At St. Joseph’s, our Catholic faith is central to the day-to-day life of our school and to all aspects of our curriculum which regularly features Mass and Collective Worship in all its forms. We place great importance upon living out the gospel values at all times as well as RE lessons, attending the celebration of Mass, acts of worship and assemblies. Our Catholic ethos permeates throughout all school life, from the way we treat one another, through our curriculum and our school environment including displays around school celebrating our faith.
At the heart of our faith is the love of God and one another. Our children understand that taking part in collective worship on a daily basis brings them closer to God and strengthens their own faith and understanding of the gospel values.
We have very good links with the Parish of St. Joseph’s, where the children enjoy taking part in worship alongside Parish Priest, Fr. Ian and the parishioners, who are very keen to support the children in deepening their understanding and following their faith.
Aims of Collective Worship
Collective worship at St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School aims to provide opportunities for all pupils and staff:
- To contemplate the mystery of God
- To reflect on spiritual and moral issues
- To explore personal 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 pray using prayers which are part of the Catholic tradition
- To reinforce positive attitudes
- To participate fully to all forms of prayer
- To take time out to “wonder at” “come to terms with” and to “give worth to”
Focal areas across school change with the liturgical seasons. Within classrooms, focal areas reflect themes from RE lessons, from Ten:Ten or from events in the wider world, which we reflect upon.
Whole School Collective Worship
At St. Joseph’s, we enjoy the opportunity to come together and pray. Children gather together as a whole school weekly for collective worship. Children participate, reading intercessions and reflecting on the bible reading. Our children show reverence and respect throughout each gathering. We also come together to for hymn practice weekly with Anne-Marie from our parish band and children understand that hymns are another form of praying.
Mass
Here at St. Joseph’s we extremely fortunate to be located right next to our parish church. Children from each class attend parish Mass on a weekly rotation, lead by our priest Fr. Ian Jackson. Throughout the year, the children also plan and lead Mass for families and parishioners. In addition to this, children also attend Mass, as a whole school, for key events; such as Feast days and Holy days.
Liturgical Prayer
Children plan and lead Liturgical Prayer weekly within their classes. The children help to plan and lead collective prayers in the classroom and evidence it in a floor book. They choose from a range of themes; their RE topic or the scripture reading for the week to plan their worship. Our children are proud of their work and actively try to live out their mission going forth. They love preparing their focal area and choosing the music.
Daily Classroom Prayers
Classes follow the Ten:Ten Resource for collective worship and daily prayers. Prayer leaders lead the worship, reading and reflecting on the scripture.
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