As an integral part of our Catholic ethos, all pupils are made aware, throughout the school year, of the changes and celebrations relating to the Church’s Liturgical Year. These events are highlighted in our assembly hall RE board and in every classroom. The children are aware of the liturgical changes with the changing colours of our prayer cloths and displays.

Worship takes many forms, including:

• Class and whole school assemblies

• Prayer services

• Whole school and class Masses

• Hymn practice

• Daily prayers

As a school, we are committed to including the children in all that we do. The children lead prayers and prayer services and many take an active role in the preparation and delivery of other acts of collective worship.  The Year 6 children who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in June 2026 take on the role of Catholic Ambassadors and lead some whole-school Collective Worship.  They have adapted our collective worship through the use of music, drama, prayer and visual cues to support more meaningful engagement through the assemblies.

At St Thomas More we are proud of our faith. This is reflected in our learning environment, seen in corridors, classrooms and in our hall.

Other forms of worship are arranged at special times during the school year with opportunities to take part in Carol Services, celebration Masses, including Holy days of Obligation, Stations of the Cross, Reconciliation or other traditional devotions and services.

Lenten Liturgy in school

We gathered in the hall for the start of Lent with a Prayer and Liturgy led by Year 6. 

In our scripture reading from the Book of Joel we hear the Lord say ‘Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning,’ which teaches us that God wants us to be close to him, and he will always forgive us.

As we were not in school for Ash Wednesday, each child made a Lenten Promise, which they brought forward and placed in a basket. We listened to the hymn “Father, I have sinned” which is based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and reminds us that Lent is a time for forgiveness and an opportunity for us to return to Jesus.

This term our Catholic Social Teaching focus is ‘Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.’ We will be raising money for charity and our Year 6 Confirmandi will also be helping out at the soup kitchen with the parishioners at St Thomas More Church during Lent.

We will also continue to pray for others and live out our Lenten Promises as we prepare for Easter.

Epiphany Mass 2026

What a fantastic start to the year! We celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany with the parish community in a whole school Mass in church, led by our Year 6 Confirmandi and pupils making their First Holy Communion. The Mass was celebrated by Fr Martin Flatman, who eloquently explained about the mystery of the Magi who visited baby Jesus. The children listened attentively and sang beautifully. Thank you to our wonderful Year 6 pupils, who sang “A Christmas Hallelujah” at the end of the Mass with such enthusiasm. Fr Martin was very impressed by the behaviour, participation and respect that the children showed and said it was the “best ever” whole school Mass that he had celebrated!

We will be welcoming our new Parish Priest, Fr. Damian Nwankwo in February and will update parents with future Mass dates as soon as possible.

Advent Liturgy 2025

Year 5 led the whole school and Parish Advent Liturgy on Thursday  18th December. The readings and prayers were read with care and thoughtfulness and everyone sang beautifully. It was a lovely way to end the term.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you all as we await the coming of Our Lord Jesus.

Whole School Lenten Mass 2025

Year 2 led our end of term Lenten whole school Mass on Thursday 3rd April. The whole school gathered together with parents and parishioners on what was a beautiful Spring morning.
Father Prem explained why there were flowers in front of the Altar and why there was a rose cloth draped over it, as it had been Laetare Sunday (also known as ‘Rose Sunday’ at the weekend). The fourth Sunday in Lent in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar marks a shift in tone from the penitential focus of Lent to a joyful anticipation of Easter, symbolised by the use of rose-coloured vestments.
The Year 2 children took on the responsibility of leading the Prayers of the Faithful and the offertory. They wrote beautiful prayers for Lent and for Pope Francis; they also brought items for the local Food Bank as part of their offering. They all did a wonderful job and behaved beautifully.
Well done to Giulia and James in Year 6, who led the main readings and to all  the Year 5 and Year 6 Altar servers.
We chose the opening hymn ‘Father I have sinned’, which is a powerful song of repentance and reconciliation, drawing inspiration from the parable of the Prodigal Son. The final hymn, “Do Not Be Afraid”, encourages us to trust in God’s presence and strength because he is always with us. Charlie, Zac, Stephanie and Jeffrey, managed the Mass PowerPoint slides and music capably and with confidence as usual.

Christmas Carols in Church 

The children in Key Stage 2 (Years 3,4,5,6) performed beautifully at our annual Carol Service in the church.
As usual, it was a joyful occasion where we all looked forward to the coming celebrations of Jesus’ birth.
Father Prem introduced the evening with a prayer before the Nativity story was told in Gospel readings and song. This year we also enjoyed a wonderful brass performance of Little Donkey by Zachary, James, Giulia and Daniel. The school choir sang Away in a Manger, and we had a mixture of traditional and modern carols performed by each year group.
The church looked beautiful with the lanterns lighting the aisle.
Thank you to everyone who came and joined in with the singing: it was wonderful to gather together as a school community!