At St. Teresa’s we always strive to provide quality experiences of prayer and liturgy that support pupils’ spiritual development. These communal acts of prayer and the liturgical celebrations of the Church form part of everyday life in our school. Every child is given the opportunity to pray by giving praise and thanks to God using traditional prayers of the Catholic Church and many other sources of prayer that enable this to take place. We encourage the children to nurture a relationship with God through words, symbols, song, gestures and silence.
Prayer is such an integral part of school life that it can never be confined to ‘timetabled’ slots but may take place in a variety of contexts other than those specifically structured.
Central to our prayer life in St. Teresa’s is Collective Worship. We gather as a school community on a Monday morning when Mr Turner leads us in collective worship. On Tuesdays (KS2) and Wednesdays (KS1/EYFS) each Key Stage gathers for Collective Worship led by a member of the teaching staff. On a Wednesday, a group of children lead their class in a liturgy. We gather finally as a whole school on a Friday afternoon to celebrate all our achievements.
Furthermore, children prepare liturgies and times of prayer and reflection within their own classroom. During special times in the liturgical year such as Advent and Lent, KS2 children lead the whole school in collective worship.
Other opportunities for prayer take place within the classroom at the start of each day, before and after lunch and again at the end of each day. Prayer in the classrooms and in assemblies always includes use of symbols and a focal point for prayer which is appropriate to the liturgical season, for example, Lent, Advent or Easter.
During all these times of prayer, both staff and pupils are involved in leading and participating.
It is thus our aim at St. Teresa’s to provide our children with opportunities to experience a variety of forms of prayer that help each individual in the school community to foster their own relationship with God. Children have access to the school chapel, prayer trail as well opportunities for meditation and stillness within the classroom.
In addition to these opportunities of prayer, Mass is celebrated twice a half-term, in school and on the last day of term in Church. All classes attend and parents and parishioners are most welcome to join us.
For more information on Collective Worship at St. Teresa’s, you can read our Collective Worship Policy here: Collective Worship policy 2021-2023
