Prayer and Liturgy

The Aims of Prayer & Liturgy

We believe that Prayer & Liturgy in our school should provide all pupils and staff with the opportunity to:

• enrich their religious experience
• grow in liturgical understanding and development
• experience a sense of belonging and develop community spirit
• participate fully
• reflect on spiritual and moral issues
• respond to and celebrate life

contemplate something of the mystery of God.    

What is Prayer and Liturgy?

Prayer and Liturgy is the time we take each day giving praise and thanks to God. This is at the heart of everything we do at St Bernadette's.

The Sunday Gospel reading is shared during our weekly Gospel Assembly. During this assembly the children hear and respond to the message from the readings. The children are set a mission each week, where they think about what Jesus is teaching us and how they can act out these teachings in our everyday life. The children are taught traditional prayers and the parts of the Mass are taught during Hymn Practice.

Each day children say traditional and  school prayers and there are also opportunities for the children to reflect quietly and pray for their own personal intentions. Each week the whole school joins together for Hymn Practice. This is to rejoice in prayer through song and to prepare the children for singing at Mass. 

It is always very special to be able to gather in Church to worship and celebrate Mass. We are very lucky to have our Parish church so close to us. Parents and parishioners are regularly invited to join us in the celebration of Mass.

We are very proud of our Mini-Vinnies and Year 6 pupils who regularly read at Mass and lead our Celebration of the Word. Year 6 enjoy  Bible Buddies each week, where they share Bible stories with our FS2 childre

           Throughout the liturgical calendar, the children participate in other prayerful activities such as:

•  Advent/Lent Prayer Trails 
• One Life Music daily reflections (Open for Lent/Advent)
• Daily devotions to Our Lady during the month of May 
• Holy Week Gallery 
• Stations of the Cross 
• Retreat Days 

Celebration of the Word 

Parents and carers are invited into school on a weekly basis to join a class for their Celebration of the Word.

The children plan the Celebration of the Word using the Emmaus model. They choose how to gather, an appropriate reading is chosen, they then choose how to respond to what they have heard and choose a mission to go forth and act upon what they have heard. The children prepare the prayer space, using the appropriate liturgical colour and other relevant religious artefacts. 

The children plan and evaluate their Celebration of the Word. In EYFS and Key Stage 1 the evaluation is done verbally as a whole class. In Key Stage 2 this is recorded in the class Faith Journey book.