Catholic life of the School
Collective Worship at St Josephs
A huge part of our Catholic lives at St Josephs is how we gather together for Collective Worship.
At our school we gather in different ways to reflect, pray and praise God for the blessings we have in our lives. Sometimes we gather as a whole school and other times we gather as individual classes. Sometimes the worships are led by staff and other times they are planned and led by the pupils.
We use 'Virtues to Live By' in providing themes and reflective focuses for our worships. The information below shows what the different virtues are that provide themes our worships and spiritual development:
We our constantly striving to develop the Catholic Life at St Joseph's and this year, we have introduced a new calendar to support the Collective Worships:
At St Joseph's, we pride ourselves on the children at the heart of everything that we do. We wish to develop the children's knowledge and understanding in the Catholic Life. One of the ways we do this is through our collective worships, allowing the children to progressively develop their involvement and participating in opportunities to evaluate them too. Here is an example of our child-led collective worship proforma and our evaluation form:
During the months of May and June, the travelling rosary has been going home for families to share prayer time together. The Mini Vinnies have led and organised this and have done a wonderful job.
During the month of May, the focus on our prayer station was Mary. We thought about how important she was and that she was chosen by God. The children coloured in a rose, which is a symbol that represents Mary the Mother of God.
Our children recognise the importance of their faith in school but also in their personal lives. Our children have had the opportunity to take the 'Travelling Rosary' home, and here is a wonderful picture of Niamh (Year 5) with her little sister, and a picture of Betsy (Year 3).
On 21st May 2024, four of our children visited the cathedral to give the money that St Joseph's raised for the Good Shepherd appeal. In total, we raised a wonderful £700! Thank you to everyone for their kind and generous donations.
Ascension Day Mass
Year 3 and Year 4 performed a fantastic performance of Resurrection Rock to the whole school, and two performances for parents and the community.
Mini Vinnies created Easter cards for the local parish community.
Stations of the Cross - designed and led by the children themselves!
For part of our fundraising event for Good Shepherd, we led our own games day!
Lenten Penitential 2024
St Joseph's Day
KS2 went to mass to celebrate our school’s Feast Day. This was led by year 5 and 6. Reception and KS1 had a service in school.
Mini Vinnies delivering Food Bank food collected in school to the SVP in Church.
For part of our fundraising event for Good Shepherd, we decorated buns. We had great fun and the buns were delicious!
Meditation in St Peter’s class
“I loved it! I nearly fell asleep.”
“It was really calming.”
Year 6 made their Confirmation in January 2024. It was a lovely evening.
In January 2024, we began the year with the 'Service of Light'.
Mini Vinnies making Christingles for the Christingle service.
Mini Vinnies making Christmas cards for the Church community.
Advent Penitential 2023 – We held an Advent Penitential at the start of Advent. We all made an Advent promise.
Fr. Peter visiting LKS2 to let the children ask questions about mass and living a Catholic life.
Harvest Day Mass 2023
Harvest Collective Worship Station...
In upper key stage two, it is important for our children to develop the importance of collective worship further by independently preparing their own collective worships and sharing them with the class. This is a photograph of one of our Year 6 children modelling and working alongside a group of Year 5 children to share their knowledge and provide guidance.
To extend our journey of Catholic Life further, all classes participate in a collective worship zoom with our partner schools in the Bishop Wheeler Academy Trust. These are a great opportunity for the children to participate in developing their faith with other children.
St Margaret's class led a whole school collective worship based around their charity: Make A Wish Foundation.
St Peter's Class Charity – Leeds Hospital Charities – Children have chosen to raise money for children’s wards!
We celebrated the Feast day of St Peter and Paul by having a whole school mass in school.
Year 4 visited church and Father Peter to learn more about the Order of Service.
Ash Wednesday 2023
On Ash Wednesday, we had an ashing service in school. Year 6 led the service and Fr. Peter explained to the children why we have Ash Wednesday and the meaning behind it.
The children joined in with responses and sang 2 songs during the service.
All children from reception to year 6 attended the service.
