At St. Mary’s Primary School, Collective Worship is central to our life together and provides our children with opportunities to grow spiritually, morally, socially, and culturally. Guided by the Prayer and Liturgy Directory, To Love You More Clearly, worship includes prayer, reflection, scripture, music, and meaningful responses, ensuring experiences are inclusive, age-appropriate, and rooted in Christian tradition.
Throughout their time at St. Mary’s, pupils gain increasing responsibility in planning and leading their own Celebration of the Word. From Year 1 children begin by helping to choose music and simple rituals such as lighting a candle or sitting together in a circle. In Years 2 and 3 they take on more responsibility by suggesting prayers, selecting hymns, and preparing short readings. In upper KS2, Years 4 to 6, children confidently lead worship by choosing scripture, preparing questions and activities for reflection, planning ways the group can respond through prayer, art, silence, or action and even creating slides to support the worship. This progression nurtures children’s confidence and skills so that by the later years they are well prepared to plan and lead worship, supported always by staff to ensure safeguarding, inclusivity, and respect for all. Parents are encouraged to join in special services and support children’s reflections at home, making worship a shared journey of faith and community.
“In the face of so many wounds that hurt us and could lead to a hardness of heart, we are called to dive into the sea of prayer, which is the sea of boundless love of God, in order to experience his tenderness.”
Pope Francis
Collective Worship
As a school we participate in Collective Worship regularly with children gathering for prayer daily in classes and as a whole school twice a week. We attend mass on Catholic holy days of obligation as well as other feast days.
Our children invite their families to join us for Collective Worship assemblies throughout the year and it truly does underpin our school community.
Every classroom has a prayer area which provides the children with an opportunity to pause, reflect and pray. It serves as a visible reminder of God’s presence in the classroom and provides pupils with an opportunity to deepen their spiritual life in simple, age-appropriate ways. Often the prayer corner includes a cross, a Bible, candles, or symbols linked to the Church’s seasons, helping children connect daily learning with faith. It is also a place where children can add their own prayers, intentions, or creative responses, encouraging them to take ownership of their spiritual growth. In essence, the prayer corner supports collective and individual prayer, helping to make faith a natural and integrated part of school life.
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Policy - prayer and Liturgy | [pdf 463KB] |
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