Prayer and Liturgy

Catholic Life - Prayer and Liturgy

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20)

An essential part of the Catholic ethos of our school is the prayer life. Staff meetings and Governors meetings begin with a prayer. The most important aspect of prayer for children is that they realise it is their way of communicating with God and is first and foremost a personal occasion. Children are encouraged to pray in different ways according to their age and personal development.

Children are introduced to a variety of different ways of praying:

quiet reflection / meditation
praying together
writing their own prayers
prayers through music
learning traditional Christian / Catholic prayers
Staff are encouraged to pray with children, and to be an example for them

Every day, our children are taught to open their hearts and talk to God. Every class partakes in daily prayers which are said at different stages in the day.

The following common prayers are taught:

EYFS:

The Sign of the Cross

Morning Prayer

Afternoon Prayer

Years 1&2:

The Sign of the Cross

Morning Prayer

Afternoon Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer

Hail Mary

Glory Be

Grace before meals

Grace after meals

Years 3&4:

The Apostles’ Creed

An Act of Contrition

Angel of God

Come, Holy Spirit

The Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester

Years 5&6:

Morning Offering

The Rosary

The Magnificat

Act of Faith

Act of Hope

Act of Love

Prayer Progresssion at St. Ignatius

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Our School Prayer

One of the Chaplaincy Team’s first orders of business this year was to create a new school prayer which reflected our PEARL values. The children took ownership of creating the prayer, with Miss Mc Ginty’s support, using our PEARL values to help them.

They created such a beautiful prayer which we are all very proud of. The Chaplaincy Team introduced it to the whole school at assembly on Friday 17^th October 2025.

The prayer is pasted below both as text and pictures.

Lord Jesus,
Help us to recognise that we are all made in God’s image.
Help us to celebrate our achievements.
Help us to show respect to everybody that we meet.
Teach us to love others, as you have loved us.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.
Amen.