Collective Worship

Collective Worship is a key element of our religious life at St. Peter’s. Children engage daily in acts of prayer at key points throughout the day, and in a short period of meditation at the start of each afternoon. We also have weekly assemblies as a whole school, and each class undertake their own acts of worship within the classroom, including child planned and led acts of worship and digital acts of worship from the Mark 10 Mission or Cafod. We also regularly celebrate special holy days within the church calendar.

Our children value these times that they get to spend in conversation and reflection with Jesus and God.

 

“I like meditation because I get a quiet time to talk to God in my heart.” – Eddy

“I like doing the sign of the cross because we’re getting ready to talk to God.” – Malica

Prayer

Each class has a prayer focus table. We display work from our current theme from “Come and See” and provide opportunities to explore Scripture and meaningful prayer in our daily lives.

We have a dedicated Prayer Room which the children can use as they wish. Mrs Connor, our school chaplain, is based in this room where she runs regular prayer groups. She also coordinates our ‘student chaplaincy team’ who plan and run whole school celebrations. There are religious artefacts in the Prayer Room for the children to take back to their classrooms.

Our amazing P.T.F.A has helped turn our dreams of a prayer garden into a reality. The Prayer Garden was officially opened and blessed in October 2015. Each class designed a stepping stone on a prayer theme, and these were added to the Prayer Garden throughout the opening day.

Our Prayer Garden is dedicated to the memory of our wonderful former school secretary, Mrs Saunt, who sadly passed away in 2014.

Whole School Prayer

Each Class has contributed to a whole-school prayer for our school.  You will see the prayer attached below.  There is a copy of the prayer for each class on or by the Class Focus Table.  One of the Chaplaincy Team took photos of the beautiful statue of St. Peter that local artist, Carmel Cauchie, sculpted for our school and each class has a photo of the statue on the copy of their class’s whole-school prayer.

Child Planned & Led Acts of Worship

At St. Peter’s we actively encourage our children to take a leading role in planning and leading their own acts of worship. To help us with this we use a resource called ‘Let Us Pray 2gether.’ This resource helps the children with ideas, activities and Gospel readings for their act of worship. It also helps the children to ensure that they have included the four key areas of acts of worship:

  • Gather
  • The Word
  • Response, and
  • Mission.

Children in our younger year groups are supported with the planning and delivery of their own acts of worship. This helps them to develop their confidence and independence in doing this as they progress through the school.

Visio Divina

The steps of Visio Divina are modeled after the traditional Lectio Divina steps.

In the first step, Visio, look at the image and slowly examine the content. Look for details, and notice what stands out. Ask the child to identify what story the image is telling and what they think is happening.

In the Meditatio step, we meditate on the image. Here we invite the child to make a connection to the story happening in the art. They could imagine being present in the events. Older kids might also think about the use of expressions, colors, and symbolism in the artwork and what each might mean.

Next is the Oratio step, where we pray with the image. Help the child use the story to dialogue with God about what can be seen in the image and what they think. Help the child ask the Lord to reveal what he wants them to understand through the artwork.

Finally, in the Contemplatio step, we contemplate the image. Contemplation is a gift of God, but we can open ourselves up to it by quietly examining the image again. Through those moments of silence, we can note what God taught us through our time of prayer with this art.

Below are some examples of Visio Divina from across the school.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina means “divine reading.” It involves reading a passage of the Bible slowly and intentionally.

It is important to note that Lectio Divina is not a Bible study, it is a form of prayer. God uses scripture to speak to us all the time, and this is a way to slow down and be still in His Word. It is amazing what we will hear God tell us when we allow Him the time and space to speak.

A Lectio Divina is typically divided into four different parts:

  1. Reading – Read the text out loud until a phrase stands out, this is what the Holy Spirit is drawing your attention to.
  2. Meditate – Repeat the phrase out loud, asking what God is saying to you through this text.
  3. Pray – Take your thoughts and offer them back to God.
  4. Contemplate – Move from prayer into resting in God’s presence.

Bible Journaling

God’s Word tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Bible journaling is a way to seek and respond to God in his word. This form of Collective Worship is facilitated by our older children for the younger members of our school family. During lunch times the older children provide opportunities for the younger children to engage and respond to Bible passages in creative ways.

Daily Meditation

Each day our children spend time in daily meditation, having the opportunity to spend that quiet time in personal prayer with God.