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One of the reasons why schools should have a clear policy on religious worship in school is to enable visitors who are invited to lead worship to understand where their contribution fits into the pattern as a whole.
The school will want to ensure that the visitor has the ability to establish a rapport with pupils and is aware of the backgrounds of the pupils. It is also important that the visitor has realistic expectations of pupils, nor should (s)he make unreasonable demands of them.
Most dioceses offer guidance on visits or visitors to schools - consult the diocesan education team if in doubt.
This is probably only when a visitor exceeds their brief, e.g. speaking for too long or appearing to put pressure on pupils to respond in a particular way. Intervention in such circumstances is never easy. As always, prevention is better than cure: try to ensure that the visitor is clear where the boundaries lie.
While visitors may well be able to lead a full act of worship in the school, for reasons of health and safety they should never be left to supervise the pupils who are attending the worship. For this reason, if for no other, teachers must be present during an act of worship being led by a visitor to the school.
Where do I find good speakers locally?
Often the diocesan education team will know of people or local church people. There are also a number of regional groups, e.g. Christians in Sport, who are willing to come to the school.
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