Assemblies

Assembly Focus: The meaning of Christmas

In today’s assembly, we explored the Christmas story and why this special celebration is important to many Christians around the world. We began by learning about the moment the Angel Gabriel visited Mary. Gabriel brought extraordinary news: Mary would have a baby named Jesus, who Christians believe would be the Son of God.

Mary and Joseph travelled on a long journey to Bethlehem. When they arrived, the town was so busy there was no room for them anywhere. Instead, they found shelter in a stable, and it was there that baby Jesus was born.

Christians celebrate Christmas to remember this event—the birth of Jesus Christ. For them, Christmas is a time of joy, hope, and love, marking the moment they believe God came into the world in human form. It is a reminder of peace, kindness, and the importance of caring for one another.

Assembly Focus: Being Safe online

In today’s assembly we discussed:

• What going online is
• How going online can be fun
• What can go wrong when we go online
• How we can get help when going online
• The importance of not talking to people we do not know
• What to do if you see something on the screen that frightens or upsets you.

Assembly Focus: A History of the Advent Calendar

In today’s assembly we learned:

• Advent Calendars are traditionally used to count down the days to the birth of Jesus
• The tradition started in Germany where Christians would put a chalk mark on their front door each day
• As time went on some families began to light a candle each day
• Gerhard Lang designed the first modern day Advent calendar
• More recently there has been a boom in chocolate Advent calendars

Assembly Focus: Giving

In today’s assembly we discussed how it feels to get a wrapped gift. We then listened to the Christmas story and talked about what gifts were given that cannot be wrapped.

• The innkeeper offering Mary and Joseph warmth and shelter in his stable
• The angels bringing joy to the shepherds
• Mary and Joseph’s love and care given to baby Jesus

We then talked about how our school rules, Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Respectful are everyday gifts that cannot be wrapped and that gifts that cannot be wrapped are the most precious ones.

Assembly Focus: Celebrating Difference

We read the story ‘The Same but Different’ by Molly Potter

In today’s assembly we explored that:

• We can all be different from each other and also about how we can be the same.
• While its feels good to have things in common with other people, it’s also really exciting to be different.
• It would be really boring if everyone was the same!
• Differences should be respected, celebrated and enjoyed.
• Everyone deserves to be respected and treated fairly.
• Sometimes people are unkind to those who are different to them. Anyone who does this needs to learn a better way to behave towards them

Assembly Focus: Anti – Bullying

In today’s assembly we listened to the story ‘Topsy and Tim Help a Friend’

We discussed:

• What is bullying
• what we should do if we were being bullied
• what you should do if you could see that someone was being bullied

We then talked through our school’s Anti-bullying policy.

https://www.uplandsinfant.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Uplands-Infant-School-Child-Friendly-Anti-Bullying-Policy-Feb-2024.pdf

Our definition is:

Bullying is hurting someone else on purpose. Bullying is something that happens over and over again.

If you see bullying or are being bullied, you must tell an adult or tell a student governor!

Assembly Focus: Respect

In today’s assembly we watched the video, ‘Delightful the Horse’ which teaches a lesson about respect and kindness.

We discussed:

• what respect sounds like
• how being respectful makes us and other people feel
• how being disrespectful makes us and other people feel

Assembly focus: Be Bright, Be Seen   

Today we were visited by Asiya, who spoke to us about how to stay safe when walking, cycling, or riding a scooter to school. She showed us important safety equipment that helps cyclists stay visible to both drivers and pedestrians. We learned that cyclists should wear high-visibility clothing, gloves, and always ensure they have a red light at the back of their bike and a white light at the front. Asiya also reminded us that all cyclists must wear a helmet to protect their head in case they fall.

Asiya also talked to the children about road safety when walking to school, including how to cross safely at pelican crossings and traffic lights. It was a very informative session that helped everyone understand how to travel to school safely and responsibly.

Assembly Focus: Kindness              

In today’s assembly, we watched an inspirational video all about kindness. It showed us lots of different ways that we can be kind.

We recapped what kindness looks like and sounds like in our school:

• People smiling at each other
• Saying nice things to each other
• Sharing
• Helping

Assembly Focus: Head boy & Head girl Speeches          

In today’s assembly, our Year 2 pupils who were interested in becoming Head Boy and Head Girl presented their speeches to the school. These important roles require children who always follow the school rules, are confident in sharing their ideas, and demonstrate excellent communication skills.

After listening to all the speeches, a decision was made.

• Our Head Girl for this year is Ismah Patel
• Our Head Boy for this year is Hissain Bera

We are very proud of all the children who took part and congratulate our newly appointed Head Boy and Head Girl on their achievement.

Assembly Focus: Outdoor Play & Learning (OPAL)

In today’s assembly, we talked about the different areas that have been set up as part of our outdoor play and learning. The children were reminded to choose it, use it, and put it away to help keep our spaces safe and tidy. We also shared photos of the various areas and discussed the different resources available, thinking together about how we can use them safely and responsibly in our play.

Assembly Focus: Carbon Monoxide (CO) awareness

In today’s assembly, Jo, from Bonanza Creative taught everyone about carbon monoxide (CO) and how to protect themselves, making their homes safer.

