Prayer and Liturgy
Prayer and Liturgy are important and central features of the daily life of our school. We aim to provide opportunities for the children to develop their spiritual growth through participation in a variety of forms of worship and through experiencing all forms of prayer.
Our policy is below as well as our Progression of Prayer across the different year groups.
Gospel Assemblies
Every Monday morning we join together as a whole school to celebrate and reflect upon the Sunday's Gospel, led by our interim Executive Headteacher. We reflect upon its meaning and how we will live it out in our everyday lives.
Prayer & Worship
Prayer, worship and liturgical celebration are central to our Catholic tradition and form an integral part of the school day. Prayer is encouraged in a variety of methods; – private individual prayer, group prayer, and whole school prayer. Children learn a selection of traditional prayers in each prayer group, following our Progression of Prayer document, following the Prayer and Liturgy directory. Children are also encouraged to write their own prayers; they also have the opportunity to take home the class prayer book once each half-term to dedicate and write their own personal prayer, which is then used in prayer the following day at school.
Each child takes part in a daily act of prayer and liturgy. We begin and end each day with prayer and prayer before and after lunch, following the prayers assigned in the Prayer and Liturgy Directory; however, there are also plenty of opportunities for spontaneous prayer. Each class has a liturgically-based prayer table which acts as a focus for all prayer. This table is kept neat and appropriate by the Chaplaincy Team.
We look forward to our Tuesday morning liturgies as a whole school, which are usually centred around PSHE, Relationships Education, British and Catholic values. The children are able to relate these themes and celebrate and worship together. It is wonderful for the children to leave us all with a reflection, mission idea or practical response to our celebration, enabling all the children to deepen in faith, learn from the teachings of Christ and become the very best they can be for themselves and for others.
Prayer and Liturgy every Wednesday morning uses the structure: Gather, Word (Scripture), Respond and Mission. This is planned for and led by different groups of children who have this opportunity once each half-term. We gather, using prayers or actions or music. Then, we listen to scripture, readings and / or poems. After that, we respond in some form of actions or by saying a prayer together. Finally, we go forth to carry out a mission, by reflecting on the scripture and taking this forward into our lives. It is wonderful to see the children excited, enthusiastic and deepening their faith through prayer and liturgy. The confident and thoughtful way in which our children lead worship in school is a strength of our school's Catholic life. They have the opportunity to plan and lead different types of worship in school, such as Lection Divina, Visio Divina, the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, the Five Finger prayer, meditation, reflection as well as traditional and spontaneous prayer.
Every Thursday morning, we join together as a whole school for Prayer Through Song. We celebrate being able to pray twice, as singing hymns is known. Particular hymns are practised when
We also recognise and celebrate children’s achievements, both in and out of school, during our weekly Celebration assembly every Friday morning.
Amazing things can happen when people come into agreement.
Matthew 18:19 says
“I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
The children will be delighted to pray for you or a loved one.
As soon as we receive your request, the children and staff will keep your request in our hearts and minds as we pray throughout the day and week.
On the following link from St Mary's Catholic Academy Chaplaincy, we have weekly worship resources linked to Sunday's Gospel, which parents, staff and children can use here.
