Category Archives: Assemblies

What part of the school day do children in your school enjoy the most?

Whether you’ve asked the children that question or not the chances are you can guess the most popular answers.  Play time, lunch break, games, the reading of a story, art…

But does anyone say “Assembly”?

If any children do give that as an answer they are probably going to be in a minority, and yet it ought to be possible to generate more enthusiasm for assemblies, since the assembly is an opportunity to do something utterly different from what happens in the rest of the day.

Indeed, there is no reason why the children should not look forward to each day’s assembly in order to find out what new and exciting event is going to happen next.

And there is, of course, a bonus here, because in such a scenario what we inevitably find is that one has everyone’s complete attention.

It was with this idea in mind that I began to collect ways of delivering Assemblies that did more than meet the statutory requirement. Assemblies that become as riveting as the TV programme that children ensure they get home in time to watch each day.

But, of course, assemblies need more than originality, for they also need to meet the social and emotional needs of the children who attend them and offer a focus on the values that the school wishes to present to the children.

As a result of this thinking we have produced a set of over 350 assemblies which are instantly available and fully scripted.  And we are still working on the project with new assemblies being added every month.

These assemblies are divided into 12 categories along with an index which allows you to choose your assembly by topic.  You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link.

Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online:

• a 12 month subscription (only £149)
• a 24 month subscription (only £142 per year)
• a 36 month subscription (only £135 per year)

If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

What part of the school day do children in your school enjoy the most?

Whether you’ve asked the children that question or not, the chances are you can guess the most popular answers.  Play time, lunch break, games, the reading of a story, art…

But does anyone say “Assembly”?

If any children do give that as an answer they are probably going to be in a minority, and yet it ought to be possible to generate more enthusiasm for assemblies, since the assembly is an opportunity to do something utterly different from what happens in the rest of the day.

Indeed, there is no reason why the children should not look forward to each day’s assembly in order to find out what new and exciting event is going to happen next.

And there is of course a bonus here, because in such a scenario what we inevitably find is that one has everyone’s complete attention.

It was with this idea in mind that I began to collect ways of delivering Assemblies that did more than meet the statutory requirement.  Assemblies that become as riveting as the TV programme that children ensure they get home in time to watch each day.

But of course assemblies need more than originality, for they also need to meet the social and emotional needs of the children who attend them and offer a focus on the values that the school wishes to present to the children.

As a result of this thinking we have produced a set of over 350 assemblies which are instantly available, and fully scripted.  And we are still working on the project with new assemblies being added every month.

These assemblies are divided into 12 categories along with an index which allows you to choose your assembly by topic.   You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link 

Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online:

• a 12 month subscription (only £149)
• a 24 month subscription (only £142 per year)
• a 36 month subscription (only £135 per year)

If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

What is the single biggest problem that comes from the need to deliver a new assembly every day? 

During the course of their primary school lives most children will take part in over 1000 assemblies.

Which provides a significant challenge.  How can one ensure that each day’s assembly has an immediate impact on each child, and then additionally ensure that some of these assemblies have such an impact that they will be remembered for months (and sometimes even years) to come?

This is the issue that schools face every day through the school year, and it is the issue we looked to solve when we created Assembly Box.

The aim has been to create a series of 350 outstanding assemblies that really engage the pupils and which they will remember over time.

Each assembly is fully scripted and the collection comes with a complete index so that you can choose your assembly by topics as diverse as community and citizenship, saints’ days, black history, social and emotional stories and so on.

What’s more each assembly comes with its own supporting presentation material, and a set of ready-to-use key word cards.   The assemblies can be downloaded and printed out, thus making them immediately usable without further preparation.

You can see a complete list of the 12 main categories our assemblies are divided into here on our website, and from there you can go into each categories and see  the details of all the assemblies on offer.  Just visit http://www.assemblybox.co.uk/

You can also read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link

The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT).  Order on line at www.assemblybox.co.uk

If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

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What is the best reaction you can have to the daily assembly?

Imagine a child going home after school and volunteering to his/her parents the story of what happened during the day (rather than waiting to be asked, and then offering the shortest of answers).

And imagine further that what the child chooses to talk about is the school assembly, with parents also bringing up the subject when they attend a parents evening, talking to you about how certain assemblies have really made an impact on their child.

Of course, you may well find this happens from time to time, with the parents spontaneously mentioning assemblies, but even if so you will know that there is a constant pressure to find more and more assemblies that grab attention and give children insights into the moral, personal, and social world in which they live.