We learned that:

• Carbon monoxide is very dangerous and can make you very ill
• You can’t see it, hear it, smell it, taste it or touch it
• All homes need to have a CO alarm
• If the alarm goes off, you must leave your house and call the National Gas Emergency service on 0800 111 999

Assembly Focus: Kindness  

In today’s assembly, we listened to the story of Krishna and the Fruit-Seller that is important to many Hindus. It is a story that encourages people to show kindness.

We talked about what kindness looks and sounds like in our school. The children identified that kindness is:

• People smiling at each other
• Saying nice things to each other
• Sharing
• Helping

Assembly Focus: Bonfire Night & Firework Safety

Aim: To know why we celebrate Bonfire Night.

We discussed the following:

Over 400 years ago, King James I was the King of England. Every autumn, he attended a special ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in London.

In 1605, a group of thirteen men made a dangerous plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament. One of them was Guy Fawkes, who became one of Britain’s most famous traitors.

Before they could carry out their plan, the King’s soldiers discovered what was happening. On the morning of 5th November, they searched the cellars and found Guy Fawkes guarding barrels of gunpowder.

To celebrate that the King was safe, King James decided that people should light bonfires every year on the 5th of November — a tradition we still keep today with fireworks and bonfires to remember the story.

Assembly Focus: Remembrance Day

In today’s assembly, we learned about Remembrance Sunday. We learned that Remembrance Day is a special day that takes place on 11^th November every year.

We watched a short video about the meaning of Remembrance Day.

We learned that:

• The first remembrance day happened on the 11th November 1919
• We honour and respect all of the people that have been involved in war and conflict
• The poppy is a symbol of Remembrance Day because the flowers grew abundantly on the battlefields of Flanders, in Belgium.

Assembly Focus: Halloween

In today’s assembly, we learned about the history of Halloween. We learned that:

• Halloween originated from a Celtic festival called Samhain
• Samhain was a celebration to mark the end of the harvest
• Later Samhain was changed to All-hallows Eve then eventually Halloween

We also discussed current traditions and had an apple bobbing competition.

Assembly Focus: Worries                       

In today’s assembly, our school nurse Nav visited us. Nav talked about:

• Our different emotions
• What makes us feel these ways
• What is worrying
• What worries we have

Nav explained that everybody feels worried at times and along with the children identified different strategies that we could use when we were feeling different emotions to help us self-regulate.. The most important strategy to follow if you were worried about something was to talk to a grown up or ask a friend to talk to a grown up for you.

Assembly Focus: Worries                

In today’s assembly, we continued to find out about feeling worried. Ben is very worried that his cake won’t taste/look good, so Radha and Breagh try to find ways to help him stop worrying.

We recapped the different strategies that we could use when we were feeling worried making sure that we knew that telling an adult was the most important strategy.

Assembly Focus: Student Governors                 

In today’s assembly, the children learned about the criteria for becoming a student governor. They were reminded that anyone wishing to put themselves forward must consistently follow the school rules and set a positive example both in class and around the school.

The children also found out more about what the role involves. Student governors will work on projects, attend meetings, show visitors around the school, and help lead assemblies. They will need to be good listeners and strong communicators, able to share their classmates’ views in meetings.

The assembly also introduced the roles of Head Boy and Head Girl, who will lead the student governors and help drive forward pupil voice across the school. Anyone interested will need to prepare a speech.

Assembly Focus: OPAL (Playground Zones)                  

In today’s assembly, the children were introduced to the new zones in the playground.

These exciting new areas include:
• The Mud Kitchen
• Role Play
• Water Play
• Construction
• Mark Making
• Small World

The children were reminded to choose it, use it, and put it away to help keep the playground tidy and ready for everyone to enjoy.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 22^nd and the 29^th of September

Assembly Focus: Democracy                

In today’s assembly we learned about democracy we discussed:

• What is democracy
• What you will see in a democracy
• Government responsibilities
• Why democracy is important
• What democracy looks like in our school

Assembly focus: Feeling Safe

This week’s assembly helped children explore what it means to feel safe. We talked about the different places and people that help us feel secure, and why this is so important for our learning and happiness. Through stories and scenarios, children thought about times when they feel safe (such as being with family, friends, or teachers) and times when they might not (such as getting lost or when someone is unkind).

The key message we shared was:
If you ever don’t feel safe, you should always talk to a trusted adults at school, at home or in the community.

Assembly Focus: Democracy  

The Farmer’s cart

In today’s assembly we recapped:

• What democracy means
• Who our prime minister is
• Who our monarch is

We then watched the fable, ‘The Farmer’s Cart’. We then discussed:

• The importance of using your voice and sharing your views
• The importance of listening to others

Assembly Focus: Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL)

In today’s assembly, we talked about Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL). The children explored the different resources available during outdoor play and were reminded of the important rule: “Choose it, use it, put it away.”

We went through each step together, discussing what it means:

• Choose it – selecting the resource they would like to play with.
• Use it – playing safely, kindly and with respect.
• Put it away – returning resources to the correct place so everyone can enjoy them.

