At Blundeston, we have developed a vibrant collective worship programme.  This combines class and whole school worship, with everyone joining together for our celebratory "Blundeston Flourishers" collective worship on Fridays.

We focus on our values of FAMILY, RESPECT & FLOURISH.  These are interwoven and embedded throughout our collective worship, during the year.

Our children learn stories from both the Old and New Testaments, developing a deep understanding of the chronology of the Bible.  They also learn about Jesus Christ - who he was, what he said and what he did.  Through collective worship, we want our children to appreciate the significance of his words and deeds and also understand his continuing relevance to our lives today.

We celebrate important times in the Christian calendar, as well as festivals and special events from other world religions, and Saints Days.

During collective worship, our children are encouraged to think, be still and reflect.  They are able to do this against the backdrop of our beautiful hall mural.

Our children regularly lead our collective worship, from preparing the hall to delivering it.  Children enjoy sharing their thoughts and creativity with the rest of the school community.

We collect the children's reflections in our class Reflection Journals.  Children also have their own Reflection books.  These reflections are personal and private and give children their own individual prayer spaces.

Here are some examples of our children's reflections:

“I’ve learnt that no matter what, I am beautiful in my own way”

“I am proud of me being a Flourisher”

“I’ve learnt that we can be anything if we put our minds to it and push ourselves”

“I liked that it [collective worship] made me realise that even though we like different things, speak a different language and have different colour skin, we are also the same”

“Collective worship means a lot to me as it reinforces my child’s Christian beliefs at home.  I LOVED IT!” (from a parent who attended collective worship)

Finally, we understand the joy of singing as an act of worship.  Our children learn a wide repertoire of songs, rooted in Christianity.

Bishop Graham's Visit

We were delighted to welcome the Bishop of Norwich, Bishop Graham, to our school.

He arrived to the sound of the Year 6 children singing one of our favourite songs, Shine Jesus Shine.  Bishop Graham immediately went to talk to children who had already gathered in the hall, along with staff, Father Glen, governors and parents.

Bishop Graham spoke to the children about all the special things he has to wear as a Bishop.

The children asked some brilliant questions to find out more about our Bishop and his job.  Examples included "have you explored all the parts of the Cathedral?" and "what made you want to become our Bishop?"

Each class then presented Bishop Graham with cards they had made to welcome him to our school and the Diocese.

Finally, we all joined in to sing a final rendition of Shine Jesus Shine.

We received a thank you card from Bishop Graham saying how much he had enjoyed his visit.  We hope to welcome him again soon!

Collective Worship with a Hindu Speaker

At Blundeston, we are proud of our RE curriculum.  We follow the St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich "Emmanuel" units of work.

We have chosen these because they support the enquiry model approach to our curriculum and give our children rich opportunities to deepen their understanding of Christianity as they progress through the school.

These units each start with a key theological question and then follow an enquiry-based approach as the children engage, enquire, explore, evaluate and express their learning through their class scrapbook.  These reflective learning journeys capture the children's learning beautifully and are a wonderful platform for the next part of their learning.

Our curriculum is organised to ensure that at least half of the units are based on Christianity, with the rest made up of learning about, and from, other world religions.

We ensure our children develop a deep understanding and knowledge of religion by welcoming visitors from different faiths, as well as visiting and comparing places of worship.

Our RE Scrapbooks

Our Visit to Norwich Cathedral & Mosque

We have recently developed our very own "Garden of Spirituality" in the depths of our much-loved wildlife area. The children have been a big part of its development as they told us what they needed to support their times of reflection and stillness.

We are very grateful for the funding we received from Norwich Diocese for this project.

It is still a work in progress but we are very proud of this new special space for our school community to use.

 

We are very proud of our most recent SIAMS report which took place in July 2023.  We received an Excellent outcome for this report.