It was to provide such assemblies that my colleagues and I began to contemplate what made certain assemblies have a really strong influence on the children we teach.

We knew of course that we needed to create assemblies that were original, and which also met the social and emotional needs of the children who attend them and offered a focus on the values that the school wishes to present to the children.

As a result we have produced a set of over 350 assemblies with each one categorised and indexed, each of which is instantly available and fully scripted.

You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link. Additionally you can see the complete list of the categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online. The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT). If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

What part of the school day do children in your school enjoy the most?

Whether you’ve asked the children that question or not the chances are you can guess the most popular answers. Play time, lunch break, games, the reading of a story, art…

But does anyone say “Assembly”?

If any children do give that as an answer they are probably going to be in a minority, and yet it ought to be possible to generate more enthusiasm for assemblies, since the assembly is an opportunity to do something utterly different from what happens in the rest of the day.

Indeed, there is no reason why the children should not look forward to each day’s assembly in order to find out what new and exciting event is going to happen next.

And there is, of course, a bonus here, because in such a scenario what we inevitably find is that one has everyone’s complete attention.

It was with this idea in mind that I began to collect ways of delivering Assemblies that did more than meet the statutory requirement.  Assemblies that become as riveting as the TV programme that children ensure they get home in time to watch each day.

But, of course, assemblies need more than originality, for they also need to meet the social and emotional needs of the children who attend them and offer a focus on the values that the school wishes to present to the children.

As a result of this thinking we have produced a set of over 350 assemblies which are instantly available and fully scripted. And we are still working on the project with new assemblies being added every month.

These assemblies are divided into 12 categories along with an index which allows you to choose your assembly by topic. You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link 

Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online. The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT). If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

What is the one thing more than anything else that makes children sit up and take notice in an Assembly?

The great disadvantage of the daily school assembly is that it is… daily.   Which means it can easily become familiar, which in turn means that attention is reduced.

Which in turn means that the moment that one does something completely different in an Assembly, one has complete attention.

And this quite simply is why my colleagues and I started to create the Assembly Box – to find the most interesting and thought-provoking assemblies for primary school children.

Assemblies that would not just gain immediate attention and be remembered but would also meet the social and emotional needs of the children who attended them.

We decided to place at the centre of these assemblies, stories that would encourage a whole school focus on the values we wished to present.

In fact, what we produced, and what we have been developing ever since, is a set of over 350 assemblies which are instantly available, and fully scripted, with new assemblies being added every month.

These assemblies are divided into 12 categories along with an index which allows you to choose your assembly by topics as diverse as community, citizenship, saints’ days, black history, social and emotional stories, and so on with each assembly having its own supporting presentation material and a set of ready-to-use key word cards.

You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link

Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online.  The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT). If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

 

What is the simplest way to make Assemblies engaging, relevant and also varied… day after day after day?

There undoubtedly are some teachers who can create ceaselessly varied and engaging assemblies which are also relevant to the moment, and to such colleagues all I can say is, “I salute you.”

And I say this because I know just how hard it is to undertake every other duty one has in the school, and keep coming up with assemblies that really will inspire the children and develop their thinking.

It was as a result of this thought that some of us began to build a collection of assembly stories that could meet the social and emotional needs of children.

Stories that would encourage a whole school focus on the values we wished to present.  In fact what we produced, and have been developing ever since, is a set of over 350 assemblies which are instantly available, and fully scripted, with new assemblies being added every month.

Then we divided the assemblies into 12 categories along with an index which allows you to choose your assembly by topics as diverse as community, citizenship, saints’ days, black history, social and emotional stories, and so on with each assembly having its own supporting presentation material and a set of ready-to-use key word cards.

The result is The Assembly Box.

You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link. Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online.  The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT). If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

It’s not just the need for an Assembly each day, it’s the need to make each one relevant to the moment

Indeed for many school managers and teachers who deliver assemblies this issue of finding the right assembly to fit with a particular theme or topic is one that many note as the most time consuming aspect of running assemblies.

Which is why the creation of a series of 350 outstanding assemblies that both engage the pupils, and which they will remember over time, was only the first part of our enterprise.

What we have also done is broken those 350 assemblies into 12 categories so that when you need an assembly to fit a particular topic, it becomes easy to find.

The result of this endeavour is The Assembly Box.

Each assembly is fully scripted, and the index allows you to choose your assembly by topics as diverse as community, citizenship, saints’ days, black history, social and emotional stories, and so on.

What’s more, each assembly comes with its own supporting presentation material and a set of ready-to-use key word cards. The assemblies can be downloaded and printed out, thus making them immediately usable without further preparation.

You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link

Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories our assemblies are divided into on our website, and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order on line.

The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT). If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

 

What is the single biggest problem that comes from the need to deliver a new assembly every day?

During the course of their primary school lives, most children will take part in over 1000 assemblies.

Which provides a significant challenge. How can one ensure that each day’s assembly has an immediate impact on each child and then additionally ensure that some of these assemblies have such an impact that they will be remembered for months (and sometimes even years) to come?

This is the issue that schools face every day through the school year, and it is the issue we looked to solve when we created Assembly Box.

The aim has been to create a series of 350 outstanding assemblies that really engage the pupils and which they will remember over time.

Each assembly is fully scripted, and the collection comes with a complete index so that you can choose your assembly by topics as diverse as community and citizenship, saints’ days, black history, social and emotional stories, and so on.

What’s more, each assembly comes with its own supporting presentation material and a set of ready-to-use key word cards. The assemblies can be downloaded and printed out, thus making them immediately usable without further preparation.

You can see a complete list of the 12 main categories our assemblies are divided into on our website, and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer. Just visit http://www.assemblybox.co.uk/

You can also read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link

The complete set of all of our assemblies costs £149 (+ VAT). Order on line at www.assemblybox.co.uk

If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

Are Jesus’ teachings relevant today?

What is the single most effective way to engage your pupils in assemblies that are explicitly Christian in nature?

It can be difficult for children to understand the relevance of Jesus’ teachings in their daily lives.

Children may struggle interpreting stories from the Holy Bible and their deeper meanings – which form the core of Christianity as a religion – as the stories are not set in a society to which the children can relate.

It is for this reason that we have produced Modern Christian Assembly Stories.

This resource contains 50 modern Christian assembly stories with characters, scenarios, themes, and everyday dilemmas which your pupils will be able to relate to. Children will come to realise that Jesus’ teachings are still relevant today and will understand how Christian beliefs and values play a part in their lives.

Some of the stories will make them, and you, laugh, whilst others will prompt you all to reflect deeply.

For example, in one story your pupils will meet Billy who loses his trunks whilst swimming at school – how embarrassing! What will he do? And in another story your pupils will meet David who is missing his best friend who has left school. Then he meets Arthur, the new boy. Arthur is different. He is autistic: he canʼt speak. How can David make friends with him?

Furthermore, accompanying teacher’s notes will enable you to make the most of each story, providing information on the background, story and theme, as well as a brief summary of what Christians believe and a short prayer related to the story.

For more information about Modern Christian Assembly Stories for £17.99 simply visit: http://www.brilliantpublications.co.uk/book/modern-christian-assembly-stories-710

As always, you can order this resource in a variety of ways, such as:

• by visiting the website

• by phone on 01449 766629

• by fax on 01449 768047

• by email to orders@tradecounter.co.uk

• or by post to Brilliant Publications, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND.

Exceptional Secondary School Assembly Resources

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Compassion in World Farming

School speaker serviceCompassion in World Farming provides a speaker service for schools, youth clubs, colleges, universities and adult groups in the UK. In many parts of the UK we can provide a speaker.

This service is free, though expenses are appreciated. This service is also available for youth groups of any age from 5-18.

To book a speaker you can:

Complete our speaker request form
Call our education department on 01483 521965
Fax or post the form on the back of our educational resources leaflet

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CCLI

CCLI Collective Worship Licenses – offers licences, resources and ideas to help schools use songs and hymns during their times of Collective Worship in assemblies and special services.

Telephone: 01323 436100
Postal address:
CCLI, Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1BF

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AssembliesOnline.com

AssembliesOnline.com – free school assemblies based around a popular feature film. Assemblies are designed to help school pupils develop a greater understanding of themselves, their community and the world around them.

Email: office@ethoseducation.org
Postal address: Ethos Education, PO Box 1800, Southampton, SO15 9GP

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Teaching Resources Support

Assemblies for KS3/4 – These ready to use assembly ideas have been created to help you deliver engaging and topical KS3 and KS4 assemblies throughout the year.

