School children encouraged to try their best

Bishop David Wilbourne used a very long spoon and bowl of cereal to demonstrate the need to care for others and work together

Hundreds of primary school children breaking off for the summer were encouraged to "go for it" in life and look after others.

A special service at Llandaff Cathedral before the start of the school holidays was led by the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, and the Assistant Bishop of Llandaff, David Wilbourne.

The service was attended by Year Six pupils from 21 Church in Wales primary schools across the Diocese of Llandaff.

They were joined by their parish priests who are regular visitors at the school, helping out in lessons and with services and assemblies.

After the summer break, the school children will make the leap to secondary school in September.

Bishop Wilbourne co-opted a very long spoon and a bowl of cereal to demonstrate the importance of helping each other and working together.

Noting their move to secondary school, he said, "Life is about leaving and arriving. Running has been our theme this year - we took our cue from the letter to the Hebrews, which says, 'Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us'.

"So in life, go for it. Be bothered, go for every opportunity you are handed and wherever you arrive, make sure you share and look after others."

There was also lots of fun at the service as prizes were handed out by the bishops for the pupils who had recorded the fastest times in running races down the cathedral aisle over the course of the year.

Boys ran from the west door to the Majestas sculpture, running as the shepherds ran to Christ at Bethlehem; and the girls ran from the Majestas to the west door, as Mary Magdalene ran from the Easter garden to tell the disciples she had seen her risen Lord.

The winning school was St Fagan's, in the Vale of Glamorgan, where pupils recorded times of 8.2 seconds.

After the service, the pupils were each handed a bookmark as a symbol of the diocese's love and care for them.

The Archbishop told them, "This is your Cathedral and you have learnt a lot about it during your visits this year. You may come from lots of different places but we share a strong bond and join together today to celebrate that."