Diocesan inspection report said:
Pupils’ response to the present school prayer opportunities is outstanding, in terms of willingness to participate and a real sense of engagement in the life of the Spirit.’
Our Mission at St. Mary’s
Learning to live out our calling with compassion and love.
‘Christ has no body on earth but ours; ours are the hands through which He heals; ours are His eyes, His feet, His lips; ours are the hearts through which He loves.’
As part of our calling to carry out God’s work on earth, we seek to draw our inspiration from periods of worship and reflection. These spiritual moments are essential to build the strength needed to carry out our vocation in today’s world.
Collective Worship refers not only to whole school gatherings but to those acts of worship which take place in a number of different settings and groupings of people in and around the school:
Assembly
An assembly is a gathering of people. Strictly speaking, it is not a religious activity and is a means of communicating information to a group of people.
We take part in weekly assemblies where we reflect on the Sunday Gospel. We each write a mission task to show how we are going to live out our calling in relation to the Gospel reading.
Prayer and Liturgy
Liturgy is the worship lived and practiced by the Church. Liturgy encompasses all of the seasonal elements of the Church’s year (The Liturgical Year), the structure of daily prayer, specific rites such as the Funeral Mass and the celebration of the Sacraments. For schools, Liturgy is worship which incorporates elements of the rites and rituals, signs and symbols of the Church.
We conduct weekly worships in each classroom, with themes selected and planned by the children. Look at some examples of these below…
Prayer and Liturgy Gallery
We follow the four part structure of:
Mass
For Catholics, the Mass is central to practice of the faith. At Mass, the Last Supper is remembered but also recreated. Bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. This belief (transubstantiation) is what distinguishes us from many other Christians. This sacrament is above all others because as members of the Church, “We receive the Body of Christ and are increasingly being transformed into the Body of Christ.”
Prayer
Deepen a personal relationship with God, prayer will help the pupils to become aware of God’s presence in their lives and of His love for them, by leading them to respond to Him.
Prayer Bags
We recently launched our wonderful prayer bags for children to take home each week and share in meaningful prayer and liturgies with their families. We ask that families try to link their prayer session to either something close to their hearts or the Liturgical Seasons.
Prayer and Liturgy Guidance
Amazing Examples of Home Liturgies
Year 1
Somdolma and Dougie
Year 2
Florence and Jack
Year 3
Jathusa and Sydney
Year 4
Elizabeth and Mason
Year 5
Janetta and Jeevan
Year 6
Kezia and Gab
This week, Year 2 came together to celebrate the season of Harvest. It is a time to give thanks for the abundance of food that God provides and to remember those who work tirelessly on land and sea to nourish us. #year2stm #celebrationofthewordstm #prayerandliturgystm … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank you to Josh and his family for sharing their Celebration of the Word and reminding us of how beautiful it is to experience God’s love and pray together as a family . #year1stm #prayerandliturgystm
#celebrationofthewordstm … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Reception have had a great afternoon celebrating the feast day of St Gabriel, we listened to the stories about Angel Gabriel, made our own angels and finished with prayer for Angel Gabriel. #prayerandliturgystm #eysfstm … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank you to Isabel and her family for sharing their beautiful Celebration of the Word . #year1stm #prayerandliturgystm
#celebrationoftheword … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
🙏The Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham🙏
Today is the Feast Day of our lady of Walsingham and the children have taken part in Class Celebration of the Word to mark this special, patronal feast.
We thought about how we, like the Pilgrims of Walsingham, can listen to God's voice in our lives and how we can use our own God given gifts and talents to help others.
Our Lady of Walsingham – Pray for us
#prayerandliturgystm #celebrationofthewordstm … See MoreSee Less
1 CommentsComment on Facebook
Today, Year 5 have taken part in a ‘Celebration of the Word’ about peace.
We reflected on the words of Matthew's gospel, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
The children were sent forth with a mission to:
“Show each other peace by trying to find solutions to arguments with others.”
Thank you to Steven, Jamie-Leigh, Avantika and Raiha, who led these in their classrooms.
#prayerandliturgystm #year5stm … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
✝️Year 6 attended Mass at Holy Trinity today. They were prayerful, respectful and joined in the celebration of the Eucharist with great reverence.✝️
#prayerandliturgystm #year6stm #restm … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank you to Immaculate and her family for sharing their Celebration of the Word with us . And what a lovely message to share – that we should have faith in God and listen to what he calls us to do . #year1stm #prayerandliturgystm #celebrationofthewordstm … See MoreSee Less
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
🌟Celebration of the Word 🌟
Today, Kim and Scarlett led the Celebration of the Word with the theme of equality. Year 6 explored how words can help or hurt others and reflected on how words can cause life-long pain.
Using two apples, the class saw how good words keep us fresh and strong, while bad words leave marks that cannot be undone.
They linked this to the Good Samaritan, reflecting Jesus’ teaching to show kindness and love to others and were reminded that, with God’s guidance, we can choose words that lift people up.
As part of their mission, Year 6 were asked to use kind words with their classmates this week.
A simple reminder that words matter. Let’s fill our world with more good words every day 🍎💛
#celebrationofthewordstm #prayerandliturgystm #year6stm … See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook