At Our Lady & St Kenelm Catholic Primary, prayer and worship is an integral part of the school day.

We pray with the children:

• At the beginning of the school day: this consists of the morning prayer, prayer of the month and prayers for various intentions including those suggested by the children
• KS2 children say the Angelus every day at noon 
• Before Meals: Grace before Meals
• After Meals: Grace after Meals
• At the beginning and end of an RE lesson: this is linked to the lesson, theme or day
• At the end of the school day: End of Day prayer
• During Child -led Collective Worship: this is a longer liturgy planned, prepared and led by the children. It includes formal prayers, short Scripture readings, a hymn and time for reflection or spontaneous prayer.
• In Assemblies: Monday Gospel Assembly, Tuesday Hymn Practice, Friday Congregations Assembly led by different teachers each week
• At Mass: children celebrate mass every Thursday morning in school 
• Family Mass in church- led by school every month
• In the Chapel, Peace Garden or Mary Garden:opportunities for personal and spontaneous prayer
• Bible Group in the Chapel led by Liturgy Leaders 
• At home: supported by the class prayer bags

Each classroom has a prayer focus/ sacred space. Children use it as a focal point when they pray.

 Prayer takes a variety of forms and types and these are used with the children on a regular basis:

Forms of Prayer:

• Formal prayers led by teacher or children
• Spontaneous prayer led by teacher or children
• Prayers from the Mass
• A Reading from scripture
• A hymn (singing is praying twice!)
• Children's own written prayers
• Actions, signs and symbols accompany prayers when it is suitable to do so
• Guided meditation/ Lectio Divina
• Silent prayer

Our Lenten Day of Prayer...our day of prayer began with a beautiful Mass, led by staff and children from each class, and it was wonderful to see children from Pre- school bring up the gifts at the Offertory! Fr must have seemed a giant to them as they handed over the gifts.

Staff and children spent the whole day reflecting upon the season of Passiontide and the final days of Jesus' life. The hall was dressed beautifully by the Liturgy Leaders; a time for prayer and reflection. Staff and children found this time so valuable at this time of the Liturgical year; a wonderful way to spend with the Lord; just Him and us!
 

Look at all our amazing work from our Lenten Retreat Day

Types of Prayer:

Thanks- prayers which express our gratitude to God for all he has done for us

Asking- prayers we say when we ask Our Lord to intervene for us and Our Lady and the saints to mediate on our behalf

Praise- prayers to express our love for God and all he has created 

Sorry- prayers we use to say sorry

Each month, Ten:ten - who we use to support our collective worship in school, create a parent newsletter.
 

By exploring the information in the newsletter, you will be able to discuss with your children the themes encountered each day in school.

As May begins, we are in the full flow of Eastertide celebrations and the blossoming of Springtime flowers echoes the hope and joy of the Resurrection of Jesus. We look forward in hope and anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, marking the birthday of the Church and a renewal of our mission as followers of Jesus.

Parent Newsletter

Thank-you to Father Stefan for coming to our KS1 Lenten service. He taught us about his special vestments and Mrs Turner chose some of the Stations of the Cross to focus on. A prayerful afternoon reflecting on the final moments of Our Lord, Jesus' life. 🙏😇🙏

