St. Benedict’s Catholic Primary School bases itself on the belief that we are all part of God’s family and should treat each other with care, respect and love. We seek to build a strong partnership with parents and families and establish a school community that embodies and fulfills our school vision. We strive to promote the knowledge and values of the Catholic Faith through Celebration of the Word, so that each person grows even closer to God, takes responsibility within the Christian community and learns to be tolerant of all races and religious beliefs.

Vision

Our vision as a truly Catholic community with Christ at the heart of all we do, is to…

• Be grateful for all that we have, give thanks and praise God each day.

• Aspire to be the best we can be, knowing that we will learn and embrace all we can when we can.

• As children of God, we nurture the talents of each unique individual to be inspirational members of our community.

• In caring for the world in which we live, we foster the unique gifts of each child so they may serve and grow as disciples of faith and shine in the Glory of God.

The Aims of  Prayer and Liturgy

The prayerful experiences we provide our children aim to:

• to learn and cherish traditional Catholic prayers, for example, the sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, morning and evening prayers
• to know and be familiar and confident with responses in liturgy, including Mass
• to contemplate something of the mystery of God
• to reflect on spiritual and moral issues
• to develop a personal spirituality
• to explore and develop 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 a sense of shared values
• to enrich religious experiences
• to reinforce positive attitudes
• to participate fully, to take time out, ‘to wonder at’ and ‘to come to terms with’

What is Prayer?

At St. Benedict’s, we 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. This may be in one of the following ways:

• Listening – being attentive to the voice of God in every moment of life.
• Speaking – expressing our heart’s deepest longings and desires to the One who knows and understands us better than we know and understand ourselves.
• Reflecting – thinking about our relationship with God and others.
• Resting – simply being consciously in the presence of God, knowing that we are loved.

How do we pray?

Example prayer forms include:

• The Rosary
• Lectio Divina
• Guided Meditation
• Liturgical Dance
• List Prayers
• Silent Prayers
• Breath Prayers
• Mandalas
• Examines
• Calm Prayer
• 5 finger prayer
• Prayer of being
• Movement prayer

What is Liturgy?

Liturgy is a form of collective worship where the children meet God through the scriptures. A liturgy consists of four parts- a gathering, The Word (from the bible), a response to The Word and a sending out with a mission.

What does Prayer and Liturgy look like at St Benedict’s?

Timetable

NPCAT Prayer and Liturgy Policy