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
💜 Sacramental Preparation – Reconciliation 💜🙏
Today, our children took part in their second session of preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
We explored the difference between good and bad choices, reflecting on how the decisions we make each day can either bring us closer to God or distance us from Him.
Through the Scripture story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10), we learnt that Jesus loves us even when we make mistakes and that it is never too late to make a fresh start. Just as Zacchaeus recognised his wrong choices and changed his ways, we too are called to say sorry, seek forgiveness and choose to follow Jesus.
The children reflected on how their words and actions affect others and how making loving, kind and thoughtful choices helps us grow closer to God.
A beautiful reminder that God's love and forgiveness are always there for us and that every day is an opportunity to make good choices and follow Jesus.
#catholiclifestm #prayerandliturgystm #sacramentalpreparationstm #year3stm …
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⛪️✨ Combined Schools’ Mass ✨⛪️
Today our Year 6 children had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Combined Schools’ Mass alongside children from across St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust at St Gregory’s Catholic Church in Longton. 🙏
The Mass celebrated the life of St Francis of Assisi and reminded us of the importance of humility, kindness and compassion. Through his example we reflected on how we can follow in Jesus’ footsteps by showing love and care to those around us. ❤️
A lovely opportunity for our children to come together as one Catholic community in faith, prayer and reflection. 🕊️
#CatholicLifeSTM #year6stm #prayerandliturgystm …
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🐑 ✝️ Sacramental Preparation – Reconciliation ✝️ 🐑
Today, our children preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation began their first preparation session.
We explored the Parable of the Lost Sheep and reflected on its beautiful message that God knows each one of us, loves us and always welcomes us back to Him.
We thought about how the Sacrament of Reconciliation brings us back to God when we have made wrong choices and reminds us that His love and forgiveness are always there for us.
To finish our session, each child wrote their name on a sheep and chose one word to describe how they had felt during our time together, including words such as loved, safe, welcomed and happy.
A lovely first step on their journey towards receiving this special sacrament. 🙏
#catholiclifestm #prayerandliturgystm #sacramentalpreparationstm …
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Thank you to Isime for sharing her family celebration of the word with us and explaining how it made you feel closer to God . #year1stm
#celebrationofthewordstm #prayerandliturgystm …
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🙏💙 Walking with Mary – Year 5 Retreat 💙🙏
Our Year 5 children had a wonderful opportunity to join together with other Year 5 pupils to take part in a special Catholic retreat, ‘Walking with Mary’.
Throughout the retreat, the children spent time reflecting, praying and learning more about Mary’s faith and her trust in God. It was a lovely opportunity to come together with children from other schools, share their faith and think about how Mary can inspire us to say ‘yes’ to God in our own lives.
A beautiful day of faith, friendship and reflection for our Year 5 children. 🙏🌹💙
#year5stm #REstm #prayerandliturgystm …
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Thankyou to Alysa and Austin (Year 6) who led the entire year group in a lovely Celebration of the Word in the chapel this afternoon with a focus on St Mary.
#year6 #prayerandliturgystm #celebrationoftheword …
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