At Saint Joseph’s, the Borough, our aim is to deepen our faith and nurture and develop our relationship with God so that we have a greater understanding of ourselves, who we want to be, our interactions with others and with Jesus Christ. Our Collective Worship as a school family, nourishes us with God’s word and unites us within the wider Catholic Church. It acknowledges and celebrates the life-giving presence of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in our lives. We have Christ at the centre of our school day and through him we ensure that everyone experiences meaningful, spiritual moments of growth and reflection. Children will experience God’s love and deepening of their faith throughout the Liturgical Year in Masses, liturgies, assemblies and prayer reflections. These include weekly whole school Advent and Lenten liturgies, liturgies for Harvest, Remembrance and those related to Saint days or key Liturgical Year celebrations. The staff are supported by the RE Subject Leader and the Collective Worship leader to plan these events. The children are also involved in contributing to and reflecting upon these special occasions. As well as developing an understanding of important universal Catholic prayers, the structure of the Mass and associated prayers, we intend that the children build up a repertoire of hymns, both traditional and modern. These contribute greatly towards Collective Worship throughout the school. It is often said in the Bible that singing is the best form of prayer; “Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,’ Ephesians 5:19.
During their time at Saint Joseph’s, the Borough, children explore and deepen their faith through spiritual, meaningful and reflective liturgies and worship. We are concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. Each act of worship follows the four fold action of gathering, hearing God’s Word, responding to the Word and being sent forward with a Mission based on the worship we have participated in. The children have opportunities throughout the year to attend Mass as a whole school, both on the premises and in the local parish churches, to participate in the Liturgy of the Word, and the Eucharist. These include All Saints and All Soul’s Day, the Feast of St Peter and St Paul and the Feast of the Sacred Heart and of course, St Joseph! Class masses and liturgies are centred on a theme and parents are invited to join. Collective worship is also experienced and lived through silent prayer and class assemblies. The children participate using religious actions that complement prayers and song. Weekly whole school assemblies focus on the Gospel message and involve the children through prayer, reflection and song. The wider school community, including parents and governors are invited to attend whole school assemblies. In addition, each class has a prayer space as a focus for daily prayer which is decorated to reflect the liturgical year. There are also class prayer books which are taken home for the children to write prayers to share, often in their home languages. We use ‘Learning and Growing as the People of God’ as our RE scheme of work to complement the Catholic Way of Life and Collective Worship practiced in the school.
At Saint Joseph’s our children will have regular opportunities to be still in presence of God through reflective prayer during the school day. Through daily worship they will develop a deep-rooted relationship with God and an understanding of their faith which positively contributes to their love of God and love for one another. Collective Worship will provide them with an enriching experience that provides sustenance for the mind, body and soul. Sacramental aspects of the Church’s liturgical life, especially the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation, are intrinsically woven into the fabric of a school’s Catholic identity. It is through acts of Collective Worship, prayer and liturgy, that the Catholic identity of our school is shaped and sustained.
