IT may seem premature to be thinking about Easter when Christmas is 11 weeks away, but the first UK Easter egg to mention Jesus on its packaging has been launched with the backing of the Church of England.

The Church came up with the idea for “the real Easter egg” to challenge, head on, “a black-and-white case of Jesus being removed from a festival”, according to bishops’ spokesman David Marshall, who has patented the egg.

The £3.99 eggs will go on sale next spring and carry an explanation of the Easter story on every pack. Nearly 8,000 church schools are being encouraged to order packs before December 1 to demonstrate its popularity to cautious supermarkets who still “need to be convinced” that there is a market.

I spoke to some of our local church school teachers and pupils to see what they thought of the initiative.

Sarah Roberts, a teacher at The Bishop of Winchester Academy in Bournemouth, told me she intended to discuss the eggs and “the opportunities this would provide to answer questions about what Christians believe” with her class this week.

Sarah said: “Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar, so any extra information about why we celebrate it has got to be a good idea.

“I have frequently heard students saying that they have no idea what Easter is about.

“The Christmas story is a well-known tale that everyone can describe – in varying levels of detail – and it is very exciting that the vital message of the Easter story could become more frequently discussed and explored.”

But will the eggs with a message appeal to children? Natasha Bell, 11, of St Michael’s C of E School in Wimborne, felt her friends would choose an Easter egg based on how big it was, rather than if it had the Easter story on the packaging. But her sister, Olivia, nine, thought the idea was “quite cool”. She added: “It would help us understand what Easter was all about.”

Francesca Magrath, seven, who goes to St Mark’s School in Talbot Village, could not believe that children would not know about the real Easter story. Her mum, Tracey Magrath, said: “The reason for Easter is Jesus! If the message on the packaging helps the child understand the real meaning behind Easter, then I think it’s a great idea. “It’s sad that commercialism has taken over so many of our Christian festivals, so anything that brings together the story behind the festival and the reason we celebrate it has to be a good thing.”

David Warden, chair of Dorset Humanists, said that Easter eggs and Christianity had very little, if anything, to do with each other. He pointed out that “Eastre” was an ancient name for spring and that “Eastra” was a Teutonic goddess of fertility. “It would be more helpful if manufacturers explained the true origin of the Easter egg!” he added.