The children were encouraged to take responsibility and show respect for the equipment so that outdoor play is fun and safe for everyone.

Assembly Focus: PSHE Jigsaw

Aim:

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

· To help everyone understand why the energy chime bar is an important part of Jigsaw lessons.

In our assembly, we explored different ways to help ourselves feel calm and peaceful.

· We talked about ‘Calm Me’, a special part of our Jigsaw lessons where we practise relaxing our bodies and minds.

· We learned how the ‘Calm Me’ time begins with a chime. Children close their eyes and listen carefully until the sound fades away.

· We were also introduced to rainbow breathing—breathing in slowly through the nose and out through the mouth, imagining we are painting an invisible rainbow in the air.

· Together, we reflected on how breathing techniques can help us feel calm, relaxed, and in control, especially when we are worried or anxious.

Assembly focus: OPAL

Aim: Enable children to develop respect for their surroundings and each other.

Assembly Focus – Outdoor Resources

In today’s assembly, we talked about the different resources available for play outside. We discussed that children are responsible for choosing what they would like to use, playing with it appropriately, and then putting it away afterwards.

We also spoke about the importance of looking after our resources, as they are there for everyone to enjoy. The children were reminded that they are free to explore what interests them, choose how they want to play, and decide who they want to play with.

Finally, we agreed that everyone must play safely and show respect by tidying up as soon as they hear the first whistle.

Assembly Focus: School Rules

We reminded ourselves of the school rules:

· Be Kind

· Be Safe

· Be Respectful

In today’s assembly we listened to the story ‘No David!’ and discussed his behaviour at home and the importance of rules to keep everyone safe. The children then predicted whether David would follow the rules when he went to school. After listening to the story ‘David Goes to School’. We talked about how David’s behaviour impacted on the learning of other children in the class and that it was important to follow the school rules so everybody could learn.

Assembly Focus: PSHE Jigsaw (Being Me in my World)

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 how we use our words and actions, so it is important to stop and think about what we say and do to others.

Assembly Focus: OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning)

In today’s assembly, we talked about our exciting OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) initiative. This means there will be lots of fun things to play with during outdoor playtimes!

We reminded everyone of the play rules:

• Choose it, use it, put it away
• First whistle = tidy up
• Second whistle = wonderful walking to your line

We also discussed how important it is to look after the resources. If equipment isn’t used properly or isn’t put back in the right place, it will be closed off for a week.

Children were reminded that they can choose which playground to play in.

Activities in the main playground include:

• Small world
• Reading
• Mark making
• Water play
• Construction
• Role play
• Mud kitchen
• Tyres, pallets, cones and crates

Activities on the sports pitch include:

• Sports equipment
• Sand and sand toys

Assembly Focus: 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.

This week in assembly, we talked about the start of a brand-new school year and how it can bring lots of different feelings. Some of us might feel happy, excited, worried, or even a little sad—and that’s all okay.

We thought about what’s different this year, like having a new teacher, a new class, or even new toys to explore. We also shared what we’re most looking forward to and what we would like to get even better at in our learning.

We reminded ourselves that some days will be great and others might feel a bit tricky, but there are always things we can do to make a bad day better.

Most importantly, we agreed to work together to make this a kind, positive, and happy year for everyone!

Assembly Focus: School Rules

In today’s assembly, we talked about why we have rules. We concluded that rules help to keep us safe and make sure everyone is treated fairly.

We reminded ourselves of the school rules:

• Be Kind
• Be Safe
• Be Respectful

We then listened to the story; ‘We don’t eat our classmates.’ We decided that we did not have to add this rule!

Assembly Focus: School Rules   – Be Safe

Be safe

In today’s assembly we recapped why we had rules and our school rules.  We discussed our school rule – Being Safe and what we can do to keep safe. We decided that to be safe we must:

• Understand and follow rules
• Communicate concerns
• Talk to a trusted adult if something makes them feel sad, worried or unsafe.

Assembly Focus: The importance of friendship and how we can be better friends

In our assembly today, we discussed the following:

• What we like doing with our friends
• Is it more important to have a good friend or be a good friend?
• The meaning of ‘if you want friends, be a friend’
• The meaning of ‘if you want good friends, be a good friend’
• The meaning of ‘if you want to have friends, you have to be a friend’

Assembly Focus: Kindness and how it affects other people

• In our assembly today, we discussed the following:
• What does the word kindness mean
• How have you shown kindness to someone
• What does being unkind mean
• Ways in which we can show kindness
• Other words that mean kindness
• We then listened to the story of ‘The Lion and the Mouse’ and identified that we never know what difference being kind to someone can make to their life and ours. How we react to others is important. Being kind to other people improves relationships with those around us. Also, being kind to people can make us feel good on the inside too.

In the reflection, children thought about how sometimes, it is easy to forget to be kind. Being kind means thinking about someone else and being willing to put their needs first.

Assembly Focus: Transition: Coping with Change

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.
• The children did some ‘nesting’ about what they are looking forward to in their new class but also what they will really miss about their current class.

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

Assembly Focus: Kindness

Aims:

• To understand what kindness is.
• To recognise ways in which we can show kindness.
• The children were asked to do some thinking about what they thought kindness is and what it means to them.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

   

  We talked about different ways in which we can show kindness and how it helps our school.

