We believe that Collective 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

Prayer and liturgy are central to the school’s understanding of itself as a Catholic school, and this is reflected in the annual budget allocation and available resources, including staff time, chaplaincy provision, and dedicated spaces for prayer and liturgy. The Catholic character of the school is reflected in religious artefacts and images on display throughout the building. Dedicated spaces for prayer and liturgy will be furnished and maintained as such, and updated to reflect the Church’s liturgical season. Staff training and formation costs will be funded separately to ensure that all staff are able to fulfil their responsibility to contribute to the prayer and liturgical life of the school.

Incorporating music and hymns into school prayer enhances spiritual reflection, to set the tone of reverence, meditation or celebration. Hymns with meaningful lyrics can reinforce themes of faith, gratitude, love and peace. Our school selects hymns based on the Liturgical Calendar, Gospel themes and the time of year. There is a document to aid staff with this. As part of child-led liturgy, pupils will often choose their own hymns to sing linked to the theme of the Word. As well as hymns, video clips with reflective music may be used to allow pupils to be still and relaxing music to aid reflection and meditation.

All new staff will be supported during induction and beyond, so that they fully understand the responsibility they carry within their individual role for leading prayer and liturgy in the school. Any individual training needs will be identified and addressed through training and formation. There will also be the opportunity for whole-staff professional development at least once a year, so that all staff understand the importance of prayer and liturgy and relevant staff are well supported to lead as required

Monitoring and evaluation of the quality and impact of prayer and liturgy will take place regularly, and at least annually, and involve all key stakeholders: pupils, parents, staff, clergy, and governors. Areas for development will be identified and issues raised will be actioned and evidenced as appropriate

Every Monday the whole school gathers together in the school hall.  Each Monday, we listen to The Word of God.  It is a fabulous time for us to come together as a whole school community and is a brilliant way to start our week.

Every Tuesday the children in each class plan, prepare, resource and deliver their own Collective Worship session.  The children leading the worship sessions are not just fantastic ambassadors for our school, but for Christ too.

These will follow the 4 part structure

• Gather – how we come together, the setting, the environment
• Word – the Word of God is proclaimed
• Response – the response to the Word leads into a time of prayerful reflection which may be accompanied by a symbolic action
• Send – giving the children something to hold on to from the experience of the liturgy that they can take into their daily lives

Pairs or small groups of pupils will plan and lead these sessions using the given theme and the piece of scripture. They will use the welcome, worship and witness cards and the planning template to support them, shepherded by an adult. Each pupil will have had an opportunity to plan and lead at least once in a year.

Every Wednesday, each class gathers together to celebrate and pray.  Each Wednesday , we discuss our current virtue together and listen to The Word of God.  It is a fabulous time for us to come together as a whole school community and is a brilliant way to start our week.

Our school uses the ‘Virtues to Live By’ scheme. This enables us to explore each virtue over a three week period (two per half term) to improve the school community’s virtue literacy and to deepen understanding and appreciation of the essential role the virtues play in the education of the whole person towards human flourishing. The virtues chosen are common across cultures and faiths, but are sourced from the Christian tradition.

Each Thursday we discuss together our current virtue.

What a joyful time of the week!  Every Friday our whole school community gather together to celebrate.

Progression In Prayer