Church and Worship 

Worship in school

Worship is at the heart of our school life. We worship as a whole school at 2.45pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We also start each day with reflection and a prayer so that we begin the day focusing on God and His word. On Tuesday and Thursday each teacher leads class worship. 

A different member of the school community leads whole school worship: the Headteacher or deputy headteacher on Monday; Rev Julie on Wednesday; Headteacher or deputy headteacher on Friday (Good News worship). 

Class worship is also an important part of our school life. Class worship is planned by the teacher (with support from the worship leader, headteacher). Worship in the classroom is a great way to spend quality time with the children in our class. It allows our children to enter worship in a more intimate way, where many children feel more comfortable to interact and join in. It is also a fantastic opportunity for the children to lead some or most of the worship as they often feel safer in front of a small audience. Our teachers know their class very well, so when planning worship in the classroom, they always ensure it is suitable and relevant for the age and needs of the children. Each class has a worship area. There is a table with a cloth, a candle, a cross and a bible; our most recent bible is the Rhyming Bible by Bob Hartman. The candle is lit at the beginning of each act of worship, as we do in the hall. In Class worship the teachers use a variety of approaches but the joy of class worship is that it can be more 'hands-on' and practical. On occasions, the children enjoy watching the videos produced by Blackburn Diocese (worship across the Diocese) in addition to using the resources from 'Picture News'. 

Our children worship God through their singing. Worship songs can either be sung to backing tracks and videos, or are accompanied by the headteacher playing the piano. FOSTS (Friends of St Thomas') fund-raising resulted in the purchase a beautiful new piano which was purchased two years ago. 

Our week ends with a Good News Worship on Friday, to which parents, carers, grandparents and other members of the church/ school family are invited. As a whole school community, we then celebrate the achievements of the children that week, both inside and outside school. Good News award winners from each year group are selected to link with our learning powers. These Friday worships are normally very well attended and often have standing room only although. During COVID, this act of worship took place by Zoom. Thankfully, we have re-introduced Good News Worship for parents from September 2021. We are continuing to provide a live link to the Good News Worship via Zoom, so that parents and grandparents are able to attend our worship from home. We are so grateful for the excellent relationships between parents, school and church.  We end with a song and prayer.

Below is a photo from the time of the pandemic. During each lockdown, worship continued through Zoom and this was such a comfort to us all.

Prayer

In our classes we say a prayer before lunch and at the end of the day; all acts of worship in school contain prayer, some written by the children. All classes have a prayer toolkit. We want to find creative and practical ways to help our children connect with God through prayer. 

We are planning a special prayer day in July 2023

St Thomas' Day

On the 3rd July, we celebrate St Thomas' day as we are Barrowford St Thomas school. 

Thomas the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Thomas initially doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ when he was told of it (as is related in the Gospel of John); he later confessed his faith ("My Lord and my God") on seeing the wounds left over from the crucifixion. 

St Thomas' Worship Group

Our worship group is led by our RE governor and former headteacher/Diocesan Adviser, Daphne Jordan. Worship group meet every fortnight after school. They have planned and led worship both in school and church. They are currently developing our outdoor prayer space. 

Our Worship Group plan and lead our Epiphany Worship

Our Worship group have lead their first act of worship in school, having planned an Epiphany Service which included music, drama, readings and prayers. They did a wonderful job in front of the whole school and parents.

Worship in church

Our school is blessed to have strong links with our church, St Thomas' which is a short walk away from school. Throughout the year, the whole school will take part in worship in St Thomas' church. Such services include:

• Harvest Festival
• Advent
• Our evening Carol Service
• Education Sunday
• Ash Wednesday
• Our Easter celebration worship
• Leavers' service 

At the Easter Service, Bibles are given to our Reception and Year 3 children.

In addition, various events are organised as a church/school collaboration including the Christmas Fair.

We also perform our Infant Nativity in church which is very special indeed. 

These services are always led by Rev Julie and the children.