  We ended with some reflection on thinking about something kind we have done for someone and how it made us feel.

   

   

• Assembly focus: Summer Reading Challenge                          Wednesday 18^th June 2025
• Summer Reading Challenge AssemblyToday in assembly, Marica Brown from Highfields Library visited to talk to the children about this year’s Summer Reading Challenge. The theme for 2025 is ‘Story Garden’.Children are encouraged to visit the library to sign up and start reading any books they like. As they read, they’ll earn stickers to help build their own magical garden.Marica also explained how children can join the library and that they can borrow up to 12 books per visit.We’re proud to say that Uplands Infant School has won the Summer Reading Challenge for the past two years – let’s make it three in a row!Follow the link for more information:Follow the link for activities across libraries programme at:     https://tinyurl.com/SRCprogramme    Story Garden Summer Reading Challenge 2025 | The Reading Agency – YouTubAssembly Focus: OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning)

In today’s assembly, the children were introduced to the exciting news that OPAL will be launching tomorrow.

They were shown the different play zones and some of the loose parts that will be available for them to use during playtimes.

The following rules for play were shared:

Choose it, use it, put it away

Follow the school rules:

Be kind

Be safe

Be respectful

First whistle – Everybody stops and tidies up

Second whistle – Walk to your line using wonderful walking

The children were enthusiastic and are looking forward to exploring the new OPAL play opportunities!

Assembly Focus: To understand the meaning of Eid Al-Adha and how it is celebrated.

In today’s assembly we discussed the following:

• Eid Al-Adha means ‘The Feast of the Sacrifice’
• Prophet Ibrahim had a dream. He dreamt that he was sacrificing his son, Ismail! He knew that his dream was a command from Allah and that he should obey the command.
• During Eid Al-Adha families will sacrifice an animal and divide it into three parts.
• Part of the animal is kept for home, another part is given to relatives or friends and the last part is given to the poor.
• Eid Al-Adha is also known as the greater Eid because we have another Eid that comes after Ramadan, which is called Eid Al-Fitr.

Assembly Focus: Forgiveness

In today’s assembly we considered the importance of forgiveness using the film ‘Encanto’.

We looked at different clips where characters were arguing or upset. We discussed why the characters were feeling angry or upset and who was to blame. We discovered that it was always both characters who were arguing that were to blame. The children decided that after an argument you should:

• Say sorry to one another
• Sit down and listen to one another without interrupting
• Forgive one another and move forward

Assembly Focus: Teamwork

In today’s assembly we considered the importance of working together. We looked at how geese flew in a V formation to help us understand this. We learned that:

• If we help each other and create a supportive environment for everyone is much happier
• It is important to accept help and give our help to others
• We must all take our turn in doing the hard tasks even if it is difficult
• We must encourage each other
• We should care for and look after one another

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 5^th and the 12^th of May

Assembly Focus: OPAL (Outdoor Play & Learning)

In today’s assembly, the Student Governors presented to the whole school about the actions they have taken in response to pupil voice. They were proud and excited to introduce the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) Programme.

OPAL is a school-wide initiative designed to improve the quality of play at lunchtimes by creating a more inclusive, engaging, and imaginative outdoor environment. The programme recognises that play is essential for children’s physical health, emotional wellbeing, and social development.

During the assembly, the Student Governors explained how different areas of the playground will be transformed into ‘zones’ that offer a variety of play experiences. These zones will include ‘loose parts’—open-ended materials such as tyres, crates, fabric, and pipes—which encourage creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork.

The children were excited to learn about the upcoming changes and look forward to making the most of their playtimes through OPAL.

Assembly Focus: The importance of plants

In today’s assembly we did a quiz about plants to find out how many plants we knew, how many plants we could identify and name and what makes them a plant.

Facts we found out:

• weeds, grass, trees and flowers are all plants
• a cactus does not have leaves like other plants but we know it is a plant because like many plants it is green and has flowers
• a lot of plants produce fruit
• trees are plants because they grow, have leaves to catch the sunlight and they make seeds or nuts
• grass is a plant because it is green, it grows and can make seeds

Assembly Focus: The importance of plants

In today’s assembly we talked about why plants are important. We found out that plants:

• Give us air to breathe
• Are a food source
• Are a home and food source for animals
• Help clean the planet
• Make soil healthy
• Are beautiful and make us feel better by having them around
• Offer medicines for sickness
• Provide materials

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 7th, and the 28th of April

Assembly Focus: Kindness

After listening to the story and watching the story we discussed:

Kindness and friendship and how the snail despite her size helped the whale and the whale, in turn, is kind and generous and helped fulfil the snails dream.

We discussed how important friendship is and how they collaborated together. This was then linked to how we should work together and play together. That despite having different religions/colours or being in different year groups we can still play together and be kind.

Emphasis on the fact that both creatures were from different parts of the world but it didn’t stop them being friends despite their differences.

Assembly Focus :  Eid Al-Fitr

Aim: To understand what Eid Al-Fitr is and how it is celebrated.

In today’s assembly we discussed the following:

What Is Eid Al-Fitr?

