Assemblies

Dream & Goals (Jigsaw PSHE)

In our assembly today, we discussed the following:

• We started with ‘calm me’ time and practiced the ‘rainbow breathing technique to help us feel calm and focused
• The children worked with talk partners to discuss something they had done that made them feel proud
• The children had to guess why a rollercoaster is like having a dream or goal. Not every dream is easy to achieve so we have to go through the ups and downs to get there.
• The assembly ended with the children thinking about a dream or goal that is important to them and how they might achieve it.

Many Parts Make a Whole

Aims: To consider that many parts make up our school and they are all equally important.

We discussed the following:

• Different types of mathematical fractions
• How our school community can be divided into different parts; teachers, children, year groups, subjects, faiths
• The importance of each part of the school
• How all the parts come together to make our school so special.

1RA Class Assembly

Focus – Feelings and Emotions

1RA put on a great performance all about feelings and emotions. At the beginning of the year, in English, they read a book called The Colour Monster by the author Anna Llenas. This book allowed the children to explore a range of emotions and learn different vocabulary to describe each emotion. For the assembly, 1RA chose to share what they had learned about the emotions of sadness, calmness, anger, fear, and happiness. The opportunity also allowed the children to highlight the development of their oracy skills.

The performance consisted of singing, dancing, role-play, reciting a poem and an opportunity for the children to share their views about a particular feeling/emotion. The children persevered in learning their lines, the poem and the choreography of the different dances both at school and at home. The experience allowed the children to further develop their character muscles such as perseverance, collaboration, motivation and self-efficacy.

On the day of the performance, the children confidently carried out their roles whilst motivating one another at the same time. The children could perform independently using loud and clear voices and knowing when it was their turn to perform. The assembly allowed the children to revisit and further expand their knowledge about feelings and emotions, as it is important for them to recognise and use the correct vocabulary to describe how they are feeling.

2RX Class Assembly

Focus – International Women’s Day

The 2RX class assembly was about International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on the 8th of March. It is an event that celebrates amazing things achieved by women. As a class, we wanted to honour and celebrate the incredible women who have left a mark on the world. We talked about the suffragette movement, how the roles of women have changed and recognised some extraordinary, influential women who have worked hard to make the world a fairer and better place.

World Book Day

In today’s World Book Day Celebration, we discussed the following:

• World Book Day is celebrated on the first Thursday in March and it is all about children exploring the amazing world of books!
• On World Book Day, people share stories, dress up as their favourite book character and every child in the United Kingdom receives a free book!

In this assembly, we also discussed what is so great about reading books, we learnt that:

• The more you read, the more you’ll know.
• Books are magical and you can visit other worlds and times.
• Books spark your imagination.
• Reading helps you to become a better writer.
• Books are relaxing to read after a long day at school.

Islamic Relief

Assembly focus – Ramadan

In today’s assembly, Farhana and Khadija from Islamic Relief talked about;

• What Ramadan is
• Why Ramadan is celebrated
• What happens during Ramadan

We all learned lots of facts about Ramadan and the children shared their own experiences.

National Internet Safety Day

Aim:

• To help children understand how to stay safe online

In today’s assembly, we looked at the following:

• What e-Safety is
• Why it is important we follow safety rules
• Who we can tell if we experience a problem when using our devices

The assembly explored different scenarios that might occur when children are using their devices including:

• Talking to strangers
• Sharing personal information
• Using age-appropriate games and apps

The children learned that they must speak out when they experience a problem on their device. A safe adult in school could be:

• Teacher
• Teaching Assistant
• Midday Supervisor

A safe adult out of school could be:

• Parent or carer
• A grown-up brother or sister
• Teacher

1JA class assembly

Assembly focus: A bucketful of Kindness

On Thursday 8th Feb, 1JA performed their Class Assembly. The theme was a celebration of life at Uplands and in particular how showing kindness to others can bring and spread joy around the whole school community. We were inspired by the book ‘A Little Book of Joy’ which suggests daily tasks to bring, spread and celebrate the simple things that can make a huge difference to our lives. We had fun singing some catchy tunes, dancing to some upbeat music and telling the story ‘Have you Filled a Bucket Today?’ to show how small acts of kindness to others can improve the emotional wellbeing of the person showing kindness just as much as the person receiving that kindness – it’s a win,win situation!

We hope you enjoyed our assembly as much as we loved performing it!

2MA class assembly

Assembly focus: Valentine’s Day

We talked about the power of love by looking at different ways we can express it in our day-to-day lives. We then said a big thank you to our loved ones and presented them with a special heart to show them how much they mean to us!

2SM class assembly

Assembly focus: Cinderella adaptation

Pancake Day  

 Aim:

• To help children understand why we celebrate Pancake Day.

We discussed the following:

• Pancake Day is also called Shrove Tuesday
• It is celebrated on the Tuesday before Lent begins
• Lent is a time when Christians are getting ready for Easter
• In the past people gave up food like eggs, milk, and sugar at Lent
• The day before Lent these ingredients were used up to make pancakes and that is why people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday!

Respect and collaboration

Aim:

• To understand that we can build a better world when we respect each other’s differences and all work together

We listened to the story ‘Mixed’ by Arree Chung and discussed the following:

• That difference is a thing to be proud of
• Respecting each other’s differences
• The importance of collaboration

2EE class assembly

Aim: To understand New Year traditions in England and around the world.

2EE worked hard on performing their New Year assembly. They spoke of New Year’s traditions from around the world whilst incorporating dances from both China and India. They shared some of their own resolutions before it was finally midnight and time to sing Auld Lang Syne. By this time, they had gotten sleepy (as it was midnight) and they fell fast asleep. The crowd applauded and they finished the performance with a well-rehearsed bow.

Reading Challenge

Assembly focus: Summer Reading Challenge celebration

The children at Uplands Infant School are winners of the summer reading challenge 2023!

Marcia Brown & Jyoti Shangavi from Leicester Library Services came in to congratulate the children for using the library over the summer holiday. They told the children how to join the library and reminded them to keep visiting and borrowing books to read or share with their families.

Anti-Bullying

Aims: To understand what bullying is

To understand the different forms of bullying

To know what to do if you are being bullied

In this assembly, we explored the following:

What is bullying?

Bullying is hurting someone else on purpose. Bullying is something that happens repeatedly.

Different kinds of bullying

Physical bullying is pushing, hitting, pinching, or kicking someone.

Verbal bullying is calling someone names and saying nasty things to them.

Cyberbullying is when people use email, photos, videos, or text messages to make people sad.

What you can do if you are being bullied

Tell a trusted adult. A trusted adult can be a teacher, parent, or older relative.

New Year Resolutions

Aim:

• To understand when, why, and how New Year is celebrated.

We discussed the following:

• New Year’s Eve is celebrated on December 31st, the last day of the calendar year.
• People enjoy getting together with family or friends and counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to the start of a brand new year.
• Many people like to make New Year resolutions, which are personal goals that they aim to work on throughout the year.
• We did some ‘nesting’ about doing something new or something we want to get better at.

 The importance of rest

Aims:

• To understand why we need to rest
• How we can rest
• Why some animals hibernate during Winter

We discussed the following:

• Why humans need to rest and sleep.
• What happens to our bodies when we rest and sleep.
• Different ways we can rest – Devine in year 1 explained that rest is when your body is calm.
• We watched a video about why animals hibernate in winter.

Speak out, Stay safe

Aim:

To help children know what to do if they are feeling worried, sad, or scared about something.

In today’s assembly, we looked at the following:

All children have the right to:

• Speak out and have their views taken seriously
• Be kept safe
• Get help when they need it

Sometimes children do not feel safe and this is NOT ok.

The assembly explored different ways children can be hurt:

• Hitting
• Hurting children’s feelings
• When privates are not private
• Not looked after properly
• Bullying

Speaking out can help children to feel safe but they must speak to a safe adult. A safe adult in school could be:

• Teacher
• Teaching Assistant
• Midday Supervisor

A safe adult out of school could be:

• Parent or carer
• A brother or sister over the age of 18
• Social worker

iRock

Aims:

• Expose children to the genre of rock music
• Highlight the impact that music has on emotional and social well-being and academic performance

Whitney performed rock songs for the children. The children joined in with the singing thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Whitney then talked about the benefits of being in a band

• Having fun
• Being creative
• Boosting confidence
• Being independent
• Working collaboratively
• Being respectful
• Improving reading, writing, and mathematics

We then created our very own Upland’s band who were phenomenal!

This was one of the most exciting assemblies ever and Whitney was super talented, enthusiastic and engaging.

Respecting Uniqueness

Aims:

• To look closely at nature and recognise its wonder.
• To recognise our uniqueness.
• To respect each other’s uniqueness.

We looked at pictures of nature and discussed the following:

• The importance of appreciating nature around us
• Frost
• Snow
• Snowflakes and their uniqueness

We listened to the story ‘The Snowflake’ by Benji Davies

We talked about how special and amazing each of us is and that we should respect our own and each other’s uniqueness.

 Orchestra

Aim:

• To learn about the different instruments in an orchestra.
• To experience live music from an orchestra

Musicians from LSMS performed a melody of songs and introduced the children to a variety of instruments played in an orchestra. The children learned how you play each instrument and the different sounds that they make.

Nativity

This week early Years performed their Nativity to parents and KS1. The acting, singing, dancing, and narration were superb and there was not a dry eye in the hall.

Germs

Aim:

• To learn about how we can stay healthy by washing our hands.

We discussed that we should wash our hands:

• Before a meal
• When using the toilet
• When you have sneezed or coughed
• After handling animals
• When your hands are dirty

Germs are so tiny that we cannot see them and they can spread quickly. This was demonstrated using glitter.

We sang the ‘Wash your hands song’ to help us remember the best way to wash our hands.

 Celebrating Difference (Jigsaw PSHE)

Aim: To understand that we are all unique and that is what makes us special.

We discussed the following:

• We started assembly with ‘calm me time’
• We practiced our rainbow breathing technique
• We looked at photos of different people and identified what is the same and what is different.
• We had some reflection time to think about:

-What makes you unique?

-What makes your friend unique?

-Remember that people are similar but never the same because everyone is unique.

 Behaviour

Aims:

• To know our three school rules.
• To understand that we choose our behaviour

To help ourselves and others to make the right behaviour choice

We looked at five pictures and discussed the following:

• Are the children making the right choice?
• What are the consequences of making the wrong choice?

We then watched a video about Ben and the choices he made when he found a ring that made him invisible.

We discussed:

• It is always important to own up if we do something wrong and not blame anyone else
• It is not nice to tease other people
• How doing good things makes us feel
• How doing good things helps other people

Strength in perseverance, collaboration, independence, respect and compassion

Aims:

• To understand that you need strength of character
• To know what strength looks like in each of our five character muscles

We discussed the following:

• What does strength mean?
• There are lots of different types of strength
• What strength looks like in our 5 character muscles and how we gain strength

We watched the story of David and Goliath and discussed the strengths that David had.

Remembrance Day

Aims:

• To understand the significance of Remembrance Day.

We discussed the following:

• Remembrance Day is held on the 11th of November – the 11th day of the 11th month of the year.
• A two-minute silence is always held at 11:00am to remember the millions who have died at war.
• Remembrance Day was first held in 1919, one year after the First World War ended. It is sometimes known as Armistice day.
• We use Remembrance Day to remember all those who fought for their country, those who died and those who came home.

Pelleas Ensemble

In today’s assembly, a Pelleas Ensemble came in to perform some captivating music for us. The musicians, Oliver, Luba, and Henry introduced us to the harp, flute, and viola. They showed us how these instruments are played and how they make different sounds.

Harvest Festival

In today’s assembly, we celebrated our Harvest Festival. Our community was very generous and donated lots of food items to be distributed to our families who need food support.

Diwali Assembly

This week Year 1 has been performing their Diwali assembly to staff and parents. The children used fabulous acting, singing, dancing, and narrating to show how and why Hindus celebrate Diwali.

Focus assemblies’ weeks beginning the 23rd & 30th of October:  

Halloween 

Aims: 

• To be aware of the origins of Halloween 
• To understand how Halloween was celebrated then and now. 

We discussed the following: 

• How the celebration has changed 
• How Halloween is celebrated today 

We had a scary costume parade, played the traditional game of apple bobbing, and selected our costume winners. 

Head Boy & Head Girl 

Aims:  

• To  select UIS’s Head Boy and Head Girl 

In today’s assembly, the children presented their speeches about why they should be selected to be the Head Boy or Girl for the school for this academic year.  

The teachers voted and chose a Head Boy, Deputy Head Boy, Head Girl, and Deputy Head Girl. 

The selected children will support the student governors in decision-making and come up with new ideas to help improve our school. They will be role models for the school and they will show and help other children to follow the school rules.   

Alexander the violinist 

Aims: 

• To expose children at UIS to classical music and the violin. 
• To celebrate difference 

In this assembly we: 

• Welcomed Alexander.  Alexander has just passed his grade 6 violin exam. He is an absolute showman and the children were entranced with Alexander’s violin playing. 
• Alexander played a range of classical music: 
• Humoresque – Dvorak  
• Lullaby – Brahms 
• Ch’ella mi creda – Puccini 
• Torna a Surriento – Ernesto di Curtis 

Alexander ended by playing Abba’s ‘I Have a Dream’. Playing the violin was Alexander’s dream. When people refused to help him with his dream because he has Down syndrome Alexander persevered, showing great resilience and independence.

Focus assemblies’ weeks beginning the 2^nd & 9^th October:

Using your voice

Aims:

• To know when to use your voice
• To be confident to stand up for yourself

We discussed the following:

• When to say sorry
• Do not let people be unkind to you – use your voice
• Who can help you use your voice
• How Peggy felt when people were being unkind

Compassion

Aims:

• To understand how we can help others in our world family who are less fortunate than us.
• To understand the work of the charity ‘Islamic Relief’.

Islamic Relief discussed the following:

• How the money we raised last year was spent to help others in Syria and Turkey
• Why we are raising money for Morocco and Libya
• How we are going to raise money for Morocco and Libya
• The important work of charities

Introducing the New School Governors   

Aims:

• To understand the role of the school governors

In this assembly we:

• Introduced the Student Governors from each class.
• Explained that the role of the Student Governors is to attend meetings every other week with Mrs Odedra to discuss ideas, and concerns and work on various projects throughout the year.
• Explained that Student Governors can be identified because they wear a badge and hoodie. Their photos will be displayed at the front of the school so all children know who they are.

