Worship

Liturgical Prayer

The practice of the Roman Catholic faith is fundamental to the life of the school. This guides and directs all our activities in relation to worship and assembly, the content of RE lessons, spiritual and moral development. It is at the heart of everything we do and our anchor.

Intent

We believe that Liturgical Prayer (or Celebrations of the Word/Worship) in our school aims to provide opportunity for all pupils and staff:

To contemplate something of the mystery of God
To reflect on spiritual and moral issues
To explore their own beliefs
To respond to and celebrate life
To experience a sense of belonging and develop community spirit
To develop a common ethos and shared values
To enrich religious experience
To grow in liturgical understanding and development
To reinforce prayers which are part of the Catholic tradition
To reinforce positive attitudes
To participate fully
To take time out ‘to wonder at’, ‘to come to terms with’ and ‘to give worth to.’

Please see our Prayer and Liturgy policy for further details (on the school policies page)

Implementation

Each week there is a clear programme of opportunities to Celebrate the Word in school, through a mixture of:

Whole school Celebration of the Word - Mondays and Fridays

Key stage Celebration of the Word based upon our 'virtues'

Pupil Led class based - based upon our 'virtues'

Hymn Practice- 'Sing and Praise' or Mark 10 Mission

Daily morning, before/after lunch, end of the day prayers.

Our Faith Leaders lead Celebrations of the Word regularly on Fridays for the whole school and parents and at special times of the year, such as Remembrance.

During Advent and Lent, additional opportunities for prayer and worship are provided and we pray the Rosary during the months of October and May (see below). During these special times of the Church's year, children have the opportunity to take home 'prayer bags' with items in that help to tell the story of the season and give them the chance to pray at home with their parents.

The children are also given the opportunity for confession with our priest, when appropriate.

Mass

The children regularly take part in Mass both in school and within the parish. The parish and parents are warmly invited to all acts of worship and these will be advertised on the school's newsletter and within the parish newsletter. Celebrations of the Word also feature throughout the year, such as Remembrance, Ash Wednesday etc. These are often planned and led by the Faith Leaders.

Faith Leaders

Our Faith Leaders also help to set up and lead acts of worship throughout the year and are a great help to staff and a fantastic example to the other children.

Here is a sample of some of the events, Celebrations of the Word and ways in which the Faith Leaders support our faith journey:

Faith Leaders carrying out role

Advent

During Advent, the children could take home a prayer bag full of things they could use to help them focus their thoughts and prayers at this special time. It included ideas for children and parents and the opportunity to record their thoughts if the children wanted to.

Advent

Our Lady: Mary

During the months of October and May, the faith leaders lead the Rosary before school at 8:45am on Wednesdays and Fridays. All are welcome to attend, just meet in the prayer room or in the prayer space in the Nature Nook (weather dependent). The rosary will also be prayed in class based worship too.

Each class has a 'Travelling Rosary' bag. This has a set of rosary beads and prayer cards and each child in the class can have a turn to take it home and pray with their family if they wish. Full instructions are inside.

Rosary

May Procession

Each year we process into the hall for Mass, to celebrate our Lady. The children bring flowers to honour her, she is crowned and we celebrate Mass. After Mass, we distribute the flowers amongst our elderly friends at Abbeyfield and Wingfield.

May Procession

Remembrance

Each year we take part in remembering those who have passed, especially those affected by war in the past and today.

Remembrance is an opportunity for us to pause, reflect and give thanks for the courage and sacrifice of all those who have given their lives in the service of others, both in times of war and in the pursuit of peace. As a Catholic school, we remember them in our prayers and encourage our children to understand the importance of peace, love, compassion and working together to build a world where everyone is valued and respected.