The Aims of Prayer and Liturgy

The daily act of prayer and liturgy in our school aims to provide opportunities for all pupils and staff:

• To contemplate something of the mystery of God and to give honour, praise and thanks to Him

• 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 a community spirit

• To develop a common ethos and shared value

• To develop the skills of: reverence, contemplation, reflection, interpretation, empathy, meditation

• To enrich religious experience

• To grow in liturgical understanding

• To reinforce prayers which are part of Catholic tradition

• To reinforce positive attitudes

• To develop a sense of awe, wonder and inspiration in the person of Christ.

Our weekly Gospel assembly, whole-school and class prayer and liturgy sessions are based around the Gospel Values, which form an important focus in the daily life of our school. We deliver this through the Ten Ten program. Please see below for our weekly program of worship. 

Throughout the liturgical calendar, the children participate in prayerful activities such as:

• Harvest Festival
• Remembrance Day 
• Daily devotions to Our Lady during the month of October and May 
• Crowning of Our Lady
• Lent Prayer Trails 
• Holy Week Activities
• Stations of the Cross 
• Spirited Art 

We acknowledge the legal requirement that there must be a daily act of worship for all pupils. (This can take place at any time during the school day and can be either a single act of worship for all pupils, or separate acts of worship in school groups.) The act of worship is not designated curriculum time under regulations and will not be subsumed under any part of the curriculum, including Religious Education. 

We have a progression document that has been created following the Prayer and Liturgy Directory 'To Love You More Dearly'. A copy of the progression document can be found in our policy for Prayer and Liturgy. 

As well as actively promoting Gospel and British values, the opposite also applies: we would actively challenge pupils, staff or parents to express opinions contrary to fundamental Gospel and British values, including ‘extremist’ views.