PRAYER AND LITURGY ST JOSEPH'S

‘We love because God First loved us`  1 John 4:19 

Through our caring Catholic ethos, based on Gospel values, we meet the spiritual needs of our children. We believe that prayer and liturgy help us to do this and provides us with the opportunity to be more like Jesus, which we encourage though our Behaviour Code:

 · We are gentle

· We are kind and helpful

· We listen

· We are honest

· We work hard

· We look after property

Aims of Prayer and Liturgy

- To strengthen the child's personal relationship with God, through being more like Jesus

- To create a sense of belonging amongst children and adults

- To share and celebrate with families and parishes in the children's faith journey

- To encourage children to be actively involved in preparing and participating in prayers and liturgies

- To increase the children's understanding of the prayer and liturgical life of the church

- To support non-Catholic staff with a program of induction

Prayer

Prayer is a central part of our life at school and the children and staff, are encouraged to pray in different ways. To develop a sense of prayer, it is necessary to have various types of reflective places.

Prayer does not only mean ‘formal’ prayers. We do hope to help each other to listen to God speaking to us and to respond in our hearts and minds during moments or stillness, reflection and silence. We also encourage prayer writing by the children themselves. Each class has a prayer area which provides a focus for prayer in the classroom.

Prayer and Celebrations of the Word

Full school assemblies, is a time when the whole school can gather together for prayer and Celebrations of the Word, as a community. These focus on the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year and other topical events e.g. CAFOD etc. The Head Teacher leads the school in a Gospel assembly on Monday. Pupils are involved in assemblies as and when required. Daily prayer is integral to the life of our school. Our assembly schedule is as follows:

 - Monday: Gospel Assembly (Celebration of the Word and Prayer)

- Tuesday: Class Prayer

-Wednesday: Singing assembly (Prayer)

- Thursday: Class Prayer

- Celebration Assembly (Prayer)

 Traditional Prayers

We want to be a praying community. It is important for children to know the ‘formal’ prayers of the church which we may all pray together and which we all hear and say with the parish / family communities outside school. Essential prayers to be learned be heart where appropriate, include:

KS1

- The Sign of the Cross

- The Our Father

- The Hail Mary

- The Glory Be

- Grace before and after meals

Staff Prayer Life

All staff, Christian and non- are encouraged to participate or support those who participate in Prayer sessions (that have a Christian and a non-Christian element). The responsibility of staff to observe good practice and then model it for children is emphasised, so that those that witness our good model, have confidence that we are providing appropriate prayer times for the children in our care.

 - Monday briefing prayers

-Thursday staff prayers before school (KS1)

-Friday staff prayers before school (KS2)

- Prayer at Staff and Governor meetings

- Joint Catholic school Mass annually

- Diocesan/SCAT training opportunities

Liturgical Celebrations

The liturgical life of the school will focus on the seasons of the liturgical year which includes:

 Eucharist

- January Term begins with a whole school Mass (Masses are shared between St Joseph’s Infants and St Edward’s).

- Holyday of Obligation celebrations

- Feast of St Joseph (March)

 Y6 Mission Team members will assist with the above, as and when required.

 Seasonal Celebrations of Word and Liturgies

All parents are invited to these celebrations. At our major liturgies of Advent and Easter, invitations are also extended to include parishioners and all those who have supported our school in any way.

 - January new term Mass

- October: Feast of St Edward Mass, Harvest Assembly

- November: Remembrance Assembly

- December: Advent Wreath Blessing, Carol Service- February: Candlemas

- Ash Wednesday: Distribution of Ashes

- March/April: Feast of St Joseph’s Mass. Easter Assembly. Holy Week: Stations of the Cross

- June: Year 3 Eucharistic Celebration

- July: Leavers' Mass

Please click on the link below to see our handbook for parents "Helping your Child to know God".

Helping your Child to know God

Please click here to see St Joseph's in the STCAT Catholic Life Newsletter

Our Prayer Garden

St Joseph Pray for Us

DIOCESE OF NORTHAMPTON

Please see below for links to prayers, messages from the Diocese and The Northampton Cathedral Live Streaming Service:

Please click here for a link to the Live and recorded streaming of Catholic services at The Northampton Cathedral. 

Please click here for the link to The Catholic Diocese of Northampton website for more diocesan information, links to Live streamed Masses and to sign up for the Diocesan e-newsletter.