Email: admin@teachingresourcessupport.com
Telephone:
0113 266 0880
Postal address:
Morwick Hall, Mortec Office Park, York Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS15 4TA, U.K

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School Speakers

School Speakers, set up by entrepreneur Apprentice TV star Claire Young, is the UK’s No.1 agency working with schools (primary and secondary), colleges and universities to provide talks, workshops and full day activities for students.

Email: office@schoolspeakers.co.uk
Telephone:
01924 277343 

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Caswell’s Strings

Caswell’s Strings – we invite you to examine our extensive range of student instruments, the separate listing of advanced instruments, the pages of accessories and teaching aids, the Tonerite, the bows, and the books.

Email: sales@caswellsstrings.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 1280 707 140
Postal address: The Old Chapel, Banbury Road, Brackley. NN13 6BA

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

Exceptional Primary School Assembly Resources

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AssemblyBox

Outstanding assemblies that pupils love and remember

Over 300 fully scripted assemblies available now with new assemblies added monthly saving you time and effort in the mornings.

AssemblyBox provides schools with a fast, easy and high-quality solution that delivers assemblies throughout the school year. We are a subscription-based service for schools, providing access to an exciting online portfolio of assemblies.

Our assemblies are available in the following categories: A-Z of Social and Emotional Stories, SEAL, Black History, Community and Citizenship, Famous People, Foundation Stage, World Religions, Saint Days, International Days and Around the World.

Order your package today at www.assemblybox.co.uk

Email: enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk 
Postal address:
Inspired Education Ltd, 20-22 Wenlock Road, London,N1 7GU

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CCLI

CCLI Collective Worship Licenses – offers licences, resources and ideas to help schools use songs and hymns during their times of Collective Worship in assemblies and special services.

Telephone: 01323 436100
Postal address:
CCLI, Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1BF

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AssembliesOnline.com

AssembliesOnline.com – free school assemblies based around a popular feature film. Assemblies are designed to help school pupils develop a greater understanding of themselves, their community and the world around them.

Email: office@ethoseducation.org
Postal address: Ethos Education, PO Box 1800, Southampton, SO15 9GP

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First and Best in Education

Sealsongs – the Tower Hamlets primary school song book – a collection of assembly songs which aims to get children engaged through the experience of making and creating music. Its lyrics were written with considerable input from Year 4 and 5 pupils, so speak from children to children, and the musical backing tracks were professionally recorded.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399007
Postal address:
Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

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Brilliant Publications

Brilliant Assembly Resources – Brilliant Publications publishes a small, but growing, range of books to support primary school assemblies. Titles range from song books and inspirational stories to read aloud during assemblies, through to easy-to-use scripts for class-led assemblies, linked to key curriculum areas.

Email: orders@tradecounter.co.uk
Telephone:
+44 (0) 1449 766629
Postal address:
Brilliant Publications, c/o Trade Counter Distribution, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND, UK

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Snail Tales

Storytelling for Schools – with the Institute of Education observing that a love of reading improves results across the curriculum, and an EU-funded study revealing that 25% more facts are retained from stories than rote learning, it’s easy to see how storytelling can benefit your school.

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

Exceptional Secondary School Assembly Resources

Exceptional Banner - Bigger

CCLI Collective Worship Licenses – offers licences, resources and ideas to help schools use songs and hymns during their times of Collective Worship in assemblies and special services.

Telephone: 01323 436100
Postal address:
CCLI, Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1BF

……………………………………………………………………………

AssembliesOnline.com

AssembliesOnline.com – free school assemblies based around a popular feature film. Assemblies are designed to help school pupils develop a greater understanding of themselves, their community and the world around them.

Email: office@ethoseducation.org
Postal address: Ethos Education, PO Box 1800, Southampton, SO15 9GP

……………………………………………………………………………

Teaching Resources Support

Assemblies for KS3/4 – These ready to use assembly ideas have been created to help you deliver engaging and topical KS3 and KS4 assemblies throughout the year.

Email: admin@teachingresourcessupport.com
Telephone:
0113 266 0880
Postal address:
Morwick Hall, Mortec Office Park, York Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS15 4TA, U.K

……………………………………………………………………………

School Speakers

School Speakers, set up by entrepreneur Apprentice TV star Claire Young, is the UK’s No.1 agency working with schools (primary and secondary), colleges and universities to provide talks, workshops and full day activities for students.

