Celebration of the Word
At Our Lady of the Rosary, prayer and worship are an integral part of our daily life. We pray together as a part of our class routine, we have weekly child-led collective worship, we gather as a whole school for Celebration of the Word and also visit our parish church for Mass.
Click on the tabs below to see some examples of collective worship in each year group.
Mother’s Day Liturgy – March 2024
We invited in all our mothers, carers, aunties and grandma’s to celebrate all the special women who care for us and look after us. The children painted pictures and shared how they are loved and looked after by these special women. We lit a candle as we gathered together and listened to the Gospel. We then treat all these special women to an afternoon tea and gave them flowers and cards.
The children in Nursery and Reception enjoy joining in with the Celebration of the Word. They have began to select the way in which they like to gather.
Statement to Live by: I can say one good thing about myself
The children enjoyed sharing their gifts and talents with each other. The children then showed us for the rest of the session what they were good at.
Statement to live by: I try to be just and fair
Nursery and Reception gathered together in the prayer room for the Celebration of the Word. The children talked about the ways that they felt they could be fair to each other.
“I will share with my friends” – Stephen (Reception Class)
“Be like Jesus” – Josie (Nursery)
We gathered in the prayer room for a Celebration of the Word, the children carefully set the prayer focal point up using a green cloth for ordinary time. We than sang our favourite gather hymn Gather, Gather.
Buddy Time
We are lucky that we get to spend time with our buddies, we have been working in the Prayer Room and having some time to reflect at the prayer stations.
“My Buddy helped me to say some Prayers to Jesus.” – Alecia Reception Class
“I was with my Buddy and we got to go to the Prayer Room!” – Steven Reception Class
Click the link below to see how our buddies help us pray in the prayer room.
Spring 1
Friday 2nd February we invited our families to come along to our celebration of the word for the end of our topic, special people. We linked our DT project to RE and had an amazing time creating moving cards for people who are special to us.
The children planned how to gather and this time decided to sing their gather song and pass around the holding cross, saying the name of someone special to them. We the heard the word from Luke’s Gospel and reflected on how he chose Simeon to see Jesus when he was just a baby at the temple. We then took a few quiet minutes to think about how God made us special and how we can spread our talents. The children then wrote their own intercessions thanking God for all the special people around us, in church, in school, in our community and especially themselves. We ended our celebration of the word by handing out our moving cards to those who had joined us and created posters to show other people in our school how they are special.
Autumn 2
We loved welcoming our families to our Celebration of the word on November 24th.
Our Celebration of the Word was linked to our statement to live by for that week – ‘I can tell you how I look after myself.’
The children got to plan all four aspects of our celebration. They first planned how they would gather, bringing up important items to our focal table. They then listened to the word of God and decided the best way to respond. After that, they then created their own bidding prayers all linked to our statement to live by. Finally they created their own mission to complete afterwards with their family.
I try to keep going when things get difficult and do not give up hope.
We invited our parents and carers into school to join us in today’s Celebration of the Word. We planned this celebration, closely linking this our Jubilee year around the theme of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. Then we made a tree of hope, writing our very own hopes for the world. Holly shared her hope with everyone – “I hope for the war to stop in Lebanon, so I can visit my grandad and grandma”.
I try to appreciate the beauty and wonder about the wonderful world around me.
I try to follow our school and classroom rules.
Year 2 could explain why they chose to set up their focal area in the way they did.
Hunter – We use a green cloth because it is ordinary time.
Skyla – The Bible tells us about the good news about Jesus.
Holly – The cross reminds us that Jesus died on the cross.
Isla – We used ready, respectful and safe because these are our rules in school.
Elias – We always use a candle because Jesus is the light of the world.
I can love others as I love myself.
I can let my light shine like Jesus.
We had the pleasure of our families joining us in our Celebration of the Word, where we reflected on St. John’s Gospel and the importance of letting our lights shine, just like Jesus. The children helped to plan this celebration, which reflected on our signs and symbols of Baptism topic in RE. It really set us up for a fantastic day! We witnessed lots of examples of the children doing great things for their friends and teachers that week, just like those identified on their brightly glowing candles.
In Year 3, the children proudly plan their own Celebration of the Word to share with the class and, at times, the wider community including families and the Parish.