• Eid Al-Fitr means ‘the feast of breaking the fast’.
• Eid Al-Fitr is a celebration that happens when Ramadan ends.
• The month that comes after Ramadan is called Shawwal. The first day of the month of Shawwal is the first day of Eid Al-Fitr.
• In Eid Al-Fitr muslim families celebrate by completing their fast and thank Allah for the strength and blessings he has given throughout Ramadan.
•  Eid Al-Fitr is here when a new crescent moon can be seen in the sky.
• Each month of the Islamic calendar begins with a new moon. When we see the new moon of the month of Shawwal we know it is the first day of Eid!
• 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.

Assembly Focus : To understand the origins of April Fool’s Day

In today’s assembly, I told the children that we would practice a new emergency procedure for a flood. I explained that the children had to take their shoes and socks off as fast as they could, which they did. I then asked the children what the date was.

We discussed the following:

• What happens on April 1^st
• Different tricks we can play on each other, ensuring the tricks are safe and respectful.

We watched the BBC program about the origins of April Fool’s Day.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 24th, and the 31st of March

Assembly Focus: ECO School

In today’s assembly Mrs Ibrahim and the student governors spoke to the children about the ECO School Project. They discussed ideas how we can prevent litter and the student governors shared their ideas from their meeting. Some of these include:

• Getting more bins
• Litter pickers/monitors
• Signs in the playground/make posters
• Throw rubbish in the bins provided

The children were set a task, which was to complete a poster to encourage children to put litter in bins provided. The winners from each year group were announced:

Assembly Focus: Managing anger

In today’s assembly, we discussed:

• What our body feels like when we are angry
• What makes us angry
• Strategies we can use to calm ourselves down when we are angry

We concluded that it is ok to feel angry, but we must not use angry words or actions. We need to use our calming strategies.

Assembly Focus: Having a positive attitude

In today’s assembly, we retrieved:

• What a positive attitude sounds like
• What a positive attitude looks like

We then watched the short film, ‘For the Birds’, and talked about the attitudes the birds had towards somebody who looked different from them and how disrespectful this was.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 10^th, and the 17^th of March

Assembly Focus: The Meaning of Holi

We discussed the following:

• Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring, love, and new life.
• Holi is also known as the “festival of colours”.
• Holi marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. It is usually celebrated in March.
• Holi also celebrates the Hindu god Krishna and the legend of Holika and Prahlad.
• During Holi, Hindu families celebrate by lighting bonfires and smearing each other with colours.

Assembly Focus: The Meaning of Ramadan

• Ramadan is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims.
• 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.

Assembly Focus: Encouragement

In today’s assembly, we discussed:

• The definition of encouragement
• The effect of negative words
• Positive words that we can use to help and encourage each other

We then watched the motivational video, ‘Head Up’, and discussed how the goats supported and motivated each other.

Assembly Focus: Having a positive attitude

In today’s assembly, we discussed:

• What a positive attitude sounds like
• What a positive attitude looks like
• How a positive attitude makes us feel

We then watched the motivational video, ‘Attitude makes the Difference’, and discussed how having a positive attitude helped the animals solve their problems in a friendly way.

Focus assemblies for the weeks beginning the 24^th of February, and the 3^rd of March

Assembly Focus: Anti-Bullying

In this assembly we explored the following:

What is bullying?

Bullying is hurting someone else on purpose. Bullying is something that happens over and over again.

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 can you do if you are being bullied?

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

Assembly Focus: Pancake Day

Aim: To explore the meaning of Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) and Lent.

• 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!

Assembly Focus: Having a good attitude

In our assembly today, we watched the animation, ‘For the birds’ and discussed the following:

• What is a bad attitude
• What does a bad attitude look and sound like
• What was the attitude of the flock of birds to the newcomer
• How should the flock of birds have acted
• If we are feeling angry, what can we do to help us calm down

Assembly focus: World Book Day 2025

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!

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.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 3^rd, and the 10^th of February

Assembly Focus: Summer Reading Challenge Celebration

The children at Uplands Infant School are winners of the Summer Reading Challenge 2024!

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 about how to join the library and reminded them to keep visiting and borrowing books to read or share with their families.

Assembly Focus: Finding Your Talent

In our assembly today we discussed the following:

• The meaning behind the lyrics of Katy Perry’s Firework song
• How many people live on the planet
• We are all unique and have different talents
• Be confident to showcase your talent

Assembly Focus: ECO Schools

In today’s assembly Mrs Ibrahim, our School ECO Lead introduced our ECO Warriors. They shared the focus topics for this year which are:

• Litter – rubbish such as paper, cans, and bottles left lying in an open or public place
• Biodiversity -The variety of animal and plant life in any environment is known as biodiversity.
• Waste (recycling)

They discussed some ideas on how we can prevent litter and the student governors shared their ideas from their meeting. Some of these include:

• Getting more bins
• Litter pickers/monitors
• Signs in the playground/make posters
• Throw rubbish in the bins provided

All the children have been asked to design a poster encouraging everyone to recycle and put litter in the bin. The ECO warriors will select some winning posters to be displayed around the school.

