The Church of England has launched a new programme to help make prayer a household habit across the UK.

#FaithAtHome, which was launched on Thursday, features weekly video content to help families to talk about faith and pray together.

The videos will be led by children, young people, staff and school leaders from across the country and will explore themes including generosity, resilience, love and hope.

The Church's Chief Education Officer, Nigel Genders told Premier that for many families the lockdown has given them an opportunity to reassess and build healthy routines and structures. Suggesting prayer shouldn't be on the bottom of a parent's to-do list, he said: "In the midst of challenge, anxiety and stress, taking time to pause and come together to talk and to pray is actually the thing that is going to help to ease that anxiety and stress.

"We are simply trying to offer encouragement and resources to families at whatever stage they are at, to help them develop spiritual habits and stimulate conversations about faith," he said.

The #FaithAtHome programme is initially set to run for 11 weeks and will aim to help children work through issues such as loss and bereavement which may be particularly relevant at the moment.

Content drawn from the project will also be used to serve pupils as part of the new national digital school.

Oak National Academy will be providing 180 weekly classes as well as collective worship sessions to help support students through the current COVID-19 restrictions.

The Archbishop of Canterbury led the school's first virtual assembly on Thursday.

Justin Welby focused on the topic of hope amidst the crisis as he addressed students in a live-streamed film.