OFF-THE-PEG assemblies could answer schools’ prayers as they struggle with the legal requirement to provide a daily act of collective worship.
The plans come courtesy of the Church of England and the superhighway to heaven, the Internet.
For many headteachers assemblies are currently little more than a hymn, prayer and a rollicking. The free service - available 24 hours a day, seven days a week - could seem heaven-sent to the thousands of schools breaking the law which demands daily collective worship of a predominantly Christian nature.
Liz Paver, head of Intake first school, Doncaster, and a member of the Church of England’s Synod and Archbishops Council, welcomed the move.
This year the Church of England estimates every school will have to prepare for at least 200 acts of collective worship due to national curriculum guidelines.
Its website provides fresh materials each week. Next week’s suggestion for primaries is a topical news issue. Secondaries, meanwhile, should look at Dame Cicely Saunders, a pioneer of the hospice movement. Recommended music is Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel.
The site can be found at both www.natsoc.org.uk and www.culham.ac.uk
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