Assembly Focus: Taking responsibility for looking after the environment

In our assembly today, we listened to the ‘Starfish’ story, looked at pictures of litter on beaches and in our school.

We then discussed the following:

• How even one person can make a difference to the world, no matter how big a problem can seem and no matter how small our actions may appear.
• Why it is not good to have litter on our beaches, in our school, or anywhere
• What we can do to prevent litter

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 20^th, and the 27^th of January

Assembly Focus: 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 riding a rollercoaster is like having a dream or goal. Not every dream is easy to achieve, so we must endure the ups and downs to achieve it.
• The assembly ended with the children thinking about a dream or goal that is important to them and how they might achieve it.

Assembly Focus: Why should I be good?

In our assembly today, we discussed the following:

• Some choices bring others sunshine and some choices bring others rain clouds
• Do we always make the right choice?
• Is it ok to make the wrong choice sometimes as long as you learn from it?
• When is it difficult to make the right choice?

We then watched a video about Ben. Ben found a ring that made him invisible and made lots of choices. We discussed the decisions that Ben made – did they bring sunshine or rain clouds?

Assembly Focus: Using kind words as once something has been said, it can never be taken back again

We had a competition to see who could make the longest straight line by squeezing a tube of toothpaste. The children were then asked to put the toothpaste back into the tube.

We then discussed the following:

• Is it possible to put all the toothpaste back into the tube?
• Just like the toothpaste coming out of the tube sometimes unkind words come out of our mouths and we cannot put them back in
• Unkind words can hurt people very badly
• We can try to mend the damage that unkind words do by saying sorry but it is so much better not to say unkind words at all

Assembly focus for this week: Chinese New Year

• To learn about Chinese New Year customs.

We discussed the following:

• We read the story about the Chinese New Year where we learnt that a long time ago in China, Jade Emperor decided that there should be a way to measure time. He told the animals that they had to compete in a race. The first twelve animals would be rewarded by having a year named after them.
• 2025 is the year of the snake
• We watched a dragon and lion dance performance takes place during the Chinese New Year.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 6^th, and the 13^th of January

Assembly focus: 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.
• We did some ‘nesting’ about doing something new or something we want to get better at.

Assembly focus: Choices

• To think about the choices we have to make every day and how we make them. School rules – Be kind, Be safe and Be respectful

We discussed the following:

• The different decisions we make every day.
• How our decisions can bring sunshine or rain to others.
• How difficult decisions can be made easier.

We then listened to the story ‘My Magical Choices’ and discussed the choices that we can make to bring ourselves and others sunshine.

Assembly focus: The importance of finding out what people are like on the inside

• To not judge each other by what we look like – school rules – Be kind and Be respectful

We listened to the story, ‘The Proud Rose’ and the song, ‘The Ugly Duckling’.

We decided that what really matters is not what someone looks like or even what they are good at doing but what they are like on the inside. we should be kind and respectful to everyone.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 2^nd, 9^th, and the 16^th of December

Assembly focus: How people celebrate Christmas:

Aim: To help children understand how people celebrate Xmas

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

• When Christmas is
• How people celebrate (giving cards, charity, presents, trees, preparing)
• What some people do on Xmas day
• What food they might eat

We also listened to the Natvity story to help us understand the first Xmas and watched videos on how people celebrate Xmas.

Assembly focus: Advent

Aim: To help children understand the meaning of Advent

In today’s assembly, we discussed the following:

• What is Advent
• When does Advent start
• What do the 5 candles of Advent represent

The first candle represents hope so we defined what hope means and watched a video about a turtle who showed hope to overcome challenges he faced.

Assembly Focus: Germs

In today’s assembly, we learned how to stay healthy by washing our hands.

That we should wash our hands:

• Before a meal
• After 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 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.

Song words (to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Wash your hands, wash your hands.

Front and back, front and back.

In-between your fingers, in-between your fingers.

Don’t forget your thumb! don’t forget your thumb!

Assembly focus: Christmas

In today’s assembly, Reverend Jonathan from St Peter’s Church came in to discuss why Christmas is celebrated. St Peter’s Church is an important place of faith in the Highfields area of Leicester. It is the centre of the Church of England’s presence and worship in the community. Reverend Jonathan also spoke to us about the importance of belonging and that the church welcomes all faiths in the community. Reverend Jonathan helped us learn that belonging is not about where we are but how we feel in our hearts.

Assembly focus: Christmas  

Reception children wowed us with their Christmas performance of ‘Dear Santa’.

Their fabulous singing, dancing acting, and narrating brought festive cheer to the Upland’s family.

Assembly focus: Christmas  

Santa checked his list and Uplands Infants was definitely on the good list. The children were thrilled with their visit from Santa with each class entertaining him with a Christmas song and dance.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 18^th and the 25^th of November

Assembly Focus: Visit from form student Hrikkrish Biswas

In today’s assembly Hrikkrish Biswas, a former student came to share his exceptional news about being recognised by the Guinness Book of Records for becoming the youngest bilingual author at the age of 8.

