Assemblies
This page offers a number of values-based assemblies that all schools are free to use.
Happiness
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Happiness is a concept or a value which can be explored at a deep level when we start to consider what lasting happiness is. It is a by-product of emotional wellbeing. In school, our culture of values includes staff awareness of good mental health for ourselves and our pupils. Part of our timetable is for reflective or stilling activities.
We know that opportunities for the brain to ‘be quiet’ strengthen the neural pathways needed for better emotional regulation, which leads to increased confidence, independence, better communication etc. Many schools are practising mindful-type of activities and seeing very positive impact on social and academic outcomes.
Happiness means different things to different people and we look forward to learning from each other during this month.
Peace
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
The value of Peace connects with many other values including Love, Compassion, Respect, Responsibility, Tolerance and Friendship – and many more. The children will be encouraged to think about Peace, starting with peace in their own lives. Peace with their family, their friends, with others around them. When peace begins at home and in the local community, it has a chance of spreading through wider communities and the world.
As adults, we will realise that this is especially poignant at the moment with intolerance, violence, terrorism and war escalating in certain parts of the world. The news may be a topic you wish to discuss with older children. They may be anxious about it and through our work on Peace, we may be able to help them to see how positive, values-based actions can work towards making the world a better place in which we can all live.
Friendship
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Children (and adults) are at their happiest and most confident when amongst friends. Feeling happy and confident also impacts on learning.
Unhappy times at school are usually as a result of children having minor ‘fall outs’ or disagreements with each other. Staff are highly trained and sensitive in dealing with these issues and children are very clear about what makes a good friend. Our recent values work on Love, Compassion, Respect, Kindness and Responsibility have given children an even deeper understanding of how values compliment each other. For example, ‘It is possible to show respect to someone without being their friend, but is it possible to be a good friend without showing respect?’
Of course, we also continually reinforce these values as a way of pre-empting bullying type behaviour and use them when dealing with any such issues as they arise. Friendship can mean different things to different people and we look forward to learning from each other during this month At the end of the assembly, during our moment of reflection, we all tried to think about where friendship starts and how important it is to extend friendships.
Honesty
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Honesty means speaking and acting truthfully. For young children, it is important that they know how to make the right choice of being honest, even when they think they may get into trouble. For older children, they can also explore the concept of conscience; this helps them develop truthful self-awareness and ethical thinking.
Determination
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
We will start exploring this value by thinking of Determination as ‘not giving up when things get difficult’. Many of us make New Year’s Resolutions in January but we can make resolutions at any time of the year.
Determination is key to our success in making the changes we are wishing for. Whether you have made a resolution or not, the value of determination will only help in a positive way. For our children, we encourage them constantly to try their best, to not give up when they find things difficult and to welcome challenges. We teach them strategies to help them when they get stuck and to persevere when things get tough!
Love
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Love has many different meanings. If you look at the assembly which introduced this value, you will see there are more questions than answers. It is really important that we talk about what this value means to each of us, both at school and at home, within our families, our friendships and our communities.
We very much encourage our children to bring their home learning and experiences to school; this value may provide the opportunity to spend time with your children to talk about some ‘big’ questions. “What is love?” is perhaps one of the biggest!
In school, we will be taking opportunities to encourage the children to recognise and develop this value through lessons, social interactions and also through modelling this value as a staff. At the core of our interpretation of ‘Love’ will be the love of oneself, the appreciation of what is good within human beings, how we show love and who shows love to us. We will welcome children’s thoughts, discussions and examples of showing this value both at school and at home.
Respect
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
This value is at the core of everything we do in school. It underpins learning through behaviour and one’s attitude to the people and the world around them. We are extremely lucky that our school community (staff, children, parents, governors) is a very positive, supportive and respectful one.
All members of staff have ‘Respect’ stickers to give out to pupils we notice showing this value. Please look at the assembly on the website with your child to see photos of some of our children showing Respect around the school. The assembly also explicitly goes through our school ‘Golden Rules’. It would be very helpful for you to reinforce these at home.