Reflecting on the visit of Reverend Jonathan from St Peter’s Church

We remembered the visit of Reverend Jonathan from St Peter’s Church. We thought about all the ways we belong to a Community in school and how important this is to us.

We recalled the new school rules Be kind, Be respectful, Be safe and the importance of these in making a happy school community.

We read the Christian Parable of The Good Samaritan and we talked about being the person who walks by or the person who stops and who did the right thing from a moral point of view.

Even though this is a Christian story, the message of kindness to all is an important one in all Faiths. Thinking about the school playground, we asked what we would do if we saw unkind, unsafe, or disrespectful behaviour. This assembly reinforced the importance of us all noticing and taking care of each other if we are to be a truly great community.

The children were asked to put their hands on their hearts, and close their eyes if it felt safe. They thought about a really special friend and how they show them kindness and respect. The children were asked to think about someone they don’t usually play with or talk to, maybe from another class or year group. How could they show kindness and respect to someone who they don’t know so well?

Being Honest

Aims:

• To discuss the importance of telling the truth

We discussed the following:

• What honesty means
• How we can be more honest
• How being honest makes people feel
• How not being honest makes people feel

We then listened to the story ‘The truth according to Arthur’

We discussed the following:

• Why did Arthur lie about scratching his mum’s car?
• Why were the truth and Arthur not friends?
• Why was Mum happy with Arthur in the end?
• Why telling the truth is good

Focus assemblies’ weeks beginning the 18th & 25th September:

School Rules

Aims:

· To know our three school rules:

Be safe

Be kind

Be respectful

· To understand what our 3 school rules look like.

We discussed the following:

· What being safe looks like in school.

· What being kind looks like in school.

· What being respectful looks like in school.

Being Safe

Aims:

· To understand how we can move safely around school.

We introduced and practiced the following:

· Lovely lines

· Wonderful walking

PSHE Jigsaw

Aim:

· To understand that our hands have the power to do good or cause harm in the same way that our words can do kind things and sometimes unkind things.

We discussed the following:

· The children worked in talk partners to think of different ways they can do something kind or unkind with their hands.

· Our hands have the power to do good or cause harm in the same way that our words can do kind things and sometimes unkind things.

· It’s our choice of how we use our words and actions, so it is important to stop and think about what we say and do to others.

PSHE Jigsaw

Aim:

· To introduce the ‘calm me’ approach used in PSHE across the school.

We discussed the following:

· The ‘calm me’ approach starts with the chime and children close their eyes and listen until they cannot hear the sound any more.

· The rainbow breathing technique was introduced. Children touch their noses and puff out their rainbow breath through their mouths.

· Children were shown how to breathe in through their nose and breathe out through their mouth.

· We discussed that this made us feel calm, peaceful and relaxed.

Focus assemblies’ weeks beginning the 4th & 11th September:

Back to School                               

Aims:

· To know that everyone feels different things about coming to school.

· To learn how we can help everyone have a good day at school.

We discussed the following:

· It’s a New School Year and some of us might have lots of different feelings. Some of us might be happy, worried, sad or excited.

· Some things will be different this new year at school.

· Children worked with talk partners to discuss what they are looking forward to this year.

Asking for help

Aims:

· To understand that asking for help builds resilience.

· To know that we build trusting relationships by asking for help.

We read the story and discussed the following:

· How to ask for help.

· Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

· The importance of teamwork.

Teamwork

Aims:

· To understand the benefits of good teamwork.

We watched clips about teamwork and discussed the following:

· What is good teamwork and what character muscles does it build?

The children identified that good teamwork is:

· Working together

· Listening to each other

· Showing respect

The children gave examples of teamwork and then undertook a teamwork challenge.

2EE worked hard on performing their New Year assembly. They spoke of New Years traditions from around the world whilst incorporating dances from both China and India. They shared some of their own resolutions before it was finally midnight and time to sing Auld Lang Syne. By this time, they had gotten sleepy (as it was midnight) and they fell fast asleep. The crowd applauded and they finished the performance with a well-rehearsed bow.

1RA put on a great performance all about feelings and emotions. At the beginning of the year, in English, they read a book called The Colour Monster by the author Anna Llenas. This book allowed the children to explore a range of emotions and learn different vocabulary to describe each emotion. For the assembly, 1RA chose to share what they had learnt about the emotions of sadness, calmness, anger, fear and happiness. The opportunity also allowed the children to highlight the development of their oracy skills.

The performance consisted of singing, dancing, role-play, the recitation of a poem and an opportunity for the children to share their views in regard to a particular feeling/emotion. The children persevered in learning their lines, the poem and the choreography of the different dances both at school and at home. The experience allowed the children to further develop their character muscles such as perseverance, collaboration, motivation and self-efficacy.

On the day of the performance, the children confidently carried out their roles whilst motivating one another at the same time. The children were able to perform independently using loud and clear voices and knowing when it was their turn to perform. The assembly allowed the children to revisit and further expand their knowledge in regard to feelings and emotions, as it is important for them to recognise and use the correct vocabulary to describe how they are feeling.

The 2RX class assembly was about International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on the 8^th of March. It is an event that celebrates amazing things achieved by women. As a class, we wanted to honour and celebrate the incredible women who have left a mark on the world. We talked about the suffragette movement, how the roles of women have changed and recognised some extraordinary, influential women who have worked hard to make the world a fairer and better place.

In 1ME’s assembly we looked at what courage means and how it can be shown. One of the ways courage can be shown is by standing up for something that isn’t right, the children acted this out. Furthermore, we spoke about our character muscle, perseverance and how this is a big part of courage. The children told everyone by having courage it can make you as powerful as a superhero.

Focus assemblies’ weeks beginning the 23rd & 30th of October:  

Halloween 

Aims: 

• To be aware of the origins of Halloween 
• To understand how Halloween was celebrated then and now. 

We discussed the following: 

• How the celebration has changed 
• How Halloween is celebrated today 

We had a scary costume parade, played the traditional game of apple bobbing, and selected our costume winners. 

Head Boy & Head Girl 

Aims:  

• To  select UIS’s Head Boy and Head Girl 

In today’s assembly, the children presented their speeches about why they should be selected to be the Head Boy or Girl for the school for this academic year.  

The teachers voted and chose a Head Boy, Deputy Head Boy, Head Girl, and Deputy Head Girl. 

The selected children will support the student governors in decision-making and come up with new ideas to help improve our school. They will be role models for the school and they will show and help other children to follow the school rules.   

Alexander the violinist 

Aims: 

• To expose children at UIS to classical music and the violin. 
• To celebrate difference 

In this assembly we: 

• Welcomed Alexander.  Alexander has just passed his grade 6 violin exam. He is an absolute showman and the children were entranced with Alexander’s violin playing. 
• Alexander played a range of classical music: 
• Humoresque – Dvorak  
• Lullaby – Brahms 
• Ch’ella mi creda – Puccini 
• Torna a Surriento – Ernesto di Curtis 

Alexander ended by playing Abba’s ‘I Have a Dream’. Playing the violin was Alexander’s dream. When people refused to help him with his dream because he has Down syndrome Alexander persevered, showing great resilience and independence.

