'Every pupil, regardless of their faith background, feels welcome to participate fully in the school's rich prayer life.'

Section 48 Inspection

Celebration of the Word

At St John's Catholic Primary School all children are emersed in the rhythm of the Catholic Church's Liturgical Year. On a Wednesday afternoon the whole school joins together to celebrate the Gospel from the previous Sunday. Children are challenged to reflect on the message from the scripture and then provided a focus for that week to live out the Gospel message. 

Music is central to our offer and children sing with energy and enthusiasm. We are blessed with the adults on the team who can support us through sharing their musical gifts with singing and playing musical instruments. 

In addition throughout the year we provide creative ways for  children to develop their knowledge and understanding of faith through prayer. Please read below for just some of our celebrations of prayer.

Whole School Mass

The whole school community celebrates Mass in our local parish church with Fr Richard six times per year. We are very fortunate to be blessed with such a beautiful church close by to the school and we have very strong links with the parish community.  Parishioners and families are always welcome to attend our services and we also have online links and recordings of our Masses which supports families who may not be able to attend or live abroad.  

Advent Penitential Service

Our annual Advent Penitential Service led by Fr Richard allows the whole school to reflect together prior to embarking on the season of Advent. Our children including the Chapel Champions and KS2 leaders led us in song and prayer for the preparation of the season of Advent.   

Children in Year 4,5 and 6 are invited to attend reconciliation with three of our visiting priests during the school day.

Nativity Service

Every year our very youngest children retell the Nativity scripture in our local Church - St John the Baptist Catholic Church - and celebrate the wonderful news of the birth of Jesus! It is always a joy to witness the warmth, love and energy the children share and we are joined by parishioners, parents and extended families. 

Desert to Garden Reflections during Lent

Every year the children in Years 5 and 6 lead the whole school in our preparations for Holy Week and organise reflections to help us prepare our hearts for this special time.

Celebrating Mary

During the months of May and October our school family reflect on the importance of Mary - a Mother to us all. We celebrate her courage and strong faith even when times may be challenging.   

Living Rosary

Children in Key Stage 2 spend quality time reflecting on the Rosary and how we can use the Rosary to guide us through our lives. 

Pentecost

We celebrate the birthday of the church with a whole day reflecting on the events of Pentecost over 2,000 years ago and how they influence us today! We even end the day with birthday cake for everyone!

Harvest Service

At the end of Term 1 we celebrate our whole school Harvest Service led by the children in Year 5 & 6 - celebrating God’s gift to us of our beautiful world. Harvest is a time for saying thank you for the gifts of food and comfort that we can sometimes take for granted. We celebrate our common home and how we need to take action to ensure we look after our brothers and sisters near and far who may not have enough to eat.  

At the end of the day we gather together on the outside playground to complete our annual  ‘Harvest Cereal Dominoes Challenge’! The Year 6 children counted over 165 boxes of cereals which have now been delivered to the Trowbridge Foodbank. Thank you again to all the families who generously contributed cereals to this wonderful cause.

St John's House Saints

Every opportunity is grasped to deepen the children's understanding of those that have gone before us and how we can learn and reflect on the lives of saints. Knowing that the late Pope Francis reminds us "It is by living with love and offering Christian witness in our daily tasks that we are called to become saints… Always and everywhere you can become a saint, that is, by being receptive to the grace that is working in us and leads us to holiness."

At St John's we have adopted four House Saints and we celebrate and learn from their lives and legacy across the academic year. Our House Saints include:

 - Blessed Carlo Acutis

- St Francis

- St Don Bosco

- St Mother Theresa

We have created our own House Saint Prayer to allow the children and adults alike to  reflect on our mission in life. 

Loving God,

Thank You for our school, A place of faith, learning and friendship.

Guided by the example of St. Francis, May we be instruments of peace, caring for all creation.

Inspired by St. Mother Teresa, Teach us to serve with love, Seeing You in everyone we meet.

Following St. Don Bosco, Help us to live with joy and kindness, Always encouraging and supporting one another.

Like Blessed Carlo Acutis, May we seek You in all we do, Using our gifts to share Your light with the world.

Bless our school community, That we may grow in faith, wisdom, and love, Becoming Pilgrims of Hope, people You call us to be.

Amen.

House Saint events have included prayer reflections, musical challenges, sporting events including the 'Mr Smith Orienteering Shield' and our annual whole school sports day. 

Our school community is central to allowing us to continue to flourish and we are proud to invite parents and extended families to our House Saint celebrations. It is always wonderful to join together as the St John's family.

The children are keen gardeners and with the help of some skillful adults we are developing our prayer garden which was officially opened on 14th February 2025. Come and take a look the next time you visit the school field.  

Our Prayer Garden

Leavers Mass

Year 5 Faith Day

Every summer children in Year 5 are invited to a Faith Day on our school site. It is a time for the year group to focus on prayer and living a life of faith - with lots of laughter and fun included! The children take part in a range of activities including crafts and have a go at some physical challenges. On the Friday evening the children prepare their Mass which is celebrated outside and Fr Richard leads the celebration. 

KS2 Class Mass

Every Class in Key Stage 2 plans and leads their own Class Mass.  We invite our families to join us and take pride in leading this wonderful spiritual celebration.    

Class 3 Celebrated their Liturgy based on 'The Calming of the Storm'

Class 10 celebrated their Class Mass with Fr Tom and focused on the words of Saint John Bosco. 

Our Weekly Chapel Time.....

The Sacraments

Feast and Saint Days

How we have created an environment for prayer in our school

Parents and Prayer 

Our Parish Community

Every year our Year 6 leavers gather together with many other primary schools in the Clifton Diocese to celebrate Leavers’ Mass at Clifton Cathedral in Bristol with Bishop Bosco.

The beautiful mass was a memorable occasion, celebrating the children’s time in primary education and offering guidance in preparing for the next stage in education.

The children shared a mixture of pride and anticipation but together we represented our catholic social teaching theme of family and community - knowing we are stronger together and a communion of people.