Email: office@schoolspeakers.co.uk
Telephone:
01924 277343 

……………………………………………………………………………

Caswell’s Strings

Caswell’s Strings – we invite you to examine our extensive range of student instruments, the separate listing of advanced instruments, the pages of accessories and teaching aids, the Tonerite, the bows, and the books.

Email: sales@caswellsstrings.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 1280 707 140
Postal address: The Old Chapel, Banbury Road, Brackley. NN13 6BA

……………………………………………………………………………

You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

Viking assembly and writing workshops

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Bring the Vikings to your hall with an interactive assembly followed by writing workshops. Pupils will go on a Viking raid, meet the skald (storyteller) – and hear tales of heroes, myths and monsters. Finally two bands of Vikings do battle with a fun quiz.  I’m a children’s author who teaches creative writing in schools, so I can also answer their questions on writing and perform short extracts from my books Beowuff and the Dragon Raiders.

The assembly is a perfect primer for story writing workshops where pupils will write their own stories. We’ll use the innovative Accelerated writing method (as used by Creative Writing Club).

As well as the Vikings, other topics include: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age Celts, the Greeksthe Egyptiansthe Romansthe Celtsthe Anglo Saxons, the Aztecs, Mayans, the Great Fire of London, Flooded world (natural disasters), the Normans, the Tudors, the Victorians, Shakespeare, Traditional tales, the Rainforest and many more.  I’m an ex-BBC editor and I can also offer workshops on factual writing (using a historical frame).

About me
I’ve written 14 books for children, over a wide age range (Y1-Y9) including: Spartapuss (Romans), Beowuff (Anglo Saxons vs Vikings) Olympuss Games (Greeks), Boudicat (Celts), Cleocatra’s Kushion (Egyptians).  My graphic novel ‘London Deep’ was chosen as a Recommended Read for World Book Day. I co-wrote the musical version of Julia Donaldson’s books The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. I’ve led writing workshops for Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust and The Young Archaeologists Club. Check out my profile on Love Reading For Kids:

  • No school is too large or too small
  • I am DBS checked and I have insurance cover.

For dates and prices please call 0845 838 5526 or email robin@mogzilla.co.uk

Please reply to this email with ‘Vikings’ in the subject line and I will send you my free PDF
‘7 Tips for story writing
and a Viking writing frame.

Outstanding assemblies that pupils love and remember

Over 300 fully scripted assemblies available now with new assemblies added monthly saving you time and effort in the mornings.

AssemblyBox provides schools with a fast, easy and high-quality solution that delivers assemblies throughout the school year.

We are a subscription-based service for schools, providing access to an exciting online portfolio of assemblies. All of our assemblies are prepared by practicing teachers, industry leaders and specialist consultants.

Our assemblies are ready to use, simply download your chosen assembly and deliver it to your pupils.
•     Assemblies available to download in one click at www.assemblybox.co.uk
•     All assemblies come with a PowerPoint presentation
•     All assemblies are complete with ready-to-use key word cards
•     Ready to use certificates are available for reward assemblies based around the A-Z of Emotions
•     Each assembly is designed to be read aloud, just simply download and print your assembly then deliver it minutes later

AssemblyBox create fully scripted Primary School assemblies for all your School assembly needs.

Our assemblies are available in the following categories:

  • A-Z of Social and Emotional Stories
  • SEAL
  • Black History
  • Community and Citizenship
  • Famous People
  • Foundation Stage
  • World Religions
  • Saint Days
  • International Days
  • Around the World

But wait – there’s more! We want to give you a year’s membership to our great service for free. You can get another 12 month subscription to our great service for free simply by inviting others to join us. Ask the joining school to quote ‘Word of Mouth’ on their application and we’ll do the rest. Once three schools have signed up under your name, your next subscription is free. It’s that simple. Not only do you get great assemblies for every day of the year, you can get them for free!

From religious festivals to international days, social and emotional stories to countries and their national days, class assembly scripts to famous people, we have already done the hard work for you!

Your primary school assemblies are ready to pick up and use, incorporating an introduction, main story, reflection, prayer and personal promise; fitting perfectly into a fifteen minute school assembly session. School Assemblies at the click of a button – download as many assemblies as you need when you need them.

