Jumpstart! Assemblies

Ideas and Activities For Assemblies in Primary Schools

John Foster

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138542549
• eBook ISBN: 9781351008426
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book contains a wealth of ideas for teachers to deliver engaging and informative assemblies in primary schools. The book gives a structure for any assembly that can be easily followed with minimum preparation and provides plenty of opportunities for children to learn interactively and reflect on the theme introduced.

With all the essential information on over 40 topics and complementary resources, including the author's own poetry, Jumpstart! Assemblies covers a variety of subjects, such as:

• personal relationships and values, including friendship, bullying, tolerance, and greed;
• health and wellbeing, including exercise, food, safety at home and online, and mental health;
• global issues, including conservation, the environment, world hunger, and peace;
• festivals and celebrations, including Diwali, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Chinese New Year, and Christmas.

This book will be an invaluable aid for any teacher who wants to jumpstart the school day with a dynamic and effective assembly.

CHAPTER 1

Personal relationships and values

BULLYING

Each year there is an Anti-Bullying Week. This assembly can form part of a school’s focus on bullying during Anti-Bullying Week.

Aim

To understand what it feels like to be bullied and that there are different types of bullying, and to explore ways of dealing with bullying.

Preparation

Obtain photos of Batman, Kate Winslet, Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake from the internet to put on the screen.

Two songs which you could prepare for the children to listen to and sing during the assembly are ‘Mean’ by Taylor Swift and ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera.

Introduction

Read the poem ‘Four O’clock Friday’.

Four O’clock Friday

Four o’clock Friday, I’m home at last.

Time to forget the week that’s past.

On Monday, in break they stole my ball

And threw it over the playground wall.

On Tuesday afternoon, in games

They threw mud at me and called me names.

On Wednesday, they trampled my books on the floor,

So Miss kept me in because I swore.

On Thursday, they laughed after the test

’Cause my marks were lower than the rest.

Four o’clock Friday, at last I’m free,

For two whole days they can’t get at me.

Ask: How does the person in the poem feel? How does it feel to be bullied? Then put the four photographs on the board and ask: What do these four people have in common? Answer: They were all bullied at school.

Justin Timberlake was called a sissy because he didn’t like sports, and bullies made fun of his love of acting.

Batman star Christian Bale was punched and kicked.

Golfer Tiger Woods was picked on and racially abused.

Actress Kate Winslet was bullied because of her appearance. She was called ‘Blubber’ and was locked in a cupboard.

Main focus

Point out that there are different types of bullying: mental and physical. Mental bullying includes name-calling, ignoring and excluding someone, threatening them and putting hurtful comments about them on social media.

Read the scenario ‘Gemma’s story’ and ask: What should Gemma do? Should she try to deal with the situation herself? Should she talk to an adult? If so, should she talk to a teacher or her parents?

Gemma’s story

Gemma was happy at her old school and had lots of friends. But when the family moved because her mum got a new job, Gemma had to go to a new school. The girls in her new class ignored her and made fun of her accent. One girl in particular picked on her and called her Posh. The girl saw that this upset Gemma so she posted spiteful messages about Gemma anonymously on social media.

Conclusion

List their suggestions about what they think Gemma should do on the screen. Encourage them to add to the list by asking: What is the best way to deal with bullies? Stress that involving an adult is better than getting into a fight and that it is not telling tales to do so, because everyone has the right not to be bullied.

End with this short prayer:

Let us remember that when we poke fun at someone they may feel pain.

Let us remember that when we pick on someone they feel angry and afraid.

Let us remember that when we see someone being bullied they are alone.

Give us the courage to confront the bullies and to comfort and befriend those who are being bullied.

Thoughts for the day

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.

Traditional saying

Each of us deserves the freedom to pursue our own version of happiness. No one deserves to be bullied.

Barack Obama

Do not be a bystander. If you see something, say something.

Manwar Khan

Follow-up activity

Encourage the children to do the Bullying Dilemmas quiz from the Kidscape website.

FRIENDS AND FRIENDSHIPS

Aim

To think about what makes a person a good friend and how you expect friends to behave towards each other.

Preparation

As preparation for the assembly, classes can play a version of the Friendship Game by making a board with 36 squares on it and putting details of positive behaviour that will cement a friendship (e.g. You agree to do what your friend wants, even though you’d prefer to do something else) on eight randomly chosen squares and details of negative behaviour (e.g. You make jokes about your friend behind their back) on eight randomly chosen squares. Two or more people can play the game, taking it in turns to throw a dice. If they land on a positive statement they go forward two spaces. If they land on a negative space they go back two spaces. The person who reaches the finish first is the winner. After they have played the game, hold a discussion about what they learned from the game about how to behave towards friends.

Download the song ‘The Friendship Shuffle’ from www.songspun.com.

Other songs you can prepare for the children to listen to and sing include ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ by Randy Newman and ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ by Carole King.

Ask one of the classes to prepare a reading of the poem ‘A Friend Is . . .’

Introduction

Ask the children each to think about how they behave towards a friend. What kinds of behaviour are likely to help a friendship to develop? What kinds of behaviour are likely to damage a friendship?

Write these two headings on the board and build up two lists like the ones below:

When you have completed the lists, ask the children to decide which ways of behaving they think are the most important in helping to make friendships, and to say what they think is the most important of all.

Main focus: How should friends behave?

Read this poem:

I Told My Friend a Secret

I told my friend a secret.

She promised not to tell.

My friend told her friend.

She told her friend as well.

Now everyone knows my secret.

I think that it’s unfair.

I told my friend I trusted her.

That’s why I pulled her hair.

Talk about the two children and how they behaved. Who do they think behaved worse – the girl who didn’t keep the secret or the girl who pulled her friend’s hair? How could the girl who pulled her friend’s hair have reacted differently?

Discuss keeping secrets. Is it always right to promise to keep a secret? What if keeping the secret will endanger your friend in some way? Are there some occasions in which you should break your promise?

Put up the poem ‘A Friend Is . . .’ on the board and ask a class which has prepared a reading of it to present their reading.

A Friend Is . . .

A friend is someone you can rely on

A shoulder to cry on

A friend is someone who cares.

A friend is someone who shares.

A friend is someone who won’t let you down

Someone who sticks by your side

A friend is someone who listens to you

And in whom you can confide.

A friend is someone who won’t force you

To do things you don’t want to do

A friend is someone who will always

Keep their promises to you.

A friend is someone you can trust

A friend is loyal and true

Someone you can depend on

Who is always there for you.

Conclusion

Play the song ‘The Friendship Shuffle’, encouraging everyone to join in by putting the words up on the screen.

End with the thoughts for the day.

Thoughts for the day

Don’t walk in front of me . . . I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me . . . I may not lead. Walk beside me . . . just be my frien...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Personal Relationships and Values
• 2 Health and Wellbeing
• 3 Global Issues
• 4 Festivals and Celebrations
• Appendix: Alphabetical List of Topics