The Guinness World Records committee has officially awarded Hrikkrish the title of Youngest Male Bilingual Book Series Author. This recognition affirms that Hrikkrish is now globally acknowledged as the youngest author to publish a bilingual book series—a truly remarkable achievement.

Please follow the link for the news broadcast aired by ITV:

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/catch-up-on-itv-news-central-east-midlands-from-wednesday-23rd-october/092jtqf

10-Year-Old British Bangali Boy Makes World History. Guinness World Records

Assembly Focus: Celebrating Difference

We read the story ‘The Same but Different’ by Molly Potter

In today’s assembly, we explored the following:

• We can all be different from each other and also about how we can be the same.
• It feels good to have things in common with other people, but it’s also really exciting to be different.
• It would be really boring if everyone was the same!
• Differences should be respected, celebrated and enjoyed.
• Everyone deserves to be respected and treated fairly.
• Sometimes people are unkind to those who are different from them. Anyone who does this needs to learn a better way to behave towards them

Assembly Focus: mind-set

In today’s assembly, we discussed the following:

• What is mindset
• The difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset
• What growth mindset sounds like

We then looked at different scenarios and decided which scenario represented a growth mindset and which represented a fixed mindset.

We concluded that a mindset is your attitude. It is about how you think and feel rather than what you can or can’t do.

Focus assemblies for weeks beginning the 4^th and the 11^th of November

Assembly Focus: Anti-Bullying Week

In today’s assembly, we discussed our school rules which are:

• Be Kind
• Be Safe
• Be Respectful

This year’s Anti-Bullying Campaign urges everyone to consider how to ‘Choose Respect’ instead of bullying.

The term ‘respect’ can mean different things to different people.

When we talk about respect we:

• Value feelings
• Opinions
• Views

Even if they are different from ours!

If we don’t agree or get along with someone, it doesn’t mean we should not treat them respectfully.

All staff and children came to school in odd socks to celebrate the fact that we are all unique.

We watched this short video clip about this year’s campaign https://youtu.be/xMRDl79vgTQ?t=77

Assembly Focus: Honesty

Aim:

• To consider the meaning of honesty and why it is so important

In today’s assembly, we recapped the meaning of honesty and listened to the book ‘The Truth According to Arthur’ a story about why we should always tell the truth, and what happens if we tell lies.

We agreed that telling the truth is good:

• It shows kindness to others
• It enables people to trust us
• It leads us to build lovely friendships and relationships

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

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

Sports for Champions

This week Winston, a Great Britain gymnast medallist visited the school. He talked about how he became an elite gymnast:

• Eating a healthy balanced diet
• Drinking lots of water
• Having a positive mind-set
• Exercising including warming up and cooling down
• Practice, practice practice

Winston performed some gymnastics skills and then led circuit training for all classes.

Assembly focus: Belonging

Aim:

• To understand the importance of including people

In today’s assembly, we listened to the story ‘A Little Spot of Belonging’ and discussed:

• What belonging is
• What it feels like to belong
• How we can help people belong
• What is not belonging

Assembly Focus: 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 ways to do something kind or unkind with their hands.
• Our hands can do good or cause harm like our words can do kind things and sometimes unkind things.
• It is 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.

Assembly Focus: The Meaning of Diwali

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

Assembly Focus: Honesty

Aim:

• To consider the meaning of honesty and why it is so important

We watched a clip of ‘Pinnochio’s Lie, listened to the story ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’, and discussed the following:

• It is important always to speak the truth
• You can only earn trust if we are truthful
• Honesty will help you make lots of friends
• Not telling the truth makes us feel sad and anxious

Assembly Focus: The History of Halloween

• Halloween traditions originated from the ancient Celtic festival Samhain around 2000 years ago
• Halloween used to be called All Hallows’ Eve
• Trick or treating originated from ‘souling’ – people would knock on doors for a soul cake’ which was a small, round cake
• The first ever Jack O’Lanterns were made out of turnips

Check out our News page to see our children apple bobbing and performing their scary Halloween dance or song.

Assembly focus: Giving to Charity
Aim:
• To understand the meaning of charity.
In today’s assembly, we discussed:
• What a charity is.
• The difference that charities make.
• The different ways we can give to a charity.

The children were introduced to the charity ‘Sports for Champions’ inspiring them to keep fit while supporting aspiring athletes and raising funds for outdoor physical equipment for the school.

Assembly focus: Introducing the New School Governors

• In today’s assembly, we introduced the Student Governors from each class.
• The Role of the Student Governors is to attend meetings every other week with Mrs Odedra to discuss ideas, concerns and work on various projects throughout the year.
• Student Governors can be identified because they will be wearing a badge and hoodie. Their photos will be displayed at the front of the school so all children know who they are.

Assembly focus: Taking the time to see people more closely

Aim:
• To understand the importance of not judging by appearances.

In today’s assembly, we looked at different optical illusions and learned that what we think we see is not always what is really there. We often accept what we see as truth but sometimes get it wrong. This is especially true when it comes to what we think about people.
We looked at different images of children, identified which one we would want to be our friend, and discussed why.
We then listened to the story; ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and concluded that it is our actions and characteristics that make us beautiful, not what we look like on the outside.

Assembly Focus: PSHE Jigsaw

Aim:
• To introduce the ‘calm me’ approach used in PSHE across the school.
• To help everyone understand why the energy chime bar is an important part of Jigsaw lessons.

We discussed the following:
• The ‘calm me’ is a special time in their Jigsaw lessons where everyone will learn to relax their bodies, and minds and be peaceful.
• The ‘calm me’ approach starts with the chime and children close their eyes and listen until they cannot hear the sound anymore.
• The rainbow breathing technique was introduced. Children were shown how to breathe in through their nose and breathe out through their mouth (painting an invisible rainbow as they breathe out slowly)
• We discussed that breathing helps us feel calm, peaceful, and relaxed and we can use this technique when we feel worried or anxious about something.

Assembly Focus: The Jungle Book production

The children enjoyed a live production of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’. The set, lighting, costumes and performances brought the story to life thoroughly engaging the children.

Assembly focus: Kindness is never wasted

Aim: To help children understand what the word kindness means

In today’s assembly, we looked at the following:
• What kindness means
• How we can be kind
• How it feels when someone is kind to you
• What to do if you think someone has been unkind
We listened to the story of ‘The Lion and the Mouse’ and discussed the moral that ‘Small acts of kindness can have a big impact’ and ‘No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted’. In the story, a small mouse helps a lion by gnawing at the ropes when the lion is trapped in a hunter’s net.

Assembly focus: Carducci String Quartet

Our children were treated to various classical compositions from the world-renowned Carducci string quartet. The children showed excellent listening skills and musicality, joining in with rhythms and learning new musical terms – forte – get suddenly loud and piano – get suddenly soft.

Assembly focus: School Promises

Aim: To know the school rules for our school.

In today’s assembly we discussed what a promise is and how a promise is a commitment by someone to do something. We promised to follow our school rules which are:

• Be kind – being kind means listening, feeling and understanding others’ needs and trying to help meet those needs.
• Be safe – by always making sure we move around the school safely by making ‘lovely lines’, ‘wonderful walking’ and not hurting others by keeping our hands and feet to ourselves.
• Be respectful – accepting others for who they are, even when they’re different from you or you don’t agree with them. Caring about how your words and actions impact others. Demonstrating kindness and respect for other people, cultures, beliefs, and groups.

Assembly focus: Head Boy and Head Girl speeches

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

Year 2 Head Boy: D A
Year 2 Head Girl: A A
Year 2 Deputy Head Girl: N G

Year 1 Head Boy: S V
Year 1 Head Girl: Y A
Year 1 Deputy Head Girl: H K

Assembly Focus: 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 is 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 year so the children worked with talk partners to discuss what they are looking forward to.
• By being a good friend and working hard, we can have great days at school.
• Let’s all work together to make this a lovely year for everyone!

Assembly Focus: Be Thankful

Aim:
• To focus on the importance of being thankful.

We discussed the following:
• What is thankfulness?
• Why is thankfulness important?
• How can we show gratitude?
• Thankful words, phrases and actions.
• The children worked with talk partners to discuss what they were thankful for.

Assembly Focus: Independence

Aim:
• To understand what independence is and what it looks like

We discussed the following:
• The meaning of age-related independence
• Why independence is important
• Examples of the children being independent

1FN’s class assembly retold the story of Beauty and the Beast. The performance was nothing short of enchanting! The children wowed the audience with excellent singing and dancing, bringing this classic story to life with charm and enthusiasm. Each performer was empowered to take the stage with confidence, and it was a joy to see them flourish through creativity, cooperation, and fun.  The assembly was a heartwarming reminder of how children flourish when given the chance to express themselves and work together toward something magical. We are so proud of our young stars for their hard work and an unforgettable performance! Well Done 1FN 

Year 2’s smashed the Eid Assembly in more ways than one with songs, role play, facts and dramatization of a typical day in Ramadan and Eid Day. The Children wore colourful outfits to celebrate the Special Day. They introduced the 5 pillars of Islam with a unique rap and the rest of the assembly was followed with information and humorous entertainment. Children delivered what Zakat is very eloquently so that our honoured guests from Houghton on the Hill were also able to understand why and how Muslims celebrate each occasion. The day ended with an Eid Bazaar which was thoroughly enjoyed by all!!!!

The Turtles class performed a fantastic assembly with a twist on the story of Little Rabbit Foo Foo. They reenacted the story using their amazing singing, dancing, and acting skills. In the end Little Rabbit Foo Foo learnt to ‘be kind’, sending a positive message and reminder of one of the school rules to the whole school. They showed brilliant confidence in their performance! 

Today in our class assembly we celebrated all things love! We acted out the story of how Valentine’s day began and found out how St Valentine set the tradition of sending kind notes . We had a great time celebrating love with those who look after us and appreciated all they do for us!

The Sequel of Cinderella was back by popular demand with a brand new cast who delivered the story in their own unique style. The acting, dancing, narrating and singing was out of this world, and it left the audience wanting more!

Today in our class assembly we looked at the school rules. The children told everyone how to follow each rule and showed examples of kindness, respect and safety. We had a great time dancing and singing as a class, we hope you all enjoyed and now want to see you all following our school rules.