Prayer Life at St. Joseph’s 

At St. Joseph’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.  We are really proud of the ‘Creative Prayer’ books and the ‘Talking to God’ books which the children help to creative as a physical representation of their conversations with God. 

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.  Children are actively encouraged to interact with the various Prayer Stations around school to have a moment of silent reflection and to also deepen their relationship with God. 

What does Collective Worship look like in our school? 

Collective Worship may take place at any time during the day. It may take the form of a single act of worship with the whole school community or separate acts of worship in class.  Collective Worship in our school is an integral part of our ethos, aims and relationships, as Christian values permeate all aspects of school life and all relationships. It is a way of deepening our relationship with God together and individually. 

Since we are all faith leaders at St. Joseph’s, all members of staff lead prayer and liturgy. This ensures that Collective Worship remains a fundamental part of school life.  

Parents and Carers are also invited to join their children in Class-Led Liturgies at regular intervals throughout the school year. 

Creative Prayer and Child-Led Liturgies 

Central to our prayer life in St. Joseph’s is Creative Prayer and Child-Led Liturgies. 

Children prepare reflective sessions themselves and are happy and confident to share this with their peers. Praying together and a commitment by all to strengthen our relationship with Christ is part of the daily experience for all pupils and staff. 

The Eucharist 

The Eucharist is the core of our Catholic life and therefore is celebrated regularly as a whole school and with the extended community. Children participate in a variety of ways: praying, reading and singing. The opportunity to celebrate Mass with our parishioners, in our church, helps to further the children’s understanding of the richness of the Eucharist.  

The school is blessed in having very supportive parish priest, Father Colm Hayden. Father Colm is in school regularly helping our children to experience what it means to belong to, or take part in the worshipping community of the Church. The children are fortunate to be able to experience the richness of the liturgical life of the church in many ways throughout the year such as the Stations of the Cross during Lent, the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, regular Masses and a Nativities at Christmas. 

Father Colm welcomes children to become altar servers and delivers training so that they are competent in their role in the Mass. 

Lenten Prayer Stations 

Our children mark the events of Holy Week with different Lenten prayer stations around our school. To help us to prepare for Holy Week, every child from Nursery to Year 6 takes part in our Lent Prayer Trail. With the help of an adult guiding them through each station, even the very young children in our school community are able to experience God’s goodness through their senses e.g. the feeling of sand or a blanket, the smell of bread, the coolness of a marble.