Collective worship policies
Get inspiration for writing your collective worship policy with examples from primary, secondary and special schools. Plus, find guidance on what to include in your own policy.
- This policy is not statutory
- What to include if you have one
- Examples from schools
Details of statutory policies have now been incorporated into the new governance guides for maintained schools and academies. Take a look at our summary of the new governance guides.
We’ve reached out to the DfE to clarify some of the detail on the statutory policy list in the new guides, and we will update our related articles with any updates in due course. Select ‘save for later’ at the top of this page to be notified when this article has been updated.
This policy is not statutory
There's no legal requirement to have a collective worship policy.
However, if you're a school with a religious character, double check whether your relevant religious authority (e.g. your local diocese) has specific requirements for your school.
What to include if you have one
Keep it concise and cover:
- Your philosophical statement
- Planning and logistics
- Legal requirements
See this guidance for collective worship from Croydon Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) for more detail.
Find out more about the requirements for daily collective worship.
Examples from schools
Primary schools
Holy Family Roman Catholic Primary School in Rochdale (a voluntary aided school) has a collective worship policy with sections on:
- Legal requirements
- Planning worship
- Eucharist celebrations
Grange Primary School in Newham (a community school) has a collective worship policy that covers:
- Aims for the school and for pupils
- Contribution of collective worship towards the curriculum
- Management and planning
- Withdrawal
Secondary schools
St Clere's School in Essex (an academy) has a collective worship policy that includes sections on:
- Aims of collective worship
- Arrangements, including a timetable
- Roles and responsibilities
- Special days and acts of remembrance
The John Fisher School in Surrey (a voluntary aided school) has a collective worship policy which features:
- Statutory duties and legal requirements
- Monitoring, evaluation and review
Special school
The Redway School in Milton Keynes (a community special school), has a collective worship policy that looks at:
- Rationale for their collective worship
- Expectations for assemblies