Wow ! What a wonderful end to the year , Celebrating the baby shark’s graduation .

Focus assemblies – weeks beginning 3rd & 10th July

Transition: Coping with Change

The children listened to a

Panther’s class assembly

In today’s assembly, we discussed the following:

What is change?

· Sometimes, a change happens to us and we don’t know what to expect.

· Change can affect us in different ways, we can feel happy and excited but anxious and worried at the same time.

There are many ways you can make changes feel positive

· Talk to an adult or friend

· Use positive words to help you feel brave about the change

· Do things you enjoy

Baby Shark Graduation

Our Baby Sharks graduated today and will now join our school nursery. The Baby Sharks have all made lots of friends. They have all grown in confidence, learned to share and take turns, and developed their concentration skills. We cannot wait to see them flourish even more during their time here.

Year 2

This week we said goodbye to our four year 2 classes. Each and every child has been an absolute pleasure to nurture during their time here. Our children leave us with the life skills they need to be happy, healthy, and successful citizens. We cannot wait to see them flourish in the next stage of their life journey.

We will miss you all!!!

Focus assemblies – weeks beginning 19th & 26th June

The Importance of being valued

The children listened to a story about Sydney the spider who felt that nobody wanted him to be their friend.

We discussed how we would feel if we were Sydney and what character muscles we would use to make sure nobody would ever feel like Sydney.

The children said that if they were Sydney they would feel sad and the character muscles they would use to help him were compassion and respect.

· Compassion – be kind and care about everybody and help them until they are happy

· Respect – just because someone is different from us we must always treat them respectfully.

We then watched a video about spiders and learned lots of spider facts.

Panther’s class assembly

The Panthers class put on a show with an assembly all about celebrating diversity. There was acting, singing, dancing and inspirational advice for the audience. This was an opportunity for children to develop and showcase

their oracy skills. The children took responsibility to remember their lines and collaborated in knowing when to come on stage without any prompts.

The children showed how diverse our class is by speaking their mother tongue languages and celebrating their culture. We re-enacted key moments in history to highlight how far we have come and reminded ourselves that diversity is the key to unity.

Running out of Time

We took part in the ‘Running out of Time’ event to highlight climate change. The whole school wore red & blue to highlight the extreme weather.

To find out more about the ‘Running out of Time’ event please click on the link. https://running-out-of-time.com/

We are the champions

We celebrated the individual, team, and class sporting efforts of our KS1 children.

Our children cheered every medal and trophy winner showing what fantastic sportsmanship our children have.

Focus assemblies – weeks beginning 5th & 12th June

Florence Nightingale

The children learned that International Nurses Day is held on Florence Nightingale’s birthday to remind everyone of the enormous impact that Florence had on nursing to this day.

We discussed the character muscles that Florence needed to make these changes:

· Compassion – Florence took time to talk to her patients and treated them with kindness.

· Respect – Florence showed respect to all of her patients. Everyone was treated the same.

· Independence – Florence fought against her parents’ wishes to independently study to be a nurse.

· Perseverance – Florence did not give up when she fought for the changes that were needed.

· Collaboration – Florence identified the importance of everyone working together to make sure the patients received the best care possible.

Making a difference

We discussed what making a difference means – making a difference means getting up and doing something, even if it is the smallest of things like opening a door for someone.

The children talked about how they have made a difference at school:

• Following the golden rules
• Holding open a door
• Using our character muscles – being kind.

The children talked about how they have made a difference at home:

• Tidying their bedroom
• Helping their mum with the cooking
• Playing nicely with their brothers and sisters

The children talked about how they had made a difference in the community:

• Litter picking
• Donating food to the local foodbanks
• Gaining the green ECO flag by looking after the local environment
• Please see a video clip of how our children have made a difference to the local habitats. https://vimeo.com/821619856/8eb1be51f8

The children talked about how they had made a difference to the wider world:

• Raising thousands of pounds for Islamic Relief

Islamic Relief

In April the Islamic Relief charity visited us to tell our school about the charity work they undertake around the world. Our children, who are very compassionate, decided to raise money for the charity and in particular to help everyone who was affected by the Turkey and Syrian earthquakes.

On April 28^th Uplands Infant & Nursery School did a sponsored walk and raised £4500.00 for Islamic Relief.

This week Islamic Relief came to tell us how our money was going to be used and to thank us for helping them support the victims of the terrible earthquakes.

Robin’s Class assembly

The Robins put on a great performance all about making sacrifices and how it ties in with Eid Ul Adha which lots of us celebrated this week

Prior to deciding our assembly topic, we had lots of class discussions about how we all make big and small sacrifices every day, why we make them, and how they can make us feel. Alongside this, we spoke about how Eid Ul Adha is based on a story all about Sacrifice.

The performance incorporated lots of singing, role-play scenarios about the sacrifices people who are close to us make, the sacrifices we have to make as children and we articulated how we should show compassion. Not only were we able to showcase our acting skills but by retelling the story behind Eid Ul Adha we showed how brilliant we are at using all the Oracy skills we have learned during our time at Uplands Infant School.

We were so confident with our knowledge of Eid Ul Adha and wanted to share in our assembly what people do to celebrate. We said that although sacrificing a sheep, eating nice food, and spending time with our family and friends is a big part of our festival the best part for us is wearing our finest clothes. So having a fashion show for us to show off our beautiful clothes to our school and parents was a must and a perfect finale for our last class assembly. We really did impress the crowd by strutting down the catwalk in style with our friends!

Focus assemblies – weeks beginning 2^nd& 8^th May

To recap the golden rules for our school.

We discussed the school rules which are:

• We are kind and respectful
• We share and take turns
• We look after our school
• We work hard
• We listen
• We are honest
• Walk safely around school

We concluded that rules in life and school are important because they keep us all safe. We must all follow the rules.

Star’s Class Assembly

The Stars performed their assembly based on the book, ‘Greeta and the Giants.’  The children enjoyed performing to the whole school as they highlighted the importance of climate change.

Artist – Shazia Daud 

Our children were extremely fortunate to work with the acclaimed Islamic artist Shazia Daud. Shazia shared her learning journey with the children and spoke about the character muscles she needed to realise her dream. The main focus of Shazia’s art is Arabic Calligraphy. 

International Nurses Day 

We discussed the role of a nurse and the character muscles needed to be a nurse. 

The children identified that nurses need to: 

• Be compassionate 
• Have perseverance 
• Be independent 
• Work collaboratively 
• Have respect for everyone 

The children then recognised that these are all the character muscles we work on strengthening in school and their importance. 

Focus assemblies – weeks beginning 15th & 22nd May

Acts of Kindness

In today’s assembly, we read ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by Marcus Pfister.

The Rainbow Fish is a delightful story about a unique fish with shiny, shimmering scales, other fish admire him and want his scales. To begin with, Rainbow Fish was reluctant to share his scales but eventually found joy in sharing.

we discussed that kindness is:

– Being friendly, generous, and considerate of others.

– Showing goodwill to others.

– Being concerned when others are upset or worried.

– Helping people when they need you.

– Doing something nice for someone else, without expecting anything in return.

Anti-Bullying

In today’s assembly, we discussed the following and did a quiz:

· In school everyone has the right to feel safe.

· We know that bullying is when it is done several times on purpose.

· If a person is being bullied they need to tell an adult.

· Being bullied makes people feel sad.

Rainbow’s Class Assembly

Rainbow’s class celebrated the important male role models in their lives through amazing acting, dancing, singing and, heart-warming personal tributes.

Quokka’s Class Assembly – Kindness

In Quokkas assembly we retold the story of The Smartest Giant in Town, written by Julia Donaldson. The story is about a kind giant called George who puts other people’s needs before his own. George realised being kind was much more important than being smart. In our assembly, we spoke about the importance of kindness and how everyone can be kind through small acts. In being kind, it can make the world a better place.

The Meaning of Ramadan

• Muslims fast during the month a Ramadan for self-discipline and a reminder of what life is like for others who are less fortunate and do not have enough food.
• During Ramadan Muslims break their fast at sunset with a special family meal.
• Ramadan falls in the 9th month in the Islamic calendar – meaning it occurs a little earlier each year in the UK. Ramadan lasts for about 30 days so is referred to as ‘the month of fasting’.
• At the end of Ramadan Eid ul Fitr is celebrated.

Relationships (Jigsaw PSHE)

In our assembly today, we discussed the following:
• We started with ‘calm me’ time and practiced the ‘rainbow breathing technique to help us feel calm and focused.
• The children worked in talk partners to discuss how they can be a good friend and show kindness to their families.
• The assembly ended with the children thinking about one thing they will change to be even better at relationships than they are now.

Independence

We recapped the definition of independence. We defined this as:
• Doing things for yourself.
• Taking responsibility for your own decisions.
• Being yourself – not copying others

We focussed on the definition of taking responsibility for your own decisions.

We discussed the importance of balance in our life by:
• Discussing the word balance.
• Looking at how our bodies balance physically.
• Explaining that in our lives we all need balance in how we spend our time and energy.

We concluded that it is not good for us to play all the time and never get any work done. However, it also is not good for us to work so hard that we never have time to play. We also need time with our family and friends and time on our own as well as a balance of being awake and getting plenty of sleep.

Red Arrows Class Assembly

Red Arrows performed a musical production about Mothers. It was filled with music and dance from around the world. There was whole class singing and a salsa dance followed by children singing solo to a gentle Celine Dion Song ‘A mother’s prayer’ and a classic Indian song ‘Tu Kitni achi hain’. Their voices were uplifting, and heartwarming and their confidence was outstanding. Every single child joined in to showcase their talent but most of all, they had fun! The production ended with a dramatic bhangra dance, leaving the audience wanting more.

Raindrops Class Assembly – Heroes

The Raindrops celebrated Superhero Day. We thought about what it takes to be a hero and realised it is not about what you WEAR being a hero is about what you DO. We realised anyone can be a hero if they help others and look after our planet. We challenge you to see how YOU can be a hero!

Easter                                      

Aims: To understand the meaning of Easter.

We read the Easter Story:

• Christmas – the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Easter – the celebration of the end of Jesus’s life and the start of his new life in heaven with God.
• Jesus was put on a cross and his death is called the crucifixion.
• A great stone was rolled across the doorway of his tomb to keep it safe.
• Jesus rose from death three days later on Easter Day.
• Jesus’ followers saw him for the last time on a mountaintop – as he rose up into heaven (called the ascension).

• tomb to keep it safe.
• Jesus rose from death three days later on Easter Day.
• Jesus’ followers saw him for the last time on a mountaintop – as he rose up into heaven (called the ascension).)

Compassion

We recapped the definition of compassion. We defined this as being kind.

We focussed on how gestures we use, how we position our bodies, and the look we have on our faces make a big difference to how other people see us.

We identified that our body language can be more powerful than our words. It can have a huge negative impact if we give someone a nasty look or turn our back on someone during a conversation.

Rockets Class Assembly – Mother’s Day

The children in the Rockets class delivered an assembly for Mother’s Day. We talked about why it is important to celebrate the women in our lives and why our mums are special to us.

Astronauts Class Assembly Giraffes Can’t Dance

The amazing astronauts used their acting, singing, and dancing skills to perform the story of ‘Giraffes can’t dance’. They persevered, challenged themselves, worked hard, and developed the confidence to perform for the whole school and their parents.

Avengers Class Assembly – Make a difference

Our class assembly was about making a lasting difference in the world today. Our award ceremony highlighted the achievements of significant people in history such as Malala Yousafzai, Neil Armstrong, Mahatma Ghandi, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie and Marcus Rashford. We all shared our ideas of what we will do to make a difference. We thoroughly enjoyed walking down the red carpet to ‘Hall of Fame’ and singing and dancing to ‘Million Dreams’ and ‘Firework’. You can find the full performance on SeeSaw on our class page, enjoy.

World Book Day

.           

We discussed the following:

World Book Day is about children exploring the amazing world of books and reading!
The more you read, the more you’ll know.
Books are magical and you can visit other worlds and times.
Books spark your imagination
Reading helps you to become a better writer.
Books are relaxing to read after a long day at school

Cello Concert

The children were thrilled to hear how Ellie learned to become a cellist.
Ellie played a range of music and answered lots of questions. The concert ended with Ellie playing Pachaalbel’s Canon, a request from Rayhaan in Year 2.

Compassion

We recapped the definition of compassion. We defined this as being kind.

We focussed on being a friend and the attributes that a good friend has.

The children identified the following attributes:
• Playing games together
• Helping someone who has fallen down
• Looking after someone when they are upset

We also agreed that it is lovely to have friends who are compassionate towards us but that it is important that we make an effort to be compassionate to other people. Real friendship is not about what we can get out of someone, but what we can give to them.

Valentine’s Day & Turkey and Syria Earthquake

We discussed the following:

• Valentine’s Day – we had a discussion about the people we love. Children contributed.
• We discussed how people express their love for each other. Children contributed.
• We then went on to discuss the earthquake that happened in Turkey and Syria and related it back to how people have lost their loved ones. We related this back to Valentine’s Day and thinking about how the people of Turkey and Syria are feeling.
• We watched a Newsround report which gave children more of an insight into how the earthquake happened and how help is being delivered by countries around the world.
• We then finished the assembly by having thinking time about our loved ones and thought about the feelings people of Turkey and Syria must be feeling too.

Pancake Day  

We discussed the following:

• Pancake Day is also called Shrove Tuesday
• It is celebrated on the Tuesday before Lent begins
• Lent is a time when Christians are getting ready for Easter
• In the past people gave up food like eggs, milk and sugar at Lent
• The day before Lent these ingredients were used up to make pancakes and that is why people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday!

Compassion

We recapped the definition of compassion. We defined this as:

• Caring about others
• Treating others with kindness
• Helping people in need

We discussed the following:

• How someone has been kind to them.
• How we have been kind to someone.
• What being unkind looks like and sounds like.

We then identified different ways in which we can show kindness:

• We can be friendly and helpful.
• We can tidy up.
• We can make sure that we do not leave anybody out when we are playing outside.
• We can hold the door open for someone.
• We can smile at people in school.
• We can show respect.

