Harvest Festival at Boarhunt

Sometimes something magical happens in teaching and the harvest festival at St Nicholas Church, Boarhunt this week was just one of those occasions.  Class 5C made their own cakes and bread from flour purchased at the water mill in Winchester, as part of their study of the River Itchen.  Next, a lovely homemade soup was produced using fresh vegetables from the school allotment.
Now for the challenge...to carry this harvest feast from the school, up over Portsdown Hill to the church - a journey of 2 miles or so (and of course the walk back too).
The views from the hill are magnificent and the children learn a great deal about their local area.  Fort Nelson provided a handy stop before heading across the fields to the church.

"It's beautiful," said Hollie. And it was.  We stood admiring the charming gate into the green, shaded churchyard where we were met by the now retired Reverend John Franks.

Heading into the church

Rev John Franks delivers the harvest sermon

The churchwarden explained the architecture and the children headed round to the west door and into the church.  The children were introduced to six parishioners who had been invited to share the harvest supper, which was put together during the service.

The main focus of the service was a prayer book in which every child had written a harvest prayer.  They had been studying harvest prayers from different traditions, including Christianity; they picked up the patterns and language of prayer and then wrote their own.  Every single children wrote a prayer and 'performed' it during the service.

The church looked beautiful and the autumn displays were the perfect setting for the harvest service and the prayers.

If you want to see some of the prayers you can read them shortly on our poetry blog.  The children gave the prayer book to the church before setting off back over the hill to Portchester carrying a bag of cooking apples and oranges.  Harvest certainly works its own little miracles.