Liturgical prayer gives us the opportunity to celebrate God’s presence in everything around us.  It provides us with a time of reflection to enable us to praise, thank and honour God.

At St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School we believe that liturgical prayer supports our children in developing their own personal relationship with God. Prayer in our school is a vital opportunity to think, not only about our own needs, but about the needs of others.

Children at St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School engage in daily liturgical prayer, from class teacher led liturgical prayer, pupil led, Key Stage and whole school. In school, our daily prayers begin with our morning prayer, which helps us to prepare for the day ahead, enabling us to consider how to make it the best we can.

Our Grace before meals reminds us to be thankful for the food we have and for all who make it possible for us to be fed.  

Before we go home, we finish our day with the end of day prayer, thanking God for all we’ve done and asking for God to be with us.

At St  Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Primary School, we also pray at other times, in response to the children’s needs.

As well as praying together as a class, there are other ways in which we gather in prayer.

Whole school liturgical prayer

Each Monday we gather as a school family for our Gospel assembly led by our Headteacher.  The Scripture focus for this gathering is the Gospel reading used in Church the day before.

On Tuesdays we hold our singing assemblies, where we prepare for masses and Liturgies, praising God through music and song.

On Thursdays, our whole school gathers in the hall for Gospel Values assembly.

On Friday, our whole school assembles in the hall for the Golden Book assembly.  During the Golden Book assembly, the whole school community celebrates those children who have been nominated for showing our school values.  We also celebrate out of school achievements and awards and link these to Catholic Social Teaching where appropriate.

Class reflections - Celebration of the Word

On Wednesdays 'Celebration of the Word' reflections take place within each class.  In EYFS and Key Stage 1, the staff lead these with the involvement of the children.  This involvement might take the form of choosing resources to use in the focal area for the gathering, reading or choosing some music.  Our children in Key Stage 2 are encouraged to plan, prepare and deliver their own reflections in small groups their class. They often choose a theme which is relevant either in our liturgical year or in their Religious Education topic at the time. Prayers are  a focus for  us as we prepare for the 2025 Jubilee Year as "Pilgrims of Hope".

Each of our Celebration of the Word reflections follow the same structure: 

Gather: 

Children gather together in the presence of God and prepare themselves to pray by making the Sign of the Cross.

Word:

We listen to the word of God in the form of a Bible reading.

Respond: 

We respond to the word.  This can be by saying our own prayer, giving thanks or reflecting on what we have heard in silence or through music.

Mission:

We focus on the message we have heard during liturgical prayer and take this message with us, in our words and actions, into our daily life.

Our school prayer

Children are taught a variety of prayers. We also have our own school prayer. Please click on the image below: