Collective worship and prayer are important aspects of the Catholic life of our school. It is woven throughout the school day following the Liturgical Life of the Church. At St Mary’s we enable the children to develop their relationship with God through a wide variety of prayer opportunities, which take place in a range of settings.

Collective Worship provides children with the opportunity to:

• Praise and worship God.
• Reflect the values of the Gospels.
• Plan their own personal contributions to Collective Worship.
• Respond to and participate in the worship offered.
• Develop a community spirit, a common ethos and shared values.
• Consider spiritual and moral issues.
• Celebrate God working within us.
• Understand the need for, and importance of prayer.

There is an active prayer life at SS. Mary and John’s for all pupils of all ages.

Pupils learn and say the following daily prayers; Morning Offering, Grace before Meals, Grace after Meals and Evening Offering.

As pupils progress across the school, they learn a wider range of traditional prayers that they are introduced to at age appropriate times, in line with Diocese expectations.

There is daily worship in school, either in the form of class prayers, whole school or phase assembly or Mass. The children pray together four times each day and the prayer life of the school is a strong and organic feature of the family community we strive to create. Parents may request that their child is withdrawn from daily acts of worship if they feel that this may be detrimental to their child. However, in selecting a Catholic school parents should be aware that the moral and spiritual imperatives of the Catholic faith are experienced in every area of school life and to withdraw a child from a small prayer session would not mean that the principle underpinning that worship would never be encountered, moreover, it would mean that a child was excluded from a quiet time of reflection and thought.

Pupils also use prayer at different times in the liturgical calendar, to reflect upon key events, such as the Stations of the Cross or the Rosary. We are lucky enough to have a dedicated prayer area in school and in our school garden that children are encouraged to use for spontaneous prayer throughout their school life.

All pupils across each phase of school contribute to leading prayer in class, evaluating RE and Catholic Life. They bear witness by living the gospel values that we expect within our school community.

Mass is said regularly in school and all Holy Days of Obligation which occur in term time are observed. The children are responsible for the preparation of the Liturgy and all children are offered the opportunity of participating at Mass. Whole School Masses occur regularly, with dates shared in our newsletters, on our website and in the Parish bulletin -parents and parishioners are always very welcome to attend any of our celebrations. Reverence and joy characterise the celebration of Mass at SS Mary & John.

Please view our Collective Worship Policy here, on our Policies page.