St Thomas More Catholic Academy & Sixth Form College

With grace and humility,
glorify the Lord by your life

Prayer & Collective Worship

'Prayer is the raising of one's heart and mind to God'               

At St Thomas More Catholic Academy and Sixth Form College, prayer and worship is an integral part of the school day.

We pray with the students:

  • At the beginning of the school day: this consists of a morning prayer, the prayer of the month and/or prayers for various intentions including those suggested by the staff and students.
  • The Angelus
  • At the beginning of a RE lesson: this is linked to the lesson, theme or day
  • During Collective Worship: this is a longer liturgy planned, prepared and led by the staff and students. It includes formal prayers, short Scripture readings, a hymn and time for reflection or spontaneous prayer.
  • In Assemblies: with a weekly theme based around Catholic Social Teaching 
  • At Mass: children go to mass at Our Lady of the Angels Church. Our Parish Priest is Father Simon. 
  • Solemnity and Holy Days of Obligation: We have a whole school Mass in the gym 
  • In the Chapel: opportunities for personal and spontaneous prayer, form group prayer and Mass
  • At home: supported by the newsletter.

We pray with staff:

  • All meetings commence with a prayer 
  • Staff briefing consists of a prayer rota where different staff lead on a prayer each Monday morning
  • Staff training days begin with staff reflection or a Mass
  • Staff are supported with their spiritual development through regular formation activities

Each classroom has a prayer focus/ sacred space. Children use it as a focal point when they pray. It will include:

  • A cloth which follows the liturgical colour
  • A crucifix and candle
  • A statue/artefacts/ symbols- these are changed termly to maintain interest and follow themes or seasons
  • Formal prayer posters or prayer cards
  • Students' composed prayers

 Prayer takes a variety of forms and types and these are used with the children on a regular basis:

Forms of Prayer:

  • Formal prayers led by teachers or students
  • Spontaneous prayer led by teacher or students
  • Prayers from the Mass
  • A reading from scripture
  • A hymn (singing is praying twice!)
  • Students' own written prayers
  • Actions, signs and symbols accompany prayers when it is suitable to do so
  • Guided meditation/ Lectio Divina
  • Silent prayer

Types of Prayer:

  • Thanks- prayers which express our gratitude to God for all he has done for us
  • Asking- prayers we say when we ask Our Lord to intervene for us and Our Lady and the saints to mediate on our behalf
  • Praise- prayers to express our love for God and all he has created
  • Sorry- prayers we use to say sorry

Structure of Prayer:

When children compose their own prayers they should be taught to use the ‘You, Who, Do’ structure.

You- the greeting   e.g. ‘Hail Mary’                                                                                                      

Who- compliment   e.g. ‘full of grace’ 

Do- your request   e.g. ‘pray for us sinners now’

St Thomas More Catholic Academy and Sixth Form College Prayer

 

Lord God,

during our time at this school, give us

the grace to allow your Holy Spirit to work

through us.

Help us to speak, think and study

with honesty and respect for others, to celebrate all that is life-giving and

to encourage one another confident

in the knowledge that we are all God’s children.

Inspire us to love one another as you

have loved us.

St Thomas More,

Pray for us!

Termly Collective Liturgy and Prayer Programme

  

At St Thomas More each form room has a poster displayed which is refered to this frequently during form time prayer. A new one is issued each month.

The Lectionary is the collection of scripture readings the Church uses throughout the year.  We have a three year cycle A, B and our current year A Gospel readings particularly focus on the Gospel of St Matthew. The weekday readings at Mass follow a two year cycle – we are currently following cycle II.

The poster is green to represent the liturgical colour used by the Church during Ordinary time.

The theological virtue of hope is symbolized by the colour green, just as the burning fire of love or blood is symbolized by red. Green is the colour of growing things, and hope, like them, is always new and always fresh. Liturgically, green is the colour of Ordinary Time, the ordered sequence of weeks through the year, a season in which we are being neither penitent (in purple, Lent/Advent) nor overwhelmingly joyful (in white, Christmas/Easter).

During your form prayer time please refer to the cycle of prayer and the Saints Days as they occur.

Finally, you have also been given the prayer intentions of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, by using this intention we are uniting ourselves with Catholics throughout the world, this is appropriate as the word ‘Catholic’ means universal. As our leader, he encourages to pray for particular intentions each month.

Liturgy-and-prayer (ID 1081)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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