Assembly 6: Humility

Introduction

There is huge value in a whole school community gathering together at least once a week, to be exposed to, consider, discuss and explore a variety of signifi cant themes and issues. It is vital that children understand topics such as humans’ impact on the environment, racism, positive relationships, similarities and diff erences, diversity and bullying – and that they also celebrate achievement. I entered the teaching profession to further children’s learning, knowledge and understanding, and their wonder and appreciation of the world around them: assemblies are the perfect vehicle for this. None of the issues mentioned above, which all need to be addressed in a whole school context, are religious but schools do have a legal obligation to implement ‘collective worship’. Although this is oft en ignored, most assembly resources currently available feature religious references and prayers as a result. I believe morality taught via a non-religious approach means all children are more likely to access the messages, so I have spent a number of years producing my own non-religious assemblies ‘for all’, the best of which are gathered in this book. This is not to say that I question the commitment to children’s wellbeing and education of any religious organisation that I have worked with. For example, as headteacher of a Church of England school for ten years, I had a strong and positive relationship with members of the Christian community, but I do believe children should be free to choose their own religion, or not, and that school is not the place for ‘collective worship’. I am confi dent that these assemblies will provide interesting, inspiring, thought-provoking and worthwhile assemblies for primary school pupils, particularly those in Key Stage 2. The book is designed to be fl exible, to be dipped into, and the assemblies have all been tried and tested over many years on real children – rather than those who exist in the imaginations of many of those who write assembly scripts! It is more important than ever that such themes and values are explored at a time when, sadly, the school curriculum is ‘squeezed’, narrow and results-driven. I hope the assemblies help to develop a moral framework without resorting to traditional religious teachings, and that you and the children enjoy, appreciate and learn from them.

Paul Stanley

Each assembly idea includes a ‘script’ for the assembly, as well as an overview of the assembly, its key message, a list of necessary resources and any set-up requirements. Assemblies 1 to 14 are standalone assemblies without accompanying slideshows. Assemblies 15 to 36 have accompanying slideshows, which can be accessed at www.bloomsbury.com. These assemblies can also be delivered without the accompanying slideshows, if needed. The assembly scripts indicate when to show each slide.

Assembly 3

Being Thankful

Overview

An assembly that emphasises the importance of appreciating what we have, using a Polish folktale to present the message.

Key message

We should appreciate what we have and not be greedy. We should remember how lucky we are with what we already have.

Resources

Seven masks, hats or signs for the children to wear as the characters: a farmer, two children, a wise woman, a chicken, a goat and a cow.

Set-up requirements

You may wish to pre-select the children who will act out the story so they are prepared.

Outline

1 Choose seven volunteers to come to the front and give each child a mask, hat or sign to show which character they are playing. They will act out these parts while the following story is read aloud. Explain that the story is an old Polish folktale. 2 Read the story, with the children acting their parts.

No room in the house

Polish folktale

Once upon a time, a farmer lived in a very small hut with his two children. They were happy but poor. Their hut was so small that there was no room for anything but a bed, a table and three small chairs.

As the children grew older, the farmer found it more and more diffi cult to live in such a tiny space, so he went to visit the wise woman in the village to see if she could help. The wise woman thought long and hard about his problem. Finally, she asked: ‘Do you have a chicken?’

‘Of course I have a chicken,’ said the farmer. ‘I’m a farmer!’ ‘Then bring it to live in the house,’ said the wise woman. The farmer was very confused, but he returned home and brought the chicken to live inside the house with his family. But the chicken made life harder. It fl apped and clucked and laid eggs everywhere.