Worship
Year 6 - Whole School Mass - September 2024
Year 6 students had a wonderful opportunity to start the school year in a special and meaningful way by leading a whole school Mass. With the guidance of Father Hyacinth, they took responsibility for the readings, choosing hymns, and playing an active role in the celebration. This experience gave them a sense of leadership and community, while also helping to set a positive and reflective tone for the new academic year.
Ascension Thursday Mass - 9th May 2024
Our Year 3's represented our school and joined our parish community to celebrate The Ascension which marks the end of Jesus' physical presence on Earth and the beginning of His spiritual presence in heaven. The children participated by leading the readings and sang hymns beautifully including Walk in the Light.
Mass - Start of the summer term
Year 6 led the whole school mass on Friday 19th April for the start of the summer term.
Easter 2024
During Holy Week, Key Stage 2 presented a Passion Service to Key Stage 1 and parents and carers. The story of Jesus’ last week was told through the use of the Gospel, poetry, and singing. The children acted out the events of Holy Week and were able to reflect upon the meaning of these deeply moving events. Parents were visibly moved by the reverence of the children’s behaviour and the message of Holy Week which they conveyed.
First Mass of the New Year - January 2024
We celebrated the start of the new spring term as a whole school at mass. Parents and governors were invited to come and join us. The mass theme was New Beginnings and was led by our Year 6 pupils.
"The mass was for the new term, Father Hyacinth spoke to us about being respectful to others and told us to remember in our minds that God loves us" - Maria Year 3
"When we sang Christ, Be Our Light I thought about the people with no food or shelter and prayed for them. It reminded me of Christmas day because on Christmas day my family gave food and water to people in need." - Great Year 3
Thoughts on Collective Worship
What do our children think of mass at school? Why is mass so special?
Feast of All Saints Mass - 1st November 2023
We celebrated the feast of the saints as a whole school. It was wonderful to come together with parents and carers to celebrate All Saints; those who we know as saints and those saints who do not have special days set aside for them.
Some children in Year 6 said the Homily was very special:
"I know that God calls us all to be saints"
"To be a saint means to be like God and to be like God means to live in love"
Whole School Mass 15th September 2023
Today we came together as a whole school to mark the beginning of the new academic year. Parents and governors were invited to come and share our special mass. Our service also commemorates the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, where we remember the profound love that existed between Mary our Mother and her son our Saviour Jesus.
Our Lady of Sorrow Mass
Ascension Thursday Mass 18th May 2023
Today we learned that Jesus told his disciples to go out into the world sharing The Good News. We celebrated The Ascension which was when Jesus was taken to heaven to be with God. We are also called to share the Good News of Jesus.
Ash Wednesday 22nd February 2023
Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Ashes are blessed and placed on our foreheads to remind us that we are part of the creation of God. During Lent we are asked to give up things we enjoy and be more generous towards others. We could also make an extra effort to pray and to think about others.
Class Weekly Mass
As part of our class planning for the weekly mass, each class prepares an offertory box which contains food donations. We offer these to our parish who distributes them to members of our community who need extra support.
Teacher Led Liturgy
Every Thursday, teachers lead a weekly worship for their classes to allow time for reflection and prayer based on a religious story or The Gospel.
What do our children think of class liturgy?
EYFS - The story of Creation is important. We learned that people are the most important thing God made
Year 1 - Liturgy is not work. It is a special prayer and thinking time
Year 2 - We looked at God’s chosen people. We are all chosen to do good things for one another
Year 3 - I liked looking closely at the words and thinking about what they mean
Year 4 - We focus on the candle and everyone is quiet. We can all talk to God
Year 5 - I had the chance to talk to God and ask Him to forgive me and other people for the things we do wrong. We all thought of something we can do to be better people
Year 6 - I enjoy the class liturgy because it is a special time to think about God as a class community. We can let go of any worries and not worry about being judged. Everyone’s answers are welcomed
Prayer Group
Year 3 pupils continue to attend a prayer session every Tuesday with Ms Harvey. This session has a focus on The Rosary.
Pupils are provided with a prayerful environment where they can focus on what Jesus did and said.
The prayer session provides us with a time and place for these children who are preparing for the sacrament of The Eucharist, to connect with God. Through this, children improve their speaking and listening skills via prayer and worship.
Hymn Practice
On Fridays, Years 2-6 gather together to sing songs of praise to God and practise hymns and songs that we use for our collective worship and for Mass
Hymn Practice
Mary our Mother
During the month of October we honour Mary Our Mother. We have been reflecting on Our Lady of Grace and what She means to us as a Catholic school. We have thought about ways we can draw closer to God through Mary Our Mother.
The Month of Mary
As May is the month of Mary, we reflect on her life and the key events which took place. It was important to consider the challenges she would have faced and think about how her faith in God helped her to persevere. The children in year 5 showed empathy whilst creating diary entries from Mary's perspective.
25th March BC
Dear Diary,
Today the Lord has sent his blessings unto me for today is the Lord is the day that the Lord has made. He has sent his Angel -Gabriel- who came to me and said, “Do not be afraid,for God has chosen you to have a baby,and you shall name this child Jesus. At this moment, I felt reputable, glorious and honoured for the Lord of Heaven and Earth has chosen me out of a billion women. No matter what, I had to obey the Lord for he is powerful which shows I am a lucky person. At the same time, apprehensive worries flourished through my body for I was the mother of the Son of God. All I felt was blind obedience even though I did not understand. God is my life, my purpose ; the way, the truth and the life; I have no doubt, no worries of giving praise to God.
25th December
Dear Diary,
Today was an amazing day for I have given birth to the Son of God. I may have been tired, worried and even had doubt but I knew God will protect, guide and bless Jesus and I; I was feeling optimistic and positive for I knew my belief, faith and trust in God was strong and deep. After the people -wise men and shepherds- had left, I watched the child of the most high sleep in peace. “This is God’s great blessing to me,” I thought. Feeling optimistic, it was a good feeling knowing I am raising God’s child.
By Rebecca
St Elizabeth
In Year 4,we have been reflecting and thinking about the crucial part that Mary plays in Jesus' life as well as in our own lives.
Firstly, we generated some adjectives to describe Mary. Here are some examples: patient, kind, obedient, loving, pure and humble.
Using watercolours, we have created some beautiful pieces of artwork to represent Mary. We thought carefully about the shades we wanted to use and the atmosphere we aspired to create through the art. When we look at our artwork, we think it matches the adjectives we came up with perfectly.
The children in Year 2 created flowersto surround Mary with. We have been
learning the song ‘Bring Flowers of the Rarest’ which we sang as a class as we
placed the flowers on the class alter.
