Christian worship in a Catholic school names and celebrates God’s presence in our lives. It is concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action, to God’s invitation to enter into relationship, made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit.

Collective Worship at St Joseph’s

The theme for the week is introduced in the first collective worship of the week to all the children and it is then revisited in class throughout the week.

Whole school worship on a Friday happens alongside our Celebration of learning. In this we review the mission set for the week and share any work from children who have lived out the mission. We also award one child per class with ‘Child of the Week’ and one with ‘Work of the Week’.

Our chaplaincy team, with the support of the Chaplain, plan and lead some whole school worship according to the liturgical calendar.

Daily Prayer

Our school has a culture of prayer, which is central to everyday life at our school. We begin our day with a morning prayer; before we eat lunch, classes say their lunchtime prayers thanking God for the food we receive; we finish our day by saying a blessing before we leave at home-time.  We have set prayers for different age groups.

Celebrating Mass

At St. Joseph’s Primary School, we come together regularly to celebrate Mass, marking significant liturgical events throughout the year. Our priest, Fr. David Cain, leads these special services, guiding us in prayer, worship, and reflection. These gatherings bring our school community closer, helping us to deepen our faith and celebrate the traditions of the Catholic Church. Through each Mass, we honour key moments in the liturgical calendar, strengthening our connection to one another and to God.

Prayer at St Joseph’s

Our school has a culture of prayer, which is central to everyday life at our school. Teachers make use of a range of collective worship forms, such as child-led Liturgies, Personal Prayer and Lectio Divina.

Child-led Liturgies

Liturgies are planned using the Extra-Ordo-nary Calendar from NDCYS, which gives the children a weekly theme on which to focus their worship. Some classes also plan liturgies on themes of their own choosing, particularly if they want to pray for something specific to them.

Class liturgies are planned and delivered progressively as the children move throughout the school. Adults reduce their scaffolding in the planning stage as the children move throughout the year (progression from term to term) as well as between year groups as they progress through the school (progression year on year). Children make use of a range of resources in their liturgies. We use the new ‘Let Us Pray 2Gether’ resources which will aid progression and further support independence in the planning stage of worship.

The chaplaincy team meets regularly to plan and deliver liturgies for other classes and year groups, marking events in the Liturgical Calendar such as Harvest, the month of the Holy Rosary (October), All Souls, Advent, Lent and so on. Because our chaplaincy team is made up of children of varying ages, we tend to make use of the oldest children (who are the most proficient in liturgy planning) to support the younger children in teasing out good ideas and making sure the theme of the liturgy is clear throughout, maintaining that Scripture is at the heart of worship. We particularly focus on what we want our congregation to ‘see, hear, think and do’ during the worship.  We then put these ideas into our plan following the structure of gathering together, preparing to hear the Word, Scripture reading, response to the Word, receiving our mission and ending the liturgy.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina was introduced to the children following the previous Diocesan Canonical Inspection, where it was suggested that the children would benefit from another form of prayer. Sr Anna and Fr Anthony Pateman have helped us to embed this form of worship into our prayer life over the past five years.

Lectio Divina focuses around short passages of scripture, allowing the Word of God and its meaning to have a personal impact on you. Children are encouraged to say which words stand out to them and why, how the passage makes them feel and what it is saying to them.

Personal Prayer

Personal prayer is a special time for children to reflect on our weekly theme, allowing them to connect with God on a personal level. During these moments, they can use their prayer journals to record their thoughts, prayers, and reflections, creating a meaningful space for spiritual growth and understanding.