Liturgical Prayer Policy

Worship

Worship and celebration of the Church’s Liturgy are an integral part of life at St. Rose’s; they are both a personal and public way of being aware of the presence of God in our midst.
(Directory on Children’s Masses, 9)

“We aim to provide a variety of opportunities of meaningful worship which recognise the needs of the school community and encourages all to participate, and thus develop their own journey of faith”.
(Philosophy of R. E. Department)

Students and staff are encouraged to participate and respond whether through active involvement in the presentation of the act of worship. This can be through words, songs, signs, objects and communication aids, through listening and participating. Such occasions strengthen our community spirit, promote a common ethos and shared values, as well as reinforcing positive attitudes.

Liturgical Celebrations:

These are an integral part of the Catholic Church’s year and are celebrated at St Rose’s.

Mass

Mass is celebrated six times a year. Each term there is either a whole community Mass or a Chapel Mass. The whole community Mass is in term 1 and term 6, at the Beginning and End of the academic year and is held outside or in a marquee. If it is not possible for us to come together as a whole community Mass is celebrated in the hall with all classes from school and guests from St Martin’s. Lent Mass is always celebrated this way. Governors are invited and attend the whole community Mass. Students and staff participate and help to organise all the liturgies including those we have in the Chapel in school and for this attendance is voluntary. Signing and symbols are used to help our young people participate in, understand and join in the liturgy which is displayed on a large screen if in the hall. Training is given to support the clergy in simple signs which they could use in their sermons. A blessing is always offered to those children, young people and members of staff unable to receive Holy Communion under the present laws of the Catholic Church.

Parish Mass to celebrate the Feasts of the church

We share active participation with the local Catholic Schools.
On the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul some of our senior students attend Mass at St Peter’s Catholic High School and participate in the celebrations afterwards.
Students also attend Education Mass and other celebrations at Clifton Cathedral with students from other schools in the diocese.
Participation in joint celebrations with The Little Way (previously the Gloucestershire Catholic Schools Partnership GCSP).
Information of Parish Masses and events, and advice is available from the Parish Priest Fr Eugene Campbell.

Sharing in Liturgical Celebrations

Staff and students share in celebrations with students who belong to other Christian Denominations e.g. Confirmations, Parade Days, Remembrance Sunday, Christening Services.

Class Prayer Time

Regular times for prayer are set during the school day. Students are encouraged to feel at ease and to be still with God, in the quiet of their hearts and minds, and as part of their own class or a larger group. School classes begin each day when there is no assembly with the Morning Offering and end with the Evening Prayer. We also say a prayer each day at lunchtime before the students eat their lunch.

Liturgical Prayer

There are two whole St Rose’s Liturgical gatherings , each week on a Monday and a Friday.

The Monday whole school Liturgical gathering is led by a teacher, member of the Leadership and Management Team or a guest. The theme may relate to the Church’s Liturgical Cycle, bible stories/readings or topics. These also include classes taking a turn in the preparation and presentation.

The Friday assembly is led by a teacher and may include hymn singing in preparation for a Mass or calendar celebration such as Harvest or Christmas; Star Moment Certificates are presented to students who have made a special effort during the week and any other awards and certificates are also presented.

Each week there is a class assembly led by the class/RE teacher and these are linked to our values, stories from the Bible, the topic that term or the Church’s Liturgical Cycle.

Example Liturgical Gatherings can be found in Reports:\Resources\HYMNS SONGS AND WORSHIP ITEMS

Suggested Order
• Singing of Mission Statement and Procession of Symbols
• Welcome
• Sign of the cross
• Light candle and musical cue – “How Great is our God…”
• Morning offering
• Main point/story
• Hymn/song
• Final prayer
• Notices
• Sign of the cross
• Extinguish Candle

Local Community

Students are involved with occasions such as
• The Christmas Tree Festival at St Lawrence’s Church
• Carol singing at local supermarkets with a nativity scene

All Liturgical Celebrations draw on a wide variety of cross-curricular links which we believe enable the students to recognise that our Liturgy/worship is indeed part of our life.

The Religious Education Department has a two-fold role:-
To manage the delivery, teaching and learning of Religious Education in the school through:-
Clear documentation;
Regular departmental meetings;
Planning the R.E. Curriculum;
Offering support and ongoing development opportunities for R.E. Teachers;
Ensuring access to good quality resources and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning of R.E.
Training

To contribute, in collaboration with the Principal and Parish Priest, to the religious and spiritual life of the school and the students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through:-
Offering support and encouragement to staff
Providing direction for the spiritual and religious life of St Rose’s
Offering expertise and support to staff and students in areas relating to religious and moral issues.

Promoting British Values at St Rose’s

The DfE have reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools and colleges to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these fundamental values have been reinforced in 2014.
Here at St Rose’s we believe that these essential values underpin much of our work in promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children and young people and is entirely consistent with our mission as a faith school.

Mutual Respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

We are a Catholic Christian Special School and College, and Christ is at the heart of all we do. Our mission is to create a community of love and learning, and we are proud of the heritage of the founders of the school, The Dominican Sisters from The English Congregation of St Catherine of Siena who still own the school and college. Notwithstanding this, we welcome young people from all faiths and from none. We encourage our non – Catholic students to be proud of their differing beliefs, and celebrate these within assemblies and at all opportunities. Our non – Catholic students take a full and active part in the liturgy and faith celebrations, in daily prayers and rituals. Equally we are sensitive to where students may be less comfortable with this. Students are taught about equality and diversity consistent with their level of understanding. Staff monitor carefully the importance of understanding and support for individual’s beliefs, cultures and traditions especially through our safeguarding policies. We are aware that some people may be vulnerable to negative influences and will tackle this rigorously.
Students have many opportunities to learn about people from different cultures and faiths including through our links with other countries and through celebrating the multicultural nature of our school family, both staff and students. We also encourage our young people to develop their sense of charity and care for others, locally and globally.
Through these aspects of our practice, we believe that St Rose’s is a happy and safe environment , in which children and young people can learn and grow, and contribute to British society.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following school policies and documents:-
RE Curriculum Policy
RE Handbook
Equality and Diversity Policy