Collective Worship

At St. Jude’s Catholic Primary School, we aim to be a living and loving community inspired by the life of Christ and the teachings of the Church and rooted in Gospel values. Collective Worship in our school is an integral part of our ethos, aims, and relationships and is a way of deepening our relationship with God together and individually.

At St. Jude’s Catholic Primary School, we have various weekly Collective Worship opportunities: Mass, Whole School Gospel Assembly, Key Stage assemblies, class Celebration of the Word, and daily traditional prayers. All of our opportunities for Collective Worship ensure that children have time to think about their lives and the world around them, to pray, and to share their feelings and emotions.

We aim to:

• Develop an awareness of the presence of God in each child’s life and to encourage personal response and reflection.
• To develop a sense of awe, wonder and inspiration in the person of Christ.
• To grow in spiritual, moral, cultural and liturgical understanding.
• To enable each child to participate and respond to liturgy and worship.
• To grow in understanding of our living faith tradition.
• To examine and reflect upon our faith journeys.
• To develop the skills of prayer.
• To live, experience, and understand the Liturgical life of the Church through the Liturgical Year, together with solemnities and feast days.
• To promote the sacramental life of Christian families and to encourage parents to take an active part in the preparation of their children for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation.
• To foster school-parish links to ensure that our children remain exposed and committed to the Catholic faith, experiencing liturgy and worship beyond realms of the school curriculum.
• To allow each child to develop their conscience and make sound moral judgements based on a commitment to following Christ.
• To offer opportunities to deepen their faith and foster attitudes of care and respect for each other. 

At St. Jude’s Catholic Primary School, the children are taught traditional Catholic prayers in certain year groups. These prayers can be used at home to support parents in developing their children’s knowledge of prayer and continue developing their children’s understanding of what the words mean to us as Christians today.

Our Parish Church is St. Jude’s Catholic Church, St. Jude’s Close, B14 5PD. We are very fortunate that the church is next to our school and that we are able to attend mass weekly here on a Tuesday at 9.30am.

Our Parish Priest is Father John Peyton. The Assistant Parish Priest is Fr Prem Fernando. There are also two Deacons in our thriving parish – Deacon David Fairbotham and Deacon Martin Casey. See the Our Parish page to read a message from Father John and access a link to the parish website.

To Love You More Dearly

The Prayer and Liturgy Directory, titled ‘To Love You More Dearly’, is a mandatory framework for all Catholic schools, academies, and colleges in England and Wales. While published in 2023, its requirements become officially mandatory from 1 September 2025.

The directory aims to ensure that prayer and liturgy offer a ‘meaningful encounter with the living God’ rather than just a routine. As a school community, we work to ensure that the requirements of the directory are known, shared and understood.

According to the directory, all forms of Liturgy must follow this four-fold structure:

1. Gather: Setting the scene, lighting candles, inviting children to prayer.
2. Listen: Reading scripture from the Bible.
3. Respond: A reflection or action based on the Word.
4. Go Forth: Closing prayer/statement.

‘To Love You More Dearly’ also sets out a list of key prayers that must be incorporated in to school life. Further details about these prayers and how they are organised across school can be found below:

• St. Jude’s Prayer Book

If you have any questions about Collective Worship in our school, please get in touch with Mrs Smith.