Prayer and Liturgy

Policy for Prayer and Liturgy – Mission Statement

St. Hugh of Lincoln School will nurture, guide, educate and develop all our children on their journey with Jesus.
Let our school be a place
Where happiness shines from every face
A place to learn, a place to share
To help each other and show we care
God bless our school every day
St Hugh help us, this we pray

Amen

The Nature of Prayer and Liturgy  

We believe that Christian worship in a Catholic School is concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action to God’s invitation to enter into relationship, made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness to the Holy Spirit. 

The context of the prayer and liturgy policy  ‘The celebration of Catholic liturgies and prayers as an integral part of the learning and teaching should enable the school community to become reflective, experience the presence of God and should develop a mature spiritual life.’ (Marcus Stock (2012), Christ at the Centre, Catholic Truth Society,23.)

Definitions 

Collective Worship is a term used in legislation in this country but is not a phrase we would readily use in a Catholic context. “Prayer” and “Liturgy” are terms more commonly used.  

Liturgy  

Liturgy literally means ‘work of the people’ and points to the fact that something else is going on beyond prayer. It is the formalising of worship at the heart of which is symbol and action. The four part structure of Gather-Listen-Respond-Go forth is common to many liturgies – it is one way of understanding the structure of the Mass.  

Prayer 

Once the early fathers of the church described prayer as “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or requesting of good things from God”. These words illustrate why in this Catholic school we begin and end each session of the day in prayer. Prayer may be an individual experience, or if it is an activity with others may form part of an act of worship. Prayer consists of: Listening, speaking, reflecting and resting 

Legal Requirements  

We acknowledge the legal requirements that there must be a daily act of worship for all pupils. This can take place at any time during the school day and can be either a single act of worship for all pupils, or separate acts of worship in school groups. We understand that simply holding an assembly that includes a prayer, said either by the teacher or everyone present, does not fulfil this requirement. We also acknowledge that Prayer and liturgy and assembly are distinct activities. An assembly is any experience of gathering/assembling in school. It may include an act of worship and as such be part of the same gathering, but the difference between the two will always be made clear.  

In this voluntary aided Catholic school, responsibility for arranging Prayer and Liturgy rests with the governing body after consultation with Mrs Atherton our Head Teacher , Mrs Jane Evans our RE Subject Leader. and Mrs Lorraine Hampton out TA/Chaplain.

The act of worship is not designated curriculum time under regulations and will not be considered as part of our RE lessons (for time purposes). 

Statement of Requirement The law requires all maintained Catholic schools to provide an act of daily collective worship (prayer and liturgy) for all pupils, including those in the sixth form (Section 70, 1988 Education Act) that is in accordance with the rites, practices, discipline, and liturgical norms of the Catholic Church (School Standards and Framework Act 1998, schedule 20; Instrument of Government, clause 2).  Academies in England are required by their funding agreement and Articles of Association to comply with similar requirements (The Mainstream Academy and Free School, Supplemental Funding Agreement, December 2020; Model Articles for Catholic Academies, February 2019). The law requires all maintained schools to recognise and respect that parents have the legal right to withdraw their children up to the age of 16 from prayer and liturgy (School Standards and Framework Act 1998, s.71(A).  Sixth-form pupils can choose to withdraw themselves from prayer and liturgy (School Standards and Framework Act 1998,s.71 (1B)). The school’s provision for prayer and liturgy will fulfil pupils’ entitlement to experience the range of liturgical treasures of the Church, including a shared repertoire of prayers and liturgical music with which pupils in the school will be familiar. Prayer and liturgy are not designated curriculum time.  In the context of the Catholic school, this means that times of prayer and liturgy are not considered to be part of the allocation of curriculum time for Religious Education.

The Place of Prayer and liturgy in the Life of St Hugh of Lincoln.  

We endorse the belief that Prayer and Liturgy takes into account the religious and educational needs of all who share in it:  

• Those who form part of the worshipping community in church
• Those for whom school may be their first and only experience of church.
• Those from other Christian traditions, or none
• Those from other faith backgrounds  

It will be an educational activity or experience to which all can contribute and from which all can gain.  

We will continue to foster and deepen the children’s personal relationship with God our Father, daily in prayer. We do this by helping them become aware of God’s Presence in their lives and of His love for them by leading them to respond to Him in a manner suited to their age and stage.  

This may be in one of the following ways:   

• Prayer of silence
• Spontaneous prayer
• Praying through gesture or action
• Formal prayer  

Children are encouraged to pray in the morning, before lunch and before leaving school. Prayer and liturgy in this school is more than just a legal requirement; it is at the heart of our school. It is an integral part of school life and central to the Catholic tradition that we proudly follow.  

The Aims of Prayer and Liturgy  

We believe that Prayer and Liturgy in our school aims to provide opportunity for all pupils and staff:  

• To contemplate something of the mystery of God 
• To know and love Christ.
• To be open to the vision and imagination to the wonder of living in God’s world, and the responsibilities that follow on from this.  
• To reflect on spiritual and moral issues.
• To explore their own beliefs.
• To respond to and celebrate life. 
• To experience a sense of belonging and develop community spirit.
• To develop a common ethos and shared values.
• To enrich religious experience.
• To grow in liturgical understanding and development. 
• To reinforce prayers that are part of the Catholic tradition
• To reinforce positive attitudes. 
• To participate fully. 
• To make time to ‘wonder at’, ‘to come to terms with’ and ‘to give worth to’.  

Principles:  

All acts of Prayer and Liturgy in this school will:  

• Give glory and honour to God
• Be a quality activity fundamental to the life of the school and its Catholic character
• Give children positive liturgical experiences appropriate to their age, aptitude and family backgrounds in order to prepare them for the liturgical life of the Church. In order to achieve the above, Prayer and liturgy is organised as follows:

• Welcome/Gather- the children gather together (with reflective and calm music, candles are lit, statues used, sign of the cross, have a focus linked to theme) 
• Listen to the Word- a reading from the Bible- the Bible is held so the children see where Scripture comes from. Staff will then unpick the word of God to help children understand, then they are given time to reflect on what they have heard.
• Respond to the Word- a ritual movement that everyone can join in with that fits with the theme (gestures such as stillness, shaking hands, holding hands, pray, respond to prayer) 
• Witness /Go Forth- how the children will spread the word of God. Encourage children to think about what they can ‘hold on to’ from the experience of worship that they can live out in their daily life.