May 2020
Our worship table in the entrance to school reflects the special month of May when we remember Our Lady and pray the Rosary. This week the teaching staff have also been left some beautiful flowers and a superb painted rainbow - we are guessing these are from some of our lovely pupils!? Let's try to show our mums how much we love them through simple acts of kindness.
Prayer and Liturgy
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.
Each child takes part in a daily act of worship (5-10 minutes) and formal prayers are used to open and close the school day sessions. The children also plan and lead acts of worship within each of their classes. This happens daily and the children in the upper junior classes lead Lectio Divina. Collective Worship across every class uses the same structure. We gather, using prayers or actions or music. We then listen to scripture, readings and / or poems. After that, we respond by doing something or saying a prayer together. Finally, we go forth by reflecting on the scripture and taking this forward into our work throughout the day. It is wonderful to see the children excited, enthusiastic and deepening their faith through prayer and liturgy. In each class, there is a prayer and liturgy book where pictures, planning templates and powerpoints are kept as a reminder and record of the acts of worship.
We look forward to our Wednesday morning liturgies, which are planned and led by each class in turn. These are usually centred around global issues, British and Catholic values. The children always relate these themes to scripture references and they write their own prayers and choose their own songs to 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 to deepen faith, learn from the teachings of Christ and become the very best we can be for ourselves and for others.
We also recognise and celebrate children’s achievements, both in and out of school, during our weekly Star Award Celebration. One Good Samaritan Award is also given each week for a pupil who is “following in Jesus’ footsteps.”
Our Worship Areas
Every child has access to a prayer area in the classroom which includes a prayer focus and the class prayer book, as well as bibles and resources relevant to each class.
We also have a wonderful worship area which is central to our school. Children enjoy accessing this quiet space during breaks and lunchtimes. They can play quiet music, write prayers, which they then attach to our Prayer Tree, write prayers for family and friends in our Remembrance book, write messages to go on the prayer board or just sit and reflect. It is a delight to see the older children helping the younger children in Reception class write their prayers or scribe for them.
ADVENT
ROSARY
