Prayer & Worship

'People who see you at your best will thank God.' | Based on Matthew 6:16

The school day is punctuated with prayer. Children participate in daily prayer. Prayers are said in the morning, before lunch, after lunch and at the end of the day. The Hail Mary and The Lord's Prayer are also said daily in all classes.

School groups such as Mini Vinnies and School Council plan and prepare prayer spaces for the children to visit.

We aim to provide everyone in our school community with the opportunity to a wide range of spiritual experiences.  

Please see our weekly worship and creative prayer pages for more detail.

The school week begins with Celebration of the Word led by the leadership team. This is based on the Sunday Gospel readings of the churches year.  Each class contributes to this prayerful experience, by welcoming the Gospel and writing their own bidding prayers to be shared with the school community. Each class is given a Monday mission, where they are inspired by scripture to act positively and live out the mission. This contributes to pupil of the week each Friday where the pupils chosen have acted out this message through the week.

Each week, children pray with their class. This may be meditation, creative prayer, prayer journaling or leading a short celebration of the word.  During this Celebration of the Word each class invite their Key Stage and parents and carers. This happens on a Thursday morning where their message focuses on one of the seven principles of Catholic Social teaching.

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person.
• Call to Family, Community, and Participation.
• Rights and Responsibilities.
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.
• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers.
• Solidarity.
• Care for God's Creation

Pope Francis has said that the Year 2024 is a special year of prayer. At its most simple level, prayer is making a connection with God and we can make that connection in many ways. It may include: thanking God; telling God some news; sharing a worry; asking God for something or just simply spending some quiet time with God. Prayers can take place: standing, sitting, moving around or by being still. It really doesn’t matter!

There are many traditional prayers that we say inside and outside of school. They include the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Traditional prayers can be thought of as a pathway to help focus getting a message to God but they are not the only way to pray. This year, we have introduced ‘Creative Prayer’ into the classrooms. The children have really embraced this form of prayer! Praying creatively can be as simple but powerful as reflecting on words or images, using objects and practical responses like placing a pebble in water, lighting a candle or using bubbles or modelling dough to pray. So many materials have been used to make that connection with God.