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In our assemblies this week Becky from Essex Libraries came to visit and told us about this year’s summer reading challenge. Children shared their reading recommendations for the holiday.
In today’s assembly we learnt about the July 4th UK general election. They happen less often than the Olympics and the World Cup, so it is a BIG deal. We are lucky to live in a democracy where we (well, the adults!) can help choose who is in charge of the country.
First we learnt what all the words we hear during a general election mean.
Then we learnt more about the role of the prime minister.
Finally we learnt about voting.
We agreed to go home and check that our adults have registered to vote, have photo ID and know where their local polling station is!
In our lower school assembly last week, we revisited a recent assembly theme of worrying. We shared the classic book, ‘The Huge Bag of Worries’ and discussed what we could learn from the story. The most important lesson was get your worries out in the open. You’ll realise that you’re not the only one with worries and there is always a trusted adult nearby to listen and help.
In upper school