Prayer and Liturgy at St Adrian’s

Our school Prayer and Liturgy Handbook can be found here:

_ Prayer and liturgy policy St Adrian’s June 2025 .docx

Children love to participate in prayer every day.  This may be part of a whole school, key stage or class Celebration of the Word as well as Masses in school or at our local church, St Bart’s. These celebrations relate to the liturgical year, Catholic Social Teaching theme or class RE topics.

The Year 6 Caritas Ambassadors and Prayer Leaders (from Year 1 to Year 6) take an active role in the whole school liturgies by reading out bible passages, leading the prayer or joining in with role play.

The photo below shows children preparing their own weekly class celebration.

The children also love to write prayers that can be used as part of their class Celebration of the Word.

Each week, we learn lots of wonderful hymns in our whole school Worship Through Singing Celebration (also known as Hymn Practice).  The children enthusiastically sing these hymns as part of their prayer and liturgy celebrations through the week.

We work very closely with St Bartholomew’s Parish. Children attend mass about twice a term in school or in church and parents are warmly invited to attend.  As well as a mass at the start of the academic and calendar year, a second mass most terms reflects the church liturgical year, including Holy Days of Obligation, such as All Saints, Ash Wednesday and Ss. Peter and Paul.

Through the year, the children participate in additional seasonal whole school celebrations or liturgies relating to seasons such as Harvest, Advent, Mothering Sunday, Lent and Easter as well as a very colourful Crowning of Mary in May.  Dependent upon the weather, some of these even take place outside!

 

Once a year, KS1 and KS2 classes prepare and deliver their own mass or class Celebration of the Word, presided over by our Parish Priest, with Year 3 preparing their mass after they have made their first Holy Communion in the summer term.

At different points during the year, pupils are able to visit Westminster Cathedral for special services with other schools across the diocese. The School Council and Caritas Ambassadors especially love attending the Advent Carol Service at Westminster Cathedral.

Details of this year’s Prayer and Liturgy Annual Provision of Prayer can be found here:

2025-6 Annual Provision of Prayer.docx

Spontaneous prayer

As part of the Jubilee Year of Hope, the children of St Adrian’s have made a pledge to pray anywhere as God is everywhere.

Each classroom has a prayer space that the children can use as a focus for their prayer during the day. The prayer area has a variety of resources that the children can use and they often add items to the area to really make this space reflect their own interests and needs.

The children have daily opportunities to spend quiet moments in the prayer areas around the school building and school grounds. This year, led by the prayers leaders the children helped to set up prayer gardens and these have certainly enhanced the children’s daily prayer life as they provide valuable space to be with God. Classes also make use of these outdoor spaces as part of their class Celebrations of the Word.

School progression in prayer

From their earliest time here at St. Adrian’s, the children begin to pray.

Children in the Foundation Stage begin to bless themselves by making the sign of the cross and then learn to start and end their school day with a prayer as well as saying a simple grace before their lunch.

We use the Prayer and Liturgy Directory to guide us in the progression of prayer that the children follow.

Prayers are sometimes introduced to the children earlier than these phases, so that they have time to explore them during their RE lessons and deepen their faith by using them in class prayer. Throughout all of the RE topics, there are a number of opportunities for the children to compose their own prayers.

 

Below, you will find copies of the prayers that the children say in school, so that you can talk about the words and learn them together as a family.

Morning prayer

God my Father, I give you today,

All that I think and do and say,

My work, my play, my joy, my fun,

I give to you through your dear Son. Amen

Act of Contrition

Oh my God, because you are so good,

I am very sorry that I have sinned against you,

and with the help of your grace, I will not sin again

 

The Rosary: See pages 74-75 of the Prayer and Liturgy Directory for clear details of The Rosary

Prayer Leaders

This year, our prayer leaders will be helping to develop our prayer life through the following prayers or ways of praying:

The Examen

Lectio Divina

Saint Teresa of Avila’s prayer

Prayer at home

The 2025-26 Annual Provision of Prayer and RE Newsletter provide links to Little Liturgies that families can share together each weekend. You will find them here

Prayer Bag

All classes have a class prayer bag which can be taken home each week and used as part of the family prayer times. The prayer bag contains many different things, such as a nightlight, cloth relating to the liturgical season, holding cross and prayer cards.

There is also a prayer journal that the children use to write and illustrate their own wonderful prayer. The prayer may be one that they have written themselves or a family favourite that can be shared in class and used as part of the class prayers.

Wednesday Word

Every Wednesday a ‘word’, inspired by the coming Sunday’s Gospel, is suggested for families to talk about in the home. Centred around the Sunday Gospel reading, the Wednesday Word is an invaluable opportunity for families to learn more about their faith together through prayer and talking about the meaning behind the gospel reading.

You will find a link to the current Wednesday Word every week in the news bulletin that is emailed out to families.