Prayer and Liturgy

Pupils display a prayerful and reverent attitude to all aspects of collective worship, they enjoy and look forward to it in all forms. Pupils value the opportunity to reflect privately and to share their prayers with others, they understand there are many ways to talk to God. They are taught to pray through traditional prayers, scripture focus and use meditation, silence, reflections and song. They understand the Liturgical year and can talk about traditional activities at each part. 

We have pupil led whole school liturgies where the GIFT Team lead weekly collective worships in alignment with the liturgical year. In addition the GIFT Team lead additional Celebrations of the Word for special Feast days, Holy days, Advent and Lent. We have pupil led class liturgies where a pupil each week leads the collective worship for their year group using the prayer bags. This is planned at home with their family with a given scripture and theme. This has a progression of responsibility throughout school, for example nursery pupils are able to build an altar and listen to the scripture, to year 6 where the pupils can set the altar, select their own readings from scripture and can compose prayers independently. All pupils undertake liturgical ministries willingly and are involved in evaluating the quality of the prayer and liturgy they have planned. Liturgies have a common format and this helps the children with their planning and encourages them to be more independent. Pupils love to sing, they engage enthusiastically and proudly. They use their talents and share them with others at celebrations, Mass, concerts and events. They share their talents in the community, singing at a variety of places including the local nursing homes.

All classes have their own prayer areas which reflect the liturgical year and all have a statue of St Mary as a focal point. All classes use the outdoor chapel and prayer areas in the school grounds, which parents also enjoy to pray in.

Pupils are encouraged to articulate and reflect on how they will go forth and take action in their daily life, such as showing care and consideration to those around them and those further afield, caring for our common home. British values and protected characteristics are threaded through our curriculum to make relevant connections.