As a worshipping community, we actively encourage our families to worship together at home. We have a programme of school- home worship which reflects the Liturgical Year supporting our parents/carers in worshipping with their children at home.  

The feedback from both parents and children is always very positive!

We focus on different virtues each term as part of our Character Education.

You can find out more about the Virtues we study by clicking on the Virtues tab in Catholic Life.

All the Virtues underpin our worship throughout the school year which of course is linked to the Liturgical year!

Scroll down to see the kinds of things we do each term!

AUTUMN TERM 2023

 Our Autumn began with a visit from Father Michael who also celebrated Mass for us. We gathered together in prayer and asked for God's blessing on our school community.

Father spoke about how we should do everything from a place of love and announce the good news like a trumpet blast. He even brought a bugle with him to illustrate the point! The children were engrossed and their participation was excellent as always. It was wonderful having so many parents, carers, grandparents and parishioners joining us too.

 At the start of each school year our staff team and governors gather in church for our Commissioning Service. We focus on our vocation to support and nurture our children, light candles to remind ourselves to carry God's light with us always and pray our Mission together.

Commissioning Service

 As we approach the month of October we were gifted class sets of rosary beads from the Catenians. Father Michael came in to school and met with the Prayer Liturgy team. He blessed the beads and they prayed together. The PLT will distribute the beads round the classes and everyone will be able to use them when praying the rosary in class.

 The PLT have delivered the rosary beads round the classes and each class is praying the rosary each day in October. The PLT are also leading voluntary prayer time to say the rosary together at some breaktimes each week. 

 KS2 always enjoy their special class Masses in the Headspace room with Father Michael. Reception and Key Stage 1 have Masses together in the hall each term too. 

 Our Prayer Liturgy team prepared the school-home worship bags for October, focusing on the rosary. All the children will have the chance to have the bag at their house so they have the opportunity to pray the rosary together as a family.

During the last week of half term we prepared for and then held our Harvest Liturgy. It was a wonderful celebration where we gave thanks to God for the harvest of the land and the sea. We were joined by lots of family members and parishioners. The donations collected will be donated to the needy of the parish and local community.

Harvest Liturgy

 In the month of November we focus on Remembrance.

Representatives of school, along with their families and staff, attend the local community Remembrance Service and lay a school wreath at the cenotaph.

We say prayers, sing hymns and of course observe the 2 minutes silence to show our respect for those who have died in conflict around the world.

We also build our own Wall of Remembrance in school where we put the names of those we, our school community, have loved and lost. We then remember them in our prayers.

 

Our PLT are busy preparing the resources each class need for making their Advent Wreaths. 

The children from Nursery to Year 6 loved making their class wreaths up ready for the start of Advent.

Advent Wreaths

 To mark the start of ADVENT in school we held our annual Blessing of the Wreaths liturgy.

We gathered together in the hall and each class brought their wreath and placed it on the worship table. 

Father Michael blessed the wreaths and our Prayer Liturgy team led us in prayer. It was lovely to have some parents, carers and parishioners there to share in this special liturgy with us. 

Our PLT spent time preparing the travelling crib worship bags for our children to take home. This is a chance for our families to reflect together at home on the true meaning of Christmas. Our children always enjoy taking this home.

Father Michael also came in to hear confessions from our Year 4,5 and 6 children as well as staff.

Travelling Crib

Our wonderful Nursery and Reception children presented the Nativity story to us in school and for their families too, reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas. How special!

As the term drew to a close we celebrated Advent Mass in school. It was lovely, as always, to have so many parents, carers and parishioners joining us as well Directors from the Blessed Peter Snow Trust.

Advent Mass

 We have a tradition at St Joseph's where we gather on the last afternoon of Advent to sit around the tree and sing carols and listen and reflect on readings and the Nativity story. We also light all the candles on the Advent wreath. Our Prayer Liturgy Team led us in this and it was a wonderful way to end the term, thinking about the true meaning of Christmas!

Carols Around the Tree

 

Each day in school begins and ends with a prayer (see opposite) and of course we pray at other times of the day too. Reception and KS1 gather, as do KS2, to worship together. These prayer liturgies are led by Mrs Bonner and Mrs Foxcroft, with the support of some of the children. The worship is based around a piece of scripture which reflects the particular Virtue we are focusing on. A display in the hall builds up over the weeks helping us to make links between Bible stories and pieces of scripture.

 

Read our Prayer Liturgy Policy here

At least once a week a small group of children in each class will plan and lead a worship for their own class.

The younger children are supported by the staff but as they grow in both confidence and skill they become independent in doing this.

Their class worship reflects and reinforces the Virtue we are focusing on as an academy. 

 

SPRING TERM 2024 

 Our Spring Term began with Mass to mark, not only the start of the new term, but also Jesus' baptism. 

This Mass was, as always,  well supported by parents, carers and parishioners and was a wonderful start to our Spring term. 

 Representatives from our school attended a special Mass, celebrated by Bishop Marcus in our parish church. It was wonderful to hear the Bishop say Mass and to listen to his words. He was kind enough to have his photograph taken with some of our children. 

 Members of our Prayer Liturgy team began to prepare the resources for the making of christingles in school in preparation for our liturgy. The children are getting very excited about making their christingles!

 We gathered together in the hall for our christingle liturgy, marking the feast of Candlemas and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

Our PLT helped to organise and lead the liturgy too. It was lovely to have parishioners and parents joining us too, making it even more special.

We will try to shine our light in all we do and say.

 Our Prayer Liturgy team prepared the school-home worship bags for Lent to be taken home for our families to worship together. 

We gathered together as a school family to share Mass for Lent which our prayer liturgy team helped to organise. As always it was made more special by having some of our parents, carers and parishioners joining us. 

Our Prayer Liturgy team led voluntary worship in the Headspace room during Lent, focusing on the Journey of the Cross.

They also helped to lead the Stations of the Cross liturgy on the last day of term. It was very moving. 14 candles were lit in the Easter Garden and as we listened to and reflected on each station, one candle was extinguished until all was in darkness. The Light of the World had given up his life that we might live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Prayer

O my God you love me, you are with me night and day. I want to love you always in all I do and say. I'll try to please you Father, bless me through the day.  Amen.

Prayer before Dinner

Bless us O Lord as we sit together; bless the food we eat today; bless the hands that made the food; bless those who have no food; bless us O Lord.  Amen

Prayer after Dinner

                        O Lord we are so grateful for every cup and plateful, forgive us if we're wasteful, we are your family. Amen 

 

End of Day Prayer

    God our Father I come to say thank you for your love today. Thank you for my family and all the friends you give to me. Guard me in the dark of night and in the morning send your light. Amen.

 

SUMMER TERM 2024

We have started the Summer term with a reflection on Easter and Jesus' resurrection.

Each class has made a cross to represent the resurrection and they are on display in the hall for all to see! 

 We held our May Devotion as always at the start of the month. The children processed into the hall and placed flowers on the prayer table surrounding our statue of Mary. We listened to readings and reflected on the importance of Our Lady. We also sang hymns. One of our First Holy Communion children crowned Our Lady as we sang. 

May Devotion

Our PLT prepared the school-home worship bags for may which support and encourage our families to pray together at home. 

 Father Michael came in and celebrated Ascension Day Mass for us. We reflected on Jesus' friendship with his disciples and how he promised he would send help to them so that they could continue to spread his word.

 

We gathered together to celebrate the feast of  Pentecost! We sang hymns and listened to the bible reading about when the Holy Spirit came to the disciples in the upper room giving them the power to go out and spread the good news to all people. It was a day of joy!