The children listened to the story of ‘The Lion and the Mouse’. We then discussed how we should still be kind even if someone is not always kind to us and when you are kind to someone your kindness will be repaid

Independence

We recapped the definition of independence. We defined this as:

• Doing things for yourself.
• Taking responsibility for your own decisions.
• Being yourself – not copying others

We focussed on the definition of being yourself.

The children listened to the story of the oak, elm, and willow tree.

We then discussed the story and concluded that it is important to just be yourself and not to copy others.

Koalas’ class assembly

WOW!!!!!

The children shared their excellent knowledge of Ramadan with the rest of the school. The narration, singing, and dancing were delivered clearly and confidently

Wellbeing (Mental Health Week)

We discussed the following:

• Mental health is important to our overall well-being and is as important as physical health. When we feel mentally well, we can work productively, enjoy our free time, and contribute actively to our school and community.
• There are also plenty of ways to improve mental health and wellbeing the NHS recommends 5 steps to help us feel more positive and able to get the most out of life:

1. Connect with other people (building positive relationships)
2. Be physically active (physical health and fitness)
3. Learn new skills (to improve mental wellbeing)
4. Give to others (acts of giving and kindness)
5. Pay attention to the present moment (mindfulness)

Perseverance

We recapped the definition of perseverance. We defined this as not giving up, to keep going even when it is hard.

I asked for 2 volunteers who believed that they are good at keeping going even when things get hard! Both volunteers were asked to throw the ball in the air and catch it. They found this very easy. I then blindfolded them and asked them to repeat the activity. This time both volunteers found this much harder but they persevered and did not give up.

We discussed the following:

• This was a game but in life, it can sometimes be hard to keep going when things seem difficult
• When we are finding things difficult it is good to ask for help or talk to our friends and family
• The children told their partner things they found difficult at school but persevered with

Possibility assembly

Today we invited Umar, an aspiring artist, to come to talk to our children about his journey to becoming a professional artist.

Umar discussed his passion for art and highlighted how art is anything and is anywhere. He showcased some of his work and achievements. Umar created some art with a few children by using charcoal and moving the charcoal with their feet and showed how this can be art too. Umar talked about how he is going to go to Art School in London and is aspiring to be an influential artist in the future. Umar showed that it doesn’t matter what culture, religion, or gender we are, we can be anything we want if we believe in ourselves. By the end of the talk, we had a hall full of children that want to pursue a career in art.

Wallabies’ class assembly

WOW, WOW. WOW!!!!!

Wallabies treated us to a spectacular assembly all about books. They started with a quiz, where the audience had to guess the book that was being acted out. The children then showed and talked about their favourite book. They ended their assembly with a musical extravaganza of ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Every single child participated. The acting, singing, and narration were excellent.

Kangaroos’ class assembly

Another fabulous assembly by the very talented Kangaroo class. The Kangaroos taught us all about the importance of love and respect. Parents had tears in their eyes when their child clearly narrated why they loved their parents and then presented them with a beautiful red rose. The children then sang one of my favourite songs, ‘Magic Penny’. Every single child participated and the acting, singing, and narration were excellent.

Dream & Goals (Jigsaw PSHE)

In our assembly today, we discussed the following:

• We started with ‘calm me’ time and practiced the ‘rainbow breathing technique to help us feel calm and focused
• The children worked with talk partners to discuss something they had done that made them feel proud
• The children had to guess why a rollercoaster is like having a dream or goal. Not every dream is easy to achieve so we have to go through ups and downs to get there.
• The assembly ended with the children thinking about a dream or goal that is important to them and how they might achieve it.

Gratitude and being thankful

What does gratitude mean?

Gratitude is one of many positive emotions. It’s about focusing on what’s good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family, and even computer access.

• Mrs. Ashdown shared her gratitude journal and showed some examples of things she is thankful for
• Reflection: The children had some time to think about what they are grateful for
• They read the story ‘A squash and a Squeeze’ by Julia Donaldson
• The assembly ended with some deep breathing

 Collaboration

In our assembly today, we discussed the following:

• The definition of collaboration
• The importance of teamwork
• The children took part in 2 different activities to show that working together helps everyone achieve

Assembly Focus: Celebrating Difference (Jigsaw PSHE)

Aim: To understand that we are all unique and that is what makes us special.

We discussed the following:

• We started assembly with ‘calm me time’
• We practised our rainbow breathing technique
• We looked at photos of different people and identified what is same and what is different?
• We had some reflection time to think about:

-What makes you unique?

-What makes your friend unique?

-Remember that people are similar but never the same because everyone is unique.

Assembly Focus: Germs 

In today’s assembly we were learning about how we can stay healthy by washing our hands.

That we should wash our hands:

• Before a meal
• When using the toilet
• When you have sneezed or coughed
• After handling animals
• When your hands are dirty

Germs are so tiny that we cannot see them and they can spread quickly. This was demonstrated using glitter.

We sang the ‘wash your hands song’ to help us remember the best way to wash our hands.

Assembly Focus: The Meaning of Diwali

• Diwali is a very important celebration for Hindus.
• It is known as the ‘festival of lights’ and celebrates the New Year.
• The word Diwali means rows of lighted lamps.
• During the festival, Hindus celebrate a Diwali legend of the return of Rama and Sita to Rama’s Kingdom after fourteen years of being banished.

Assembly Focus: Compassion

We recapped the definition of Independence and Compassion.

We listened to the Sesame Street kindness song and children discussed the different ways that their friends and family had shown compassion to them.

We listened to the story; ‘Kindness is my superpower’.

• Diwali is a very important celebration for Hindus.
• It is known as the ‘festival of lights’ and celebrates the New Year.
• The word Diwali means rows of lighted lamps.
• During the festival, Hindus celebrate a Diwali legend of the return of Rama and Sita to Rama’s Kingdom after fourteen years of being banished

We identified the different ways that Lucas showed compassion and how showing compassion to people makes you a happier positive person.

Assembly Focus: Anti-Bullying

We discussed the following:

• Bullying is when a person hurts another person mentally or physically and does it several times on purpose.
• At our school, we use the word ‘STOP’ to identify bullying (Several Times On Purpose)
• It is important to remember that single problems and falling out with friends are not bullying.
• Bullying can happen face to face or online
• We can reach out to our family, friends school staff and Anti- Bullying Champions if we are worried about bullying

Assembly Focus: Compassion

We recapped the definition of Independence and Compassion.

We looked at and discussed various examples that children had uploaded to Seesaw of how they were showing Compassion at home.

Below are just a few examples:

While we were talking about compassion Maryam said that she would like to save her pocket money to give to the poor people in Pakistan affected by the flooding. She has also been helping her little sister learn to jump as she is finding in difficult. Maryam jumps and asks her sister to copy.

Asmaa helping her mommy tidy up her toys and folding her clothes.

Assembly Focus: Perseverance

Aim: To introduce our Perseverance character muscle

We discussed the following:

• The definition of Perseverance
• How we can show Perseverance

We then watched the Derek Redmond ‘Never Give Up’ video and discussed how he had shown immense perseverance.

Assembly Focus: Future Possibilities

As part of our drive to expose our children to a range of future job possibilities Sajal came to talk to the children about training and working as an architect. For further details about the assembly, follow the directions below:

• click on our Teaching and Learning tab on our website
• click on Curriculum Vision
• click on Curriculum Drivers and scroll down

Assembly Focus: Remembrance Day

We discussed the following:

• Remembrance Day is held on the 11th of November – the 11th day of the 11th month of the year.
• A two-minute silence is always held at 11:00am to remember the millions who have died during conflict.
• Remembrance Day was first held in 1919, one year after the First World War ended. It is sometimes known as Armistice Day.
• We use Remembrance Day to remember all those who fought for their country, those who died and those who came home.

Assembly Focus: Compassion

We recapped the definition of Independence and Compassion.

We listened to the Sesame Street kindness song and discussed the different ways that we can show compassion.

We listened to the story; ‘At school kindness starts with you’.

The children spoke to their talk partner and told them how they had shown compassion today.

Using the sentence stem; I showed compassion when… children stood up and shared how they had shown compassion with the rest of the school.

Assembly Focus: Diwali production

Our wonderfully talented Year 1 children showcased their incredible knowledge of Diwali and their amazing acting, singing and dancing skills when they performed to a packed house at the Ark theatre. The children were very confident and clearly and loudly articulated all of their words.

Assembly Focus: Anti-Bullying Week and Odd Socks Day

We discussed the following:

• Odd Socks Day marks the start of Anti-Bullying Week
• All staff and children came to school in odd socks to celebrate the fact that we are all unique
• Our Student Governors and our Anti-Bullying Champions introduced a task for all classes to complete. All classes were asked to design and create a poster to promote Anti-Bullying. The winning posters will then be printed and displayed around the school

Assembly Focus: Keeping Healthy

Today we had Dina from Survival Den in Leicester come to our assembly to show us how to keep fit and healthy.

Survival Den runs classes for children to help them maintain and enjoy active lifestyles by keeping healthy. These classes are a great way to build confidence and learn new skills.

Please visit their website for more details.

https://survivalden.co.uk/

Assembly Focus: Compassion

Aim: To introduce our Compassion character muscle

We discussed the following:

• The definition of compassion
• What compassion looks like in our school
• How we can show compassion

Assembly Focus: Harvest performance

Aim: Year 2 to present what Harvest is and its importance.

• Year 2 used their oracy skills to clearly present facts about Harvest.
• Year 1 joined in with the Harvest songs they had learnt in singing assembly.
• We discussed how, as a community, we were using our compassion character muscle by helping people in need.

Our assemblies over the 2 weeks focussed on: Our gifts, Walking to school, resilience and determination

Our individual gifts

 We looked at the film ‘Encanto’ to consider that all our gifts are valuable.

We discussed the following:

• Is it only people with super/magical powers that have gifts?
• Does Mirabel have gifts because she does not have any magical/super powers?
• What are Mirabel’s’ special gifts?
• Mirabel’s gifts are responsibility, self-efficacy, resilience, collaboration, empathy and independence.

The children learnt that our character muscles are our special gifts/super power.

 Walking to school

We discussed the reasons to walk to school:

• Healthier bodies and healthier minds
• Fewer cars at the school gates
• Less pollution
• Fun with friends and family

The children were excited about the badges they could earn and pledged to walk to school. For those who have a long way to travel they were going to ask their parents to park a little bit further away so they could still do some walking.

Resilience and determination

We learnt about how Atlantic salmon spend most of their life at sea but make an epic journey back to the river where they hatched so that they can lay their eggs. As they are going back to where they hatched, they have to swim upstream which is against the flow of water.

We discussed:

• The meaning of determination and resilience and what that looked like
• How the salmon had to be both resilient and determined
• What swimming against the flow meant
• How we have to be resilient and determined when we do not want to follow the behaviour of others

Belonging

Our super cute and talented morning and afternoon Nursery children including our Baby Sharks performed our very last class assemblies. Here they showed us the repertoire of nursery rhymes they have learnt throughout the year, making sure that ‘Humpty Dumpty’ found where he belonged. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos.

Our assemblies focussed on Ramadan, EID, Looking after our world, Possibilities (Respect, Motivation and Resilience) and Jealousy.

 Ramadan

Aims: To understand the importance of Ramadan.

We discussed the following:

• During Ramadan Muslims fast to remind people about what life is like for people who are less fortunate and do not have enough food.
• Children under the age of 11 are not expected to fast until they are a lot older.
• During Ramadan Muslims break their fast at sunset with a special family meal.
• Ramadan falls in the 9th month in the Islamic calendar – meaning it occurs a little earlier each year in the UK. Ramadan lasts for about 30 days so is referred to as ‘the month of fasting’.

Looking after our World

 An inspiring assembly led by our ECO conscious Reception classes Stars and Comets

Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos about how Reception children are improving our school environment and raising awareness of environmental issues to the rest of the school.

The meaning of Eid Al Fitr

We discussed the following:

• Eid Al-Fitr is a celebration that happens when Ramadan ends.
• Muslims know that Eid Al-Fitr is here when they see a new crescent moon in the sky.
• Eid Al-Fitr is a very special time when family and friends get together to have fun and celebrate.
• It is also a time to give charity.

Jealousy

 Aim: To consider the theme of Jealousy by looking at the story of Joseph in the Christian Bible.

We defined the word jealousy:

• Jealous is a strong feeling.
• Jealous is wanting something that someday else has.
• Jealousy is wanting to do something that other people are allowed to do.
• Jealousy is wanting to be as good at something as somebody else is.

We learnt about the story of Joseph and his multi-coloured coat. We discussed why his brothers were jealous and how being jealous can cause great unhappiness.

Possibilities

A wonderful inspiring assembly performed by our amazing Year 1 class Bluebells.

Bluebells love History and they told us the story of the significant person Bessie Coleman, who had to show resilience, perseverance and motivation to become the first black female aviator.

Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos that will undoubtedly make you feel happy.

Our assemblies focussed on Respect, Believe in yourself, Possibilities and Happiness.

Respect

We recapped the definition of respect.

We then focussed on ‘How you treat others.’ The children identified that to show respect we have to treat everyone with kindness making sure we think about how we speak to people.

We looked at the different roles in school and how all adults showed care and respect to all children.

We focussed on the role of the dinner lady and how children should show respect to them:

• Listening to the dinner lady and following their instruction.
• Be polite at all times.
• Say thank you.
• Not expecting the dinner ladies to clean up their mess. Children needed to show respect and responsibility by making sure food was not thrown on the floor and all rubbish was put into the bins.

Believe in yourself

 A superb class assembly performed by the wonderful Year 2 class Pandas. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos.

Possibilities

 This was our second assembly to help widen our children’s knowledge of potential career paths.

We were visited by our ex pupil Wasim who spoke about his role as an audiologist and lecturer. The children were interested to learn about how our ears worked.

For further detail about the assembly, follow the directions below:

• click on our Teaching and Learning tab
• click on Curriculum Vision
• click on Curriculum Drivers and scroll down

Happiness

 A fabulous class assembly performed by our stunning Reception classes, Rockets and Aliens. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos that will undoubtedly make you feel happy.

Our assemblies focussed on World Book Day, Responsibility, St Valentine, Possibilities and Emotional Intelligence.

