Collective worship and prayer are central to the life of our school. The children, staff and wider community all participate in the various liturgies, masses, adoration and the sacraments which take place in school. There are a variety of opportunities provided to support our pupils, regardless of age or background, to develop spiritually through a wide variety of worship opportunities.
Whole School Worship
Mass
Mass takes place in school at least once every half term and this is very well attended by parents, families and parishioners. Pupils from EYFS to Year 6 also attend Mass in the parish on a rota each Friday. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to be a part of the parish life and to attend Mass in the parish. We have recently welcomed Fr Tom McGovern as our parish priest and we look forward to the occasions that Fr Tom joins us in school to celebrate Mass.
Adoration
For the last two years we have been privileged as a school to lead the liturgy to begin 24 hours for the Lord in the parish. We have also taken part in Eucharistic adoration in the classrooms and in the Convent chapel, which has provided the children an intimate encounter with Christ.
Weekly Whole School Liturgy
Mrs Brown, Mrs Orridge or Mrs Byrne lead a whole school liturgy which links to one of our virtues each week.
Key Stage Liturgies
Key Stage liturgies take place every other week and we welcome parents to join us. Each class has a turn to prepare at least two key stage liturgies during the year. These liturgies are planned as a class.
May Procession
To honour Mary, our mother and the mother of Christ, all children take part in a Mary procession. This is a beautiful liturgy which always finishes at the Grotto outside the Convent House.
Worship in Class
Each class teacher leads prayers in class on a daily basis. The children learn a prayer for the beginning and end of each day, they also say a prayer together at lunchtime. Class teachers also use the excellent resources from Ten Ten to lead prayers in class, as well as providing children with time each week for Christian meditation. Once a week, a group of children plan and lead a worship in class and sometimes classes pair up for child-led worship.
Lunchtime Opportunities
At lunchtimes our active Chaplaincy Teams take out prayer packs and organise prayers with groups of children. Children can also volunteer to run a prayer group in the library at lunchtimes. This is a chance for children to have a quiet moment of prayer during the school day.
Home/school prayer links
During Advent we send home the travelling cribs for families to pray with. We send home regular homework which links to the Catholic life of our school. This summer, children were invited to send in pictures of a reflective space they had found/created during the holidays. This encouraged many of our children to spend time in prayer over the summer break.
