprosy.  This follows on from the theme of not judging people by what they look like but from what they show in their heart.  We went on to discuss about what we could do if we saw someone who had been ‘left out’ by others and would we be resilient enough to help them even if our friends had walked on by.  As it says in Exodus 23, “Do not follow the crowd when they do wrong . . . . if you happen to see your enemy’s donkey running loose, take it back to him.  If his donkey has fallen under its load, help him get the donkey to its feet again; don’t just walk off.”

Worship Time 4

This week has seen our Captains’ Council ballot take place as the pupils vote for who they would like to represent their house from Y2, Y4 and Y6.  In our Worship Time we reminded ourselves of the British Values of: -

• Rule of Law
• Individual Liberty
• Mutual Respect
• Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
• Democracy

We used the example of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech to demonstrate the power of our voice in being able to make a positive difference.  From the quality of the prospective Captains’ Councillors’ speeches, it would appear we have a few budding orators across the school.  We encouraged the children to cast their votes accordingly after hearing the messages from the candidates.  As it says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Worship Time 3

Mr Heawood’s ‘wonky’ trolley was a star feature of this week’s main worship.  Out of the four wheels, one was missing and one did not roll.  We discussed that this made it harder for Mr Heawood to help keep the school tidy.  As we have four school values (God’s blessings), we chatted about what it would be like if we did not have any of a particular value within us.  For example, what would it be like if we were full of resilience, aspiration and wisdom but had no kindness? Or, what if we had lots of kindness, wisdom and aspiration but gave up as soon as things got challenging?  Throughout the week, in our follow up worships, the children have thought about which value they might need to ‘top’ themselves up with and who they could ask for help in doing so.  We discussed that through talking to God in our prayers, we could ask for his guidance in helping us to keep the ‘level of our values’ balanced within us so that we do not go off on a ‘wonky’ course!  As it says in Matthew 7:7 in relation to talking to God, “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

Worship Time 2

This week we have continued to unpick the meaning of our school vision, “Life in all its fullness” from the Book of John.  We talked about the idea of having a plentiful amount of God’s blessings (for example our school values of Aspiration, Resilience, Kindness and Wisdom) within us and then the importance of using these blessings to make a difference.  We used the story of the Good Samaritan, as an example from the bible, to demonstrate this concept in action.  In our Monday Worship, some of the children bravely volunteered to use their artistic skills to draw a picture of the school values within us such as a kind heart, hands and voice, a wise brain, showing resilience by standing on our own two feet and using the aspiration that flows around our bodies.

Worship Time 1

This week we have enjoyed being together again in the school hall for our Monday Main Worship and our midweek Singing Worship.  We have been focussing on developing a deeper understanding of our school vision, “Life in all its fullness” which comes from John 10:10.  On our school website - https://www.longfleet.poole.sch.uk/vision-and-values/ - Mark Hay from SML Church has produced a video recording to explain to parents the theological foundation of our school vision.  In our Worship Time we thought about building up a plentiful amount of God’s blessings (such as kindness, resilience, aspiration and wisdom – our school values) within us so that we can then make a difference to those in need by sharing the extra blessings we have available.  If we do this, we are living a plentiful and purposeful life – a life in all its fullness.

Worship Time Organisation

Organisation of Collective Worship at Longfleet (CE) Primary School:

KS2

Monday – KS2 Collective Worship

Tuesday – Class Worship

Wednesday – Hymn Worship or St Mary’s Longfleet Collective Worship

Thursday – Class Worship (Reflection)

Friday –Whole School Celebration Worship 
 
KS1/EYFS

Monday – KS1 Collective Worship

Tuesday – Hymn Worship or St Mary's Collective Worship

Wednesday – Class Worship

Thursday – Class Worship (Reflection)

Friday – Whole School Celebration Worship
 

Worship Themes

Within our worships we look at how we can use the plentiful supply of our school values (Aspiration, Kindness, Resilience and Wisdom) to make a difference to the communities we are part of.  So far this year our themes have been:-

AT1 = What does LIAIF mean to us and Teamwork

We also cover the traditional Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter including services at SML.  Harvest is celebrated at SML Church including a collection for the Poole Food Bank.  Times of national commemoration are also covered e.g. Remembrance Day as well as relevant 'national weeks' e.g. Anti-Bullying, Children's Mental Health.