Collective Worship: Findings from our SEF/Monitoring & Evaluation

• All Leaders, including children, staff & Governors, evaluate the Catholic life of the school through monitoring of collective worship at every opportunity. Leaders, staff & children, have expert knowledge in how to plan and deliver quality Collective Worship.
• The highest priority is placed on the professional development of staff incorporating liturgical formation and the planning of Collective Worship, Catholic Social Teaching- courses at the Diocese and CPP.
• Leaders and governors place the highest priority on the school’s self-evaluation of Collective Worship with regular reviews of school performance. The HT Report every Term, reports on the planning & provision for Collective Worship & standards and progress.
• Collective Worship is monitored and evaluated every term by the HT and findings are shared with Lucy Carew, the Link Governor for RE, Catholic Life & Collective Worship.
• Assemblies and celebrations are monitored & evaluated by staff, SLT or Governors who attend. We have many parents who write to us directly, giving their thoughts on the celebration that they attended.
• Any additional requirements of the diocesan Bishop regarding Collective Worship are embraced and fully implemented.
• This is monitored & evaluated by all staff, Governors & our Link Governor, every term/throughout the year. This includes Fr Stefan, our Parish Priest,  as part of this monitoring & evaluation.
• Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and are enthusiastic about how they can inspire and motivate pupils in their assemblies 
• Pupils are active in planning their own class collective worship & all children are keen to lead in all year groups. This is a huge strength of  our school. 
• The Liturgy Leaders in every class, are a real credit to the school. They take great pride in ensuring that prayer is at the heart of  the whole school; supporting staff with the prayer areas in class, the school hall, setting up the Altar with Fr Stefan & ensuring that all Prayer Bags are fully resources- ready for children to take prayer into the home! 
• Teachers plan using the diocesan schemes of work but also supplement this, to meet the needs of pupils.
  This results in a stimulating and engaging Catholic curriculum.

• A baseline assessment is completed as pupils enter the school in YR. This enables the school to review provision in line with the growing needs of the pupils, as many enter school with very limited knowledge of religious artefacts or prayers, and is reviewed again at the end of the school year to measure progress & impact
• Progress in early years is rapid and by the end of their Reception year most pupils are at least in line with diocesan expectations. This rapid progress continues through both key stages and attainment by the end of key stage 2 shows an upward trend with a large majority of pupils exceeding diocesan expectations. 
• Lessons about equality and diversity are a key aspect of the curriculum and children respond positively to their learning about other faiths, religions and cultures.
  Pupils enjoy visiting other places of worship. They can explain how these visits make them think about how we must respect all people, irrespective of our differences through T & L eg; Multi Cultural Week
• Effective questioning by staff during lessons is a strength of the school. Staff pose open ended questions that probe pupils’ knowledge and understanding. They actively encourage pupils to question themselves and pose the question, "What does this mean for me?"
• Pupils enjoy their Religious Education lessons and can relate previous learning to new and more challenging tasks.
  Observations and interviews show pupils are keen to learn, can work collaboratively or independently and enjoy discussing the key messages of the Gospels.
• Feedback in our Religious Education books is in line with other core subjects and through effective feedback, pupils know how to improve their work. Teachers provide challenging questions that encourage deeper learning (Reflect & Respond) and asks pupils how they will apply this learning to their own behaviours.
  Evaluation & monitoring, evidences this is embedded across the school.
• Support staff provide high quality input, have good subject knowledge and are well deployed to support pupils’ learning. They question skilfully to extend learning and clarify misconceptions. They use a variety of strategies to capture the Q & A/ discussion
• Behaviour in lessons is outstanding and shows that pupils are highly motivated and enthusiastic about actively participating in the Prayer life of the school. 
• Pupils have an excellent knowledge of bible stories and enjoy using the Bible in lessons.
• In key stage 2 pupils confidently make links between stories and can apply their learning to how we should live our lives today.
• Observations across the whole school, regarding Collective Worship, evidence all of the above. EOP Expectations have been shared with all Govs and are being used to track one child from each class to moderate at the end of the year- against the new EOP assessments.
• Liturgy Leaders in Y5 & Y6, set up a virtual  ‘Stay & Pray’ group for parents and grandparents every Tuesday morning during lockdown- this was a huge success and  Liturgy Leaders in Y5 set up their Bible Study Group- virtually- for children in KS1.
• Bible Group is led by Liturgy Leaders every Friday in the Mary Chapel 

Pray with Archbishop Bernard

Prayer for the Diocesan Vision

Written by the Liturgy and Worship group:

Spirit of God,
descend on me this day.
Grant me the Spirit of joy, to lift me,
the Spirit of hope to inspire me,
the Spirit of love to surround me and
the Spirit of truth to enlighten my path.

Holy Spirit,
I pray for a new outpouring of your grace,
so that I may grow in worship of your name
in love of you in my prayer
and in my actions towards others.

Come Holy Spirit into my life to guide me.
Strengthen and defend me,
so that I may be drawn ever closer to you.
Help me this day and always
to be a channel of grace
in all I say and do
and invite others into relationship with you.

Amen