In class the children planned their own Celebration of the Word to share with their families. The children shared a reading from the Gospel of Luke, they then reflected on how they could be Good Samaritans and shared one way they are going help others that week. It was great, even our families joined in sharing their ideas. We then went into the hall to create a poster all about being a good role model and shared these with other classes in our school to help spread the word.
During Lent, as part of Holy Week, the children planned and shared a Celebration of the Word on Maundy Thursday with the rest of the school and invited their families in to join us in the hall. The children decided to include acting out of the Word by creating the Last Supper table with Jesus and his disciples. A child from Reception reacted to this by saying ‘I love that I could watch what was happening!’ This was a really positive part of our evaluation.
The class were proud of their Celebration of the Word with a focus on ‘to love others as I love myself’ and the children decided that their mission is to show love at home. The children shared pictures on Class Dojo of them completing this mission at home.
During advent, we invited families into school to join us in the Prayer Room for a Celebration of the Word. Our mission was to share a Christmas card to express what we are thankful for and recognise the gifts that God gives us.
We enjoyed spending time with our families by inviting them to join us in our Celebration of the word on the 17th November.
Our celebration of the word was linked to the statement to live by number 8 – ‘I try to be just and fair’.
The children independently planned each section of our Celebration of the word. They planned how they would like to gather, by listening to quiet music and bringing special items to our prayer table. The children chose to place the CAFOD box on our prayer table as a reminder of how we can encourage fairness in our world by supporting charities. We then listened to the Word of God and choose to respond by taking a moment to think about how we could be fair and just in our lives.
Going forth we joined our family members in setting a mission about how we can be fair and just in our lives on heart templates.
Year 5 have enjoyed planning celebrations of the word this year for parents. Year 5 work in groups to plan how to gather, encounter the word, respond and agree a mission going forth.
Spring 2
On Friday 15th March the children invited parents and carers to join them in their celebration of the word, based on our topic of the Eucharist.
The children planned how to gather and they decided to gather by passing round the holding cross and sharing a special memory they have. The children then read the word from Luke’s Gospel explaining the events of the last supper. We then linked this to how we the bread and wine are transformed to the body and blood of Christ during the Eucharistic prayer. The children then shared their own intercession that they had written themselves. A few children then shared prayers they had written thank God for the gift of Jesus and his sacrifice. We ended the celebration of the word with a hymn and gave our mission which was to make a sacrifice to help others. We then created a memory box to help us treasure special people and moments in our lives.
Third Week of Advent
In year 5, the children prepared a celebration of the word for the third week of Advent. They focused their celebration around the Gospel of John. Miss Mather’s class welcomed their parents in to join them in this celebration with the whole school at the start of the week.
The mission for that week allowed the children to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Mrs Sweeney’s class then prepared their celebration and lead the readings in Mass later in that week.
Summer 2024
Celebration of The Word – 5th Sunday of Easter
Celebration of The Word – 4th Sunday of Easter
Spring 2024
Celebration of The Word – I cooperate with others in work and play.
February 2023
Our parish link, Mrs Susan Wilson, guided us in our preparation for Celebration of The Word this week using the statement to live by ‘I try to follow our school and class rules’.
During our class Celebration of The Word, we encountered The Word of God through a reading from the Book of Exodus about the Ten Commandments and then we responded with a Litany of prayers and the hymn ‘Peace if flowing like a river.’ In our mission we made prayer cards asking for God’s help in following rules.
Buddy Time
We are lucky that we get to spend time with our buddies, we have been working in the Prayer Room and having some time to reflect at the prayer stations.
“My Buddy helped me to say some Prayers to Jesus.” – Alecia Reception Class
“I was with my Buddy and we got to go to the Prayer Room!” – Steven
Click the link below to see how we have helped our buddies reflect and pray in the prayer room.
Advent 2023
In year 6, the children prepared a Celebration of the Word for the first and second weeks of Advent, welcoming parents to join them in the hall. They focused their celebration around the Gospel of Mark.
Mrs Henery’s class focus was that of Hope: Advent assures us we can have hope God will fulfil the prophecies declared in the Old Testament about Jesus.
Mrs Freer’s class focus was Love: Advent is a time when we try to love others as we love ourselves and show forgiveness in order to prepare for Jesus arrival.
