Catholic Life Of The School

The Catholic Life in our school is lived out everyday.

"I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." John 10:10

The Catholic life of the school is rich in opportunities for children to encounter God and to deepen their relationship with Him as a loving, compassionate Father. Through prayer, both traditional and informal, through Celebration of the Word, Mass, liturgies and Religious Education lessons, where children receive direct teaching of the faith, through the relationships and support for each other that children, staff and parents enjoy within the school community, we enable children to come to know and love God.

Religious icons and artwork can be found throughout the school. Focal prayer areas are of a very high quality and can be seen in classrooms and around the school, including the school’s entrance area. Each class has a prayer focus area, with a liturgical cloth in the appropriate colour. Prayer leaders are responsible for maintaing each prayer area. Each class has their Faith Journey book displayed alongide the prayer area. 

Statues or crucifixes are present in every room in the school, highlighting the underlying belief that everything that we do at our school is founded on our Catholic faith.

The Christian values at the heart of our Catholic faith incorporate our British values and we aim in everything we do to further each child’s sense of commitment and responsibility to themselves, to others and in the wider world.

Prayer and worship

Prayer and worship are central components to the daily life of our school. We aim to provide all our staff and children with opportunities for spiritual growth and development through participation in a variety of forms of worship and through imaginative forms of prayer: formal, informal, spontaneous, private, shared, petitionary and meditative. In this way we aim to help the children to come to value and respect the power of prayer and its central place in their relationship with God.

We have a peace room which is a place where small groups can reflect and pray, as well as being a repository for books and resources about other faiths. The peace room is used for wellbeing groups and indvidual wellbeing support. 

Celebration

The key events of the liturgical calendar are celebrated across the year and are done in a wide variety of ways in order to inspire and develop a deep love of God enabling our children to participate in and care for God’s world. Classes attend parish Masses helping them to experience the Word of God in a setting which strengthens our school’s bonds with our parish community. We try to invite parents, families and parishoners to as many of these as possible. As a school community we:

• celebrate whole school Masses,
• plan and deliver Christmas Carol Services with the children
• Pupil led Celebration of the Word 
• Weekly hymn practice 
• perform Nativities
• participate in traditional Catholic events of the Liturgical Year such as receiving of the Ashes on Ash Wednesday, and the Crowning of Mary  acknowledging her central role as the Mother of God
• lead gospel assemblies
• plan prayer trails during Advent and Lent
• Stations of the Cross
• Organise art galleries created and led by pupils e.g. Holy Week Gallery 
• praise God through a cross-curricular approach using Art, drama, music and English
• Bible Buddies (FS2 and Year 6)

Prayer and Liturgy 

Pupils are actively involved in planning and leading prayer, both in class groups and whole school settings. Prayer takes place in an atmosphere of reflection and stillness, where we encourage each other to listen to God speaking to us and to respond. We celebrate using traditional and contemporary worship music and encourage the use of live music when possible. 

Children are encouraged to write prayers and this is a skill which we explicitly teach, just as we teach other genres in literacy. A progression of prayer document is used to show how prayer progresses as chiildren move through each Key Stage. 

The school as a Catholic Community

All staff, led by the Head Teacher, Deputy Headteachers and Governors are aware that the school’s foundations are built on the Catholic faith and beliefs and that it is our shared responsibility to transmit the Catholic faith to the children in our care. All staff receive regular In Service Training as part of their continuous professional development. Staff pray and work together to support each other in providing the very best Religious Education possible for the pupils.

We aim to work as a Catholic family to strengthen the faith of our pupils in the modern world, affording them the opportunities to grow in Christ. As servants of God we promote, organise and encourage children to participate in acts of kindness which have far-reaching consequences for those in our world who are in need. This is done through ‘Good Shepherd’ and various charity work throughout the year. Children are encouraged to discuss their own ideas for helping those in need with any member of staff in order to give them ownership of their own spiritual and moral development.

Throughout the year there are opportunities for pupils to take home prayer bags and to take part in family projects. For example; creating a family Advent crib, creating a figure of the Christ child to celebrate Bambinelli Sunday and having these blessed by our Parish Priest at Mass. Children also participate in projects such as making Easter gardens and makig Easter bonnets.