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At St Oswald's, Christ is at the centre of all of our thoughts and actions. Prayer and liturgy allows us all – children, staff, parents and parishioners – to come together to know, serve and love God.
Prayer, Liturgy and Assembly Timetable
Monday: Whole School Collective Worship 10.10 am
Tuesday: Class Worship KS2
KS1 Statement to Live By in the Hall
Wednesday: Whole School Hymn Practice
Thursday: Class Worship KS1
KS2 Statement to Live By in the Hall
Friday: Whole School Celebration Assembly 9.10am (including prayer)
Definitions of some forms of worship
Collective Worship is the way in which we connect spiritually with God, our creator, following the example of Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit. This comes in a multitude of forms and there is no right or wrong way to give glory to God.
Mass is at the centre of the celebration of our faith. We celebrate the mystery of the Eucharist as a faith community, praising alongside our parish community of St Oswald's, Father John is our parish priest and leads our prayer and worship.
Liturgy has a distinct, formalised format that mirrors that of the Mass. There are four sections: Gathering (coming together as a prayer community); Word (listening to God as found in the scriptures); Response (prayer time, reflection or action to digest and ponder over God’s word); Mission (taking the message from the liturgy out into our school, home, community and beyond).
Prayer, according to St. John Damascene, is the “raising of one’s mind and heart to God.” This can be vocalised or internal, contemplative prayer. We can use traditional prayers of the Church or our own thoughts and words.
Whole School Collective Worship
The Head Teacher & Deputy Headteacher lead whole school in Collective Worship every fortnight, with individual classes leading worship in the weeks between. The theme is closely linked with the liturgical year so that all members of the school community have an understanding of the readings, colours and messages we listen to and see on Sunday at mass. However, this act of worship may address current issues, events in the week (both secular and religious) or other feasts in the Church’s year. Friday’s Assembly celebrates our children and the gifts given to us by God, sharing our achievements and talents. While this is not an act of worship within itself, it will begin or end with a form of collective worship.
Class Worship
Teachers in school give children the opportunity to participate, take ownership of their learning and develop their own relationship with God. Teachers aim to give children a real voice in planning and leading worship. It is important that we all look to children as having an important role to play in leading our faith communities; Christ himself said, “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:4), welcoming them as models of faith – and so should we.
We pray together as a class at regular intervals each day and share in collective worship daily, either as a whole school or an individual class. On a Tuesday and a Thursday, pupils and teachers lead worship within the classroom. This can be in any medium of worship. The theme for this worship may be based on our Come and See RE curriculum, the liturgical calendar, current events etc.
The children will lead their own worship within the classroom at least once a week, though this is related to the pupils’ age with regards to their level of involvement.
Parent Worship
Parents are invited to worship with our school community at key events in the year, such as Harvest and the Y6 Leavers’ Liturgy. They are also welcomed to participate in giving glory to God during specific liturgical seasons, such as Advent and Lent.
Focal Point
Each class has a Focal Point that changes regularly. This is a quiet area within the classroom setting where the children can encounter God at a time of their choosing. This usually involves some form of reading, reflection and action.
“We walk in the footsteps of Jesus so that we may have life in all its fullness”
John 10:10