Collective worship is one of those jobs that sounds simple until you are the one planning it. Plenty of church schools now serve communities where few families attend church, and some schools are multi-faith or have no faith at all. Leaders in that position often want the same thing: a scheme they can pick up and run with, that fits the school's values, and that does not mean building a fresh set of slides every week.

A recent discussion in the HeadteacherChat Facebook group brought together a good range of answers. Here is what came up, gathered in one place.

Ready-made schemes

Big Start Assemblies were mentioned more than once. Leaders said the children enjoy them, and there are two separate plans, each on a three-year cycle, which can also be used in any order. One school adapts them and uses the head, heart and hands structure to shape worship, and has started to bring it into the curriculum too.

Picture News came up most often. Some schools use it for the whole week, and one church school head uses it for class worship. It includes a collective worship version, and that head reads both each week and changes the order to suit the school, which takes about 15 minutes.

Other suggestions included assemblies.org.uk from SPCK, a Sparkyard subscription (songs for collective worship and assemblies, each with a Christian theme and a song as its focus), Mark 10 Mission, and Simply Collective Worship, which is covered below.

Simply Collective Worship

Simply Collective Worship is a HeadteacherChat partner. It offers ready-to-use primary assemblies and thoughts for the day, designed to cut preparation time and support values-led school life and pupils' spiritual development.

The range includes Feel Good Assemblies by Phil Lord for ages 3 to 7, which runs on a four-year cycle. Saints, Sayings and Seasons of Celebration covers ages 7 to 11, and the 2026-27 edition is part of a four-year cycle too. Our Wonderful World is a themed series on nature, sustainability and environmental choices, with 12 weekly themes and 62 assemblies and thoughts for the day.

As with any scheme, check that it suits your pupils, your ethos and your collective worship requirements, because using a resource does not on its own show that you are compliant. You can read more on the HeadteacherChat partner page.

Simply Collective Worship is a HeadteacherChat partner. HeadteacherChat may receive a fee or commission from partnerships or purchases made through our links.

Diocesan resources

Diocesan material is worth a look, and some of it is free. Leaders praised the Diocese of Gloucester worship plan, a three-year rotation that is freely available on its website, with one head saying it had transformed worship in their school. The Diocese of York's Journey through the Bible and the Diocese of Canterbury's A Fresh Approach were also recommended. They come without PowerPoints, but contain all the information you need. Some schools are also exploring wiggle worship training through their diocese.

Building your own with less effort

Some schools prefer to write their own plan around their values and have found ways to keep it manageable. One approach is to plan by half term, draw on a mix of resources, and let pupils lead parts of worship. A head mentioned that pupils enjoy leading the Barney and Bella sessions from Roots and Fruits because they get to use the puppets.

A set weekly format helps too. One school uses the same slide order every Monday, built around a Bible story: greeting, vision, Bible introduction and reading (both read by children), reflection using window, mirror, door, hymn, prayer (read by a child) and sending out. Later in the week there is singing practice linked to the theme, a visit from the local vicar, and a Friday reflection that links back to Monday.

AI also came up. One head uses it to draft a three-year overview, and it now plans weekly sessions in the style they like. That takes about an hour per half term, plus around ten minutes a week to check each plan. If you go this route, read everything before it reaches pupils and make sure it matches your foundation and your school's values.

That head's advice for schools with few church families was to keep the plan simple and make worship invitational and inspirational, in line with the school's foundation. It is a short period of calm and reflection in a busy day, and it does not need to entertain.

Thinking about tone

The discussion also touched on tone. The Anglican communion is a broad church, and some leaders feel children should meet a range of traditions, including evangelical and charismatic worship. Others prefer a calmer, more reflective feel. It is worth agreeing with your leadership team and governors which traditions you want pupils to experience, and what you want worship to feel like in your community.

Getting started

If time is tight, pick one ready-made scheme as your base, such as Big Start, Picture News, Simply Collective Worship or a diocesan plan. Keep a simple weekly structure so pupils know what to expect and you are not rebuilding slides every week. Then adapt the content to your school's values.

If you have a scheme or format that works well in a school with few church families, we would love to hear about it in the community.