At our school there is a range of prayer and liturgy: classroom prayer, meditation, assemblies, special services for special times of the year, and celebrations of Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We use many resources to support us in planning and delivering collective worship. The themes follow the liturgical calendar below.  

Our week begins in collective prayer led by Mrs Staffa and daily prayers are then led by children in each class.

Each class lead collective worship for their own class.  The theme follows the liturgical calendar.  With support, children plan, set up and lead the prayers, reflections and the celebration of the Word.

During January, we marked the start of the Jubilee year with a launch day Celebration of the Word.  In this year, Pope Francis invites us to be signs of hope in our world and this holy year will be significant to us.  Our children and staff will experience the joy of taking action as Pilgrims of Hope in building a better world.

Please follow the link where more will be explained.

 Bishop John blessed the anchor, a symbol of the jubilee year and then it began a journey around every school in our diocese, within the geographic area of the Academy Trusts. On Wednesday 19th March it was passed to our school from St Paul's primary school Blackburn.  We celebrated as two schools listening to the Word of God, praying and singing together.  We thank  the children and staff for visiting and making the occasion so special.  We will enjoy having the anchor in school and will pass it on to St Bede's high school Blackburn.

Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany 6th January 2025

We held a whole school and Parish celebration mass to commemorate the Feast of the Epiphany. This special event, led by Fr Ged, was held in our school, and we took the opportunity to reflect on how we can be guided by Jesus, just as the Wise Men were guided by the star.

Fr Ged also blessed our school today. 

Traditionally, on the feast of Epiphany, Catholics bless their homes by writing the letters C, M, and B and the numbers of the year on either side — so this year it would look like “20+C+M+B+25.”

The letters stand for the traditional names of the three Magi (Wise Men): Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also represent the Latin blessing Christus mansionem benedicat, which means “May Christ bless this house.”

It was a lovely way to start the new term, as we came together as one school family to spend time with God. During the mass, we sang hymns, listened to readings, and participated in prayers, all while strengthening our connection to our faith and one another.

This year our Key Stage 1 children performed the A,B,C Nativity.  We shared the story of the first Christmas with our friends and families through acting, readings and song.  Our Year 2 children took on the roles of the key figures present at Jesus' birth.  Our Year 1 children narrated the events and our Reception children moved the story along through the alphabet.  Thank you to all who supported us.  We hope you enjoyed the performances and wish you all a happy Christmas.

Advent - Crib Service

Advent is a time of preparing. A time when we try to open our hearts and minds to God so that we can prepare for the birth of Jesus.

Friends and followers of Jesus gather round cribs to pray, reflect and get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We gathered around our crib in school to do the same and we led the prayers at our crib service. 

We led the prayers in the crib service.

Dear Jesus, you came into our world to teach us how to love. Bless our homes and help them to be places where we learn to do the same. We pray to the Lord. 

Dear Jesus, you came into our world to teach us how to live together. Bless our schools, help them to be places where we learn to do the same. We pray to the Lord.

Dear Jesus, you came into our world to teach us how to pray. Bless our priest and our parish, so that they might help us all to grow in faith. We pray to the Lord.

Dear Jesus, you came into our world to teach us how to care for God’s worldwide family. Bless all your children around the world, help us to see one another as brothers and sisters. We pray to the Lord. 

November - the month of Remembrance.

November is the month in which we pray for departed Holy Souls and celebrate Remembrance Sunday. If you would like us to remember your loved ones this November, please come and hang a button on our remembrance tree in school and we will keep your loved ones in our prayers each day in school. Our Prayer Leaders will be on the playground some mornings and evenings or just pop into the office area where the tree will remain for the rest of the month.

The Caritas Ambassadors were joined by the Prayer Leaders to lead the whole school in a special remembrance service. The children created a beautiful atmosphere and focal point. The whole school joined in with the 'We Remember Them' litany and stood respectfully for two minutes of silence. 

All Saints Day 1st November.

We held a whole school mass to celebrate All Saints Day. This is a very important Feast in the Catholic Church. It reminds us of all the saints in heaven. These saints lived holy lives and followed Jesus. They are our examples and guides.

The saints help us by their prayers. We can ask them to pray for us. All Saints Day also reminds us that we are all called to be saints. We are encouraged to live good and holy lives. This day inspires us to follow Jesus more closely.

Rosary Challenge.

During the month of October we have accepted the challenge to say a decade of the Rosary each week day.  During each decade we pray with a Mystery of the Rosary.  Mysteries are moments in the life of Jesus and Mary.  We have shared a short piece of scripture and then prayed an Our Father, ten Hail Mary and a Glory Be.

Our Lady's birthday. The children honoured her by writing birthday messages or thank you cards for offering us care and guidance.

Today we celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.  We celebrated as a parish community with a special mass.  We processed with an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, which now is displayed in our school.

Our prayers and reflections were lead by our Year 4 prayer leaders this year.  Thank you to our families who sent beautiful flowers with the children. Today, they presented them to Mary, sang beautifully and worshipped Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of us all. 

This year, our wonderful prayer leaders and caritas ambassadors delivered activities which have allowed us all to gather, listen and reflect upon the events of Holy Week.  The children visited various focal points  around school  where we waved palm leaves to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem and cleaned our shoes as Jesus washed the disciples feet.  We reflected upon sad times as Jesus was alone in the garden and  we shared food and considered our experiences of special meals as Jesus had His Last Supper.  We made crosses as Jesus died on the cross and heard of His Resurrection.  We all enjoyed a chocolate Easter egg!

Thank you to our children who led our reflection and prayers and to all of our school family for being open to the experience.