World Book Day

We discussed the following:

• World Book Day is about children exploring the amazing world of books and reading!
• The more you read, the more you’ll know.
• Books are magical and you can visit other worlds and times.
• Books spark your imagination
• Reading helps you become a better writer.
• Books are relaxing to read after a long day at school.

Responsibility

 We explored what it is to be responsible to others.

How teachers are responsible to the children’s parents and Head teacher.

How Head teachers are responsible to the school governors, CEO and trustees – this evoked lots of questions and children were able to link the role of the student governors with that of the school governors.

We watched and discussed the story of the stonecutter who wished to have more and more responsibility so he could be the most powerful force on earth.

St Valentine

 A wonderful class assembly performed by our Year 2 Ninja class. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos.

Possibilities

 This was our first assembly to help widen our children’s knowledge of potential career paths.

We were visited by our ex pupil Wasim who spoke about his role as a structures and pavement engineer. The children were wowed about how he had to climb to the top of some very high bridges!

For further detail about the assembly, follow the directions below:

• click on our Teaching and Learning tab
• click on Curriculum Vision
• click on Curriculum Drivers and scroll down

Emotions

 A fabulous class assembly performed by our amazing Year 1 Ivy class. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos.

Our assemblies focused on NSPCC speak out and stay safe, Possibilities, COVID-19 and Responsibility.

NSPCC Speak Out. Stay Safe Assembly

• To learn about how to stay safe

We discussed the following:

• We learnt about children’s rights and discussed ones we feel are most important to us, some of these are:

Possibilities

Our fabulous Dragon Class performed a fantastic assembly about our school curriculum driver, possibilities. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see the class video.

Responsibility.

We discussed:

• What does responsibility mean and why it is important to be responsible?

The children identified that to be responsible we must: take care of ourselves and others:

• take ownership;
• do our duties or jobs;
• take care of our things and other people’s;
• keep our promises;
• help to take care of our homes,
  schools, communities and even
  the world.

We then talked about the different things we were responsible for.

COVID-19

Another amazing class assembly performed by the incredible Year 1 Orchid class. Please scroll down to class assemblies to see pictures and videos.

Our assemblies focused on Ant-Bullying, Resilience, Chinese New Year and Responsibility.

 Anti-Bullying

• To understand what bullying is know how to get help.

We discussed the following:

• Bullying is hurting someone else on purpose.
• Bullying is something that happens over and over again.
• That there are different kinds of bullying for example verbal and physical
• To tell someone – a parent, teacher, older relative. They will make sure it is dealt with properly.

Chinese New Year

 To learn about Chinese New Year customs.

We discussed the following:

• We read the story about The Chinese New Year
• We watched a dragon and lion dance performance
• This is the year of the tiger

Resilience

We listened to the ‘The Swallow’s Story’ and discussed all the ways in which she was showing resilience.

We then identified top tips for resilience:

• Be Thankful
• Work hard
• Ask for help
• Keep trying
• Believe in yourself
• Stay calm
• Laugh

Responsibility

 We began to think about what responsibility is and the different types of repsonsibility:

• Moral
• Legal
• Family
• Community
• Personal

Our assemblies focused on New Year Resolutions, Dreams and Goals, Feeling safe, our school motto and Resilience.

New Year Resolutions

•  To understand when, why and how New Year is celebrated

We discussed the following:

• New Year’s Eve is celebrated on December 31st, the last day of the calendar year.
• People enjoy getting together with family or friends and counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to the start of a brand new year.
• Many people like to make New Year resolutions which are personal goals that they aim to work on throughout the year.

Dreams and Goals (Jigsaw)

• To be able to think of a time they did not give up until they achieved their goal.

We discussed the following:

• The children had some thinking time to think of something they have done that they found tricky to start with but with practice and never giving up they managed to do it.
• We discussed some examples like learning to walk, riding a bike.
• We elaborated on always trying, keep practising and never giving up until you can do it.

Feeling safe

We discussed what feeling safe at school looked like and what to do if they were worried about anything. The children identified the following strategies.

• Tell and adult in school – all children said there was an adult in school that they could talk to.
• Tell a friend.
• Tell a member of their family.

We also talked about our own responsibility if we see somebody in school who is upset. The children said they would either talk to that child or make sure that an adult knows so they can support the child.

School logo

We talked about what the 3 words in our motto meant and looked like in school.

• Nurture

Care for and protect

• Empower

Make someone stronger and more confident

• Flourish

To grow and develop in a healthy way

Resilience

We defined what resilience meant:

• Overcome challenges and work through problems.
• Do not dwell on problems or worries.

We then read the story; ‘The Hugging Tree’ by Jill Niemark.

The Hugging Tree is the story of a little tree growing all alone on a cliff. The tree endures many hardships, but with a little help from a kind little boy, it grows and gives shelter to others. Like the Hugging Tree, despite times of struggle and difficulty, we can be resilient and thrive, just where we are.

The children enjoyed the rubber band challenge. Can we permanently change the shape of the rubber band?

The children quickly realised that you could not. I explained that when the elastic band was made into a different shape it represented the times that we found difficult but by being resilient we can bounce back to our everyday selves – just like the elastic band bounced back to its original shape.

Orchids class assembly was all about Coronavirus and how it changed the way we live.

Orchids class showcased their amazing acting skills, particularly the brilliant portrayal of our Prime Minister Boris Johnson!

There were also fantastic stories, dances and songs, Orchids did a wonderful job of telling us all about the Coronavirus pandemic.

Ninjas performed their assembly all about Valentines Day, how it is celebrated in Britain and the importance of love and kindness. Children expressed love and gratitude for their family, friends and teachers through becoming actors, dancers and singers, showcasing their oracy skills and character muscles and undeniable talent. Ninjas were truly awesome and love, kindness and gratitude certainly filled our hearts.

The Ivy class put on a great performance all about feelings and emotions. At the beginning of the year, in literacy, they read a book called The Colour Monster by the author Anna Llenas. This book allowed the children to explore a range of emotions and learn different vocabulary to describe each emotion. For the assembly, Ivy class chose to share what they had learnt about the emotions of sadness, calmness, anger, fear and happiness. The opportunity also allowed the children to showcase the development of their oracy skills.

The performance consisted of singing, dancing, roleplay, the recitation of a poem and an opportunity for the children to share their views in regard to a particular feeling/emotion. The children persevered in learning their lines, their poem and the choreography of the different dances both at school and at home. This was carried out alongside their classroom learning. The experience allowed the children to further develop their character muscles such as perseverance, collaboration, motivation and self-efficacy.

On the day of the performance, the pupils confidently carried out their roles whilst motivating one another at the same time. The children were able to perform independently using loud and clear voices and knowing when it was their turn to perform. The assembly allowed the children to revisit and further expand their knowledge in regard to feelings and emotions as it is important for them to recognise and use the correct vocabulary to describe how they are feeling.

Videos from the assembly can be seen in the sections below.

Ever had a bad day and wished that you were someone else? Perhaps a mountain gorilla? A tiger? Don’t worry, after watching the Pandas fantastic assembly you’ll soon change your mind and realise how incredible you all truly are!

“You’re fab and fantastic, you’re one of a kind. You’re unique and amazing, always bear that in mind!”

The Comets and Stars children performed their assembly all about the environment, they made a video of their very own story using a story map! The video can be seen below.