Equality
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Equality is a simple concept but also has the potential for deep understanding. As we explore it with the children, we will discuss respect and fairness, and the implications of prejudice and discrimination.
As well as promoting equality, we will also focus on the diversity of the country in which we live – accepting and celebrating the differences between people. In our diverse society, it is essential that our children understand that all individuals should be treated fairly and equally, regardless of their race, gender, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation.
Respecting differences is the first step towards a more inclusive community, and the more we can positively explore the fact that individual characteristics make people unique, the more we will be able to work towards a harmonious community where we all flourish together. Your support and encouragement at home will go a long way to helping your child explore the concepts of equality and diversity in a positive way.
Empathy
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
This value, as much as any other we have explored, has the potential to change our thinking and behaviour. As teachers, a proportion of our time is spent on ‘restorative’ conversations – dealing with children who have been upset by others and encouraging those who have caused the upset not only to offer a genuine apology, but to learn and grow through their mistake.
This is humanistic education! I hope that by focussing on the value of ‘Empathy’, that our children will be able to use their understanding of other values as well as this one, in order to consciously change their behaviour so that they really do put themselves in others’ shoes. Of course, empathy is a value which we can all think harder about and use to the benefit of ourselves and others with whom we interact.
Consideration
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
We can show this value in many ways and we will explore these over the month. When people are shown a lack of consideration, it affects the way they feel, their learning and the way they see the world. Consideration incorporates many of our previous values and by developing considerate behaviours, our world becomes a happier and better place in which to live.
Hope
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Hope means different things to different people and I hope that the children will bring their hopes, wishes, goals, dreams and ambitions into their classes throughout the month of December.
We have already seen examples of people with this value and who have worked towards realising their dreams and goals. ‘Hope’ is the foundation of goal setting and the key to employing other values such as courage, positivity, determination and peace etc. Without ‘hope’ the world would be a wholly different place.
Courage
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Having courage means that children will be brave as they meet new experiences, difficult situations or challenges. Also courage may involve being firm because of strong moral convictions.
Please take a few minutes to look at this assembly. It shows ‘famous’ people who the children may have heard of who have changed the world through their bravery and also ‘ordinary’ children who have broken through fear and difficulties with their bravery in their everyday lives. We hope that you will be able to use the assembly as a starting point to help you to engage with your child and support their learning in school.
Self-Belief
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Self-belief is directly linked to a concept which is becoming increasingly recognised as a key factor in learning and future success in life – ‘Growth Mindset’. When students and educators have a growth mindset, they understand that intelligence can be developed. Students focus on improvement instead of worrying about how smart they are.
Kindness
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
We know in schools that kindness is one of the antidotes to unkind behaviour and even bullying in some places. It helps to improve social interactions and emotional wellbeing. It is one of the most important values we have in our school and we know many of you will share the importance of kindness in your homes as well. The more explicitly we can encourage our children and young people to notice and share this value, the more kind our environments will become.
Positivity
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Having a positive outlook can change situations very much for the better. As this may be a new word or concept for some of our children to understand, it would be excellent if you could look at the assembly on the website with them and help them to explore this value throughout the month.
Unless we teach our children well and take time to carefully explain to them, not only the meaning of certain values, but what they actually look like in real life, we may not be helping them to learn as well as they might or to develop those personal qualities we all wish for them.
Independence
Download: Powerpoint Presentation
Thoughts:
Independence is one of the fundamental aspects of our ability to function as social, emotional, intellectual and moral people. As educators and parents, we sometimes find it extremely challenging to help our children take even the first steps towards becoming more independent, and then progress towards more and more independence as they grow older.
In explicitly values-based schools and homes, we can use the growing ethical vocabulary of our community to help children understand that they can relate to, and use, the values they already recognise to help them try new things, make wise decisions for themselves, persevere with challenges and difficulties. For example, they can focus on the value of ‘courage’ to be a little bit braver.
Likewise, the more we can help our children to be independent in their decisions, choices and actions, the more we are helping them towards a socially, morally, intellectually, emotionally, mentally healthy future.