THE
P RTAL
July 2016
Joanna Bogle DSG tells us all about a
project for at Primary School children
R
egular readers of The
Portal will know of the
Auntie Jo a n
“Our Father”
project
Page 4
“Our Father” project, sponsored by an ecumenical group
– Christian Projects – and taken up by, among others, various
Ordinariate groups. The project is a simple one: a leaflet is sent to
primary schools, inviting children to take part: the children copy out
the Lord’s Prayer in good handwriting, and decorate it any way they like
(A4 page). They then answer some simple questions to show their understanding of the prayer: What does
“hallowed” mean? What are trespasses? Who taught us this prayer?
na
wri tes
The entries have been pouring in and teams of
volunteers have been dealing with them. The system is
that each packet of entries is carefully read and prizes
– usually between three and eight for each school,
depending on the number of children who have taken
part – are awarded for the best.
robes, children praying, a flowing river...most of the
children write, accurately, that Christ himself taught
us the “Our Father” but some – with equal accuracy!
- say “My teacher taught us this prayer” “St Matthew
taught us this prayer in the Bible” or “The vicar came
into school and taught us this prayer”.
In Coventry, Fr Paul Burch organises a special
church service at which the young prize-winners
come to receive their awards. This year the number of
entries from Coventry schools was larger than ever,
and he contacted me to ask for further prizes to be
sent. Meanwhile in Kent there were nearly 500 entries
from schools across the county: Hayley Tomlinson
sent me a report on it all this week – they have been
busy posting out over 90 prizes…
Some children go into greater detail: “Well, Jesus
taught his disciples, and then they taught it to other
people, and then they taught it to some more...” Some
definitely get it wrong: one child wrote confidently
that “Daniel in the lion’s den taught us this prayer”
while another asked “Was it Moses?”
While all this is going on, we are already looking
ahead to plans for next year. If you think that children
should know the Lord’s Prayer, this is a simple and
In London, we have been ploughing our way through practical way of helping to ensure that they do. We
entries from some 40 schools, wrapping and posting have had some very enthusiastic letters from schools
the prizes, and arranging for some of the entries to be - the overriding message is that children enjoy this
displayed in church. Many teachers like to have the project.
children’s work returned for display in school, which
seems a good idea: from those that don’t ask for this,
It isn’t only Ordinariate groups that have got involved
we are making a display for the Church of the Most – the Education/Outreach Committee Catholic Union
Precious Blood at London Bridge.
of Great Britain nobly took on the whole of Lancashire
and Yorkshire, and even as I write this volunteers are
The prizes are books, ordered from Christian working on the over 70 packets of entries that arrived
bookshops. Each book carries a bookplate saying at the Union’s office in West London. A family in
that this is a prize awarded by the 2016 Children’s Somerset took on the project for their county. A young
Handwriting and Artwork Project, together with the school governor cheerfully ran it for schools in Sutton
child’s name and the name of the school. We also send Coldfield.
a commemorative card, with an attractive picture and
the Lord’s Prayer, for every child. The card has a space
Do you want to help in 2017? We need local groups
for the child to sign his or her name.
to run this project so that all of Britain is covered.
Funding is available. An email to me at auntiejoanna@
Some of the children’s work is really beautiful: lovely portalmag.co.uk will secure you a place in this
illustrations showing praying hands, Christ in white adventure.