Off to Lambeth!

Not many children can say they had lunch in the Archbishop of Canterbury's garden, but that was among the highlights for pupils from Llantilio Pertholey Church in Wales Primary School on their trip to London.

Year 6 pupils went to London with members of staff Mrs Tracey Pugh, Mrs Sally Wham, Simon Oram and Alun Evans, and the former vicar of St Teilo's Church, Father John Connell, arranged for them to have lunch at Lambeth Palace, home of Dr Rowan Williams and his wife Jane. For some of that time they were joined by the Archbishop himself, who was a regular visitor to the school when he was Bishop of Monmouth.

Another exciting visit was to 10, Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his family. Originally the staff were told that visits to Downing Street can only be made on Fridays, but their trip was between Tuesday and Thursday! A school governor contacted Monmouth MP David Davies and he managed to arrange for them to go there, and even took time to meet the children and talk to them about Parliament.

Back home, at their final church service to mark their graduation into secondary education, all thirty Year 6 pupils were presented with a Bible by Canon Keith Denison, diocesan Director of Education, who was the guest at the service in St Teilo's Church, Llantilio Pertholey, conducted by the vicar, the Revd Marc Winchester. The Bibles were donated by the ‘Bibles for Children’ charity, with the carriage costs paid for by St Teilo's Parochial Church Council.

The remainder of the school's 180 pupils each received a Bible story book for use in school, but the Year 6 children can take their own Bibles home as a memento of their time in school.

There are eighteen church schools in Monmouth Diocese. Please pray for the staff, parents and children, for Canon Keith Denison our Diocesan Director of Education, for Mrs Sue James our new Diocesan Schools Officer, and for the Bishop’s Visitors to the Schools.