Over the last two weeks, 3,500 children from Church of England schools across Manchester Diocese have attended services in Manchester Cathedral.
Led by Bishop Mark Davies, Chair of Diocesan Board of Education; Deborah Smith, Director of Education, and supported by the entire diocesan education team, these joyful gatherings celebrate all that children have achieved in their primary schools and look forwards to their futures as they prepare for the move to secondary school.
This year, the theme was 'Come follow me’ ... with an invitation to be living signposts pointing others to Jesus. The aim was to facilitate child-focused services with plenty of participation. Children from some of the primary schools led the worship through singing and actions during the services, supported by colleagues from ISingPop. Each school also brought along a signpost they had created to share what Jesus means to children.
As part of a commitment to help children as they make the transition from primary to secondary school, the service included interviews with Year 7 children from Church of England secondary schools. They shared their own experiences of transitioning to secondary school and the adventures they are having. Every child leaving a CE primary school within Manchester Diocese will also receive a booklet called 'The Big Step Forwards' full of handy hints and tips for secondary school written by current Year 7 children. More photos are now available on our Flickr account.