Our assemblies are available in the following categories:

  • World Religion and Festivals
  • A-Z of Emotions
  • Black History Month
  • Saint’s Days
  • Famous People
  • Countries and National Days
  • SEAL
  • Foundation Stage

Order your package today at www.assemblybox.co.uk

Take a world that is completely different from ours – and those creatures completely different from ordinary people like us

David Stoll  (SEALSONGS, DICK OTTINGTON) has a new song collection for Primary Schools available for download from First & Best. The package also contains a specially written story script for a narrator which weaves all the songs together.

Thus THE CUCKOO ROCK SONGBOOK can be used as a basis for individual songs to be sung in assembly or simply within the class, or it can be a complete production for presentation to parents and the rest of the school – without any need for complex staging, special lighting or any other effects that may or may not be available.

The collection includes twelve settings of poems by Phil Bowen. These magical poems are full of unusual characters, colourful scenes and surprising wordplay; the original book was short-listed for the CLPE prize.

The music has echoes of 60’s rock as well as various contemporary styles. The SONGBOOK includes both printed piano accompaniment and pre-recorded full backing tracks with permissions for use.

You can see an extract from the songbook here http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/primary/CUCKOOROCKsample.pdf and you can hear the backing track here http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/primary/01 cuckoo rock.mp3

A copy of the complete collection of songs and the narrator’s script is available as a download from http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=820

The price is £16.95 plus VAT (the VAT can be reclaimed in most cases by the school).

THE CUCKOO ROCK SONGBOOK is distributed by First and Best in Education, part of the Hamilton House group. If you have any enquiries you can call 01536 399 011, or email sales@firstandbest.co.uk or write to us at First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants NN17 4HH.

The full range of First and Best books can be seen at www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk

An effective approach to enhancing engagement and encouraging participation in lessons and whole-school assemblies

One thing that has proven to be highly effective in enhancing engagement and encouraging participation in lessons and whole-school assemblies is professional storytelling. But there is a problem…

There are not masses of professional storytellers and they are always in high demand due to the many benefits that professional storytelling offers (improved memory, improved concentration, greater skills in communication, etc.). So they often aren’t available for visits at the time required by the school.

Which is why we now offer Storytelling at a Distance – a solution that increases the availability of professional storytellers for times when schools need them the most.

So what is Storytelling at a Distance?

Our work with the Oxford Reading Tree proved that children can engage with recorded storytelling performances. However, these online videos can only ever be one-way and, of course, are limited in their range.

Which is why Storytelling at a Distance has been designed in a slightly different way, using skype-style communication to achieve higher levels of interaction and thus enhanced engagement and participation from pupils with the story and topic area.

You are effectively inviting a professional storyteller into the classroom or assembly hall via electronic means, which also has the additional benefit of no travel costs.

Of course, for this to work the storytellers do not only have to be highly trained in a specialised form of storytelling (i.e. telling stories via camera), but they also need to be fairly technical to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Therefore, we have handpicked two storytellers who are highly competent to undertake Storytelling at a Distance – Chip and Amy!

The Oxford Reading Tree’s Chip and Amy will interact with your children and the chosen story, joining in actions, providing sound effects, and even responding to the storyteller’s questions. You’ll be your storyteller’s eyes, hands, and ears, and an easy-to-follow set of instructions will be sent to you well in advance of your storytelling session.

Storytelling at a Distance costs only £50 for up to 45 minutes with a class or year group, or £90 for a whole-school assembly, making it a highly cost-effective option.

For more information about our Storytelling at a Distance, including available dates and costs, please visit our website. Alternatively, you can call us on 020 328 6245 or email us at stories@snailtales.org.

Why the reproducing of song words and music during Collective Worship requires specific copyright permission.

Many of the songs that are popular in school assemblies are protected by copyright.

Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) is the agency which administers licences on behalf of the vast majority of publishers and copyright owners whose songs are reproduced during Collective Worship in assemblies. CCLI already cover all state-funded schools in England under the Government’s National Licence Scheme.

Collective Worship is not covered by the Schools Printed Music Licence (SPML) currently administered by the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA). Therefore, many independent schools as well as state-funded schools and academies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are unwittingly infringing copyright law when they reproduce or project the words of hymns, worship and assembly songs.

For these schools, CCLI’s Collective Worship licences are the most convenient and cost-effective means of obtaining copyright permission to use the majority of hymns and faith-based songs in assemblies.
For annual licence fees and terms click here.

To find out more and apply for CCLI licences:

Please quote reference AD054 in all correspondence.

You can also find out more about CCLI and the other agencies which provide copyright licences for schools on the copyrightandschools.org website.