Introduction to Our Faith

Prayer and Liturgy

Our Catholic Faith is central to the day-to-day life of our school and all aspects of the curriculum, and pupils are encouraged to recognise the importance of their faith and they respond to all forms of liturgy and worship with respect and reverence.

We have a rich liturgical life in that the experiences we provide are wide ranging and take place in school, out of school, in Church and in the wider community, and engage and involve pupils, parents, staff, governors and the parish.

The Celebration of the Eucharist and prayer are central in our school.

Our Parish Priest regularly celebrates Mass for us. We celebrate special Whole School Masses at the beginning and end of each half term, our school feast day, holy days of obligation and other significant occasions.

Prayer is a central part of school life at Ss. Mary and John’s. Children experience prayer through many forms, for example; words, actions, symbols, music and drama.

Children are invited to pray privately and as a community, as prayer unites us as members of the Family of God. They are well-formed to be able to prepare, participate and minister their own experiences of prayer and liturgy as well as by enthusiastically participating in experiences provided by their peers and staff.

At Ss. Mary and John’s the children learn a range of prayers and they pray many times during the school day for a range of purposes. Children here also learn to write their own prayers and they often choose who or what they would like to pray for, developing the liturgical formation of pupils.

Our families and communities are involved in the prayer life of the school. Parents, parishioners, governors, members of the community can join us for Mass as well as other events such as our May Procession. We have regular prayer projects for children to complete with their families as well as themed class prayer bags. These are thoroughly enjoyed by the children and their families.

Traditional Catholic Prayers

The children are also taught a range of traditional Catholic prayers. These are incorporated into class collective worship, RE lessons and whole school celebrations. These are also shared with our families so the children can share them at home.

Please find an examples of the prayers that children at our school earn during their time here:

• Our School Prayers

Collective Worship

We believe that Prayer and Liturgy in our school aims to provide opportunity for all pupils and staff to:

• Contemplate something of the mystery of God
• Reflect on spiritual and moral issues
• Explore their own beliefs
• Respond to and celebrate life
• Experience a sense of belonging and develop community spirit
• Develop a common ethos and shared values
• Enrich religious experience
• Grow in liturgical understanding and development
• Reinforce prayers which are part of the Catholic tradition
• Reinforce positive attitudes
• Participate fully
• Take time out ‘to wonder at’, ‘to come to terms with’ and ‘to give worth to.’

In order to achieve the above, Collective Worship is organised as follows:

• Monday – Gospel Assembly, to focus on the Gospel from the Sunday mass.
• Wednesday – Whole School Mass at the start and end of each half term, Phase Masses/Prayer Services or Hymn Practice takes place.  All year groups take it in turns to lead the liturgy during the Mass.
• Friday – Congratulations/Class led Assembly. This assembly is led by members of the SLT. During this assembly, individuals are selected as pupil of the week. Children are recommended for a variety of reasons eg. sharing with others/ achievements in sport/effort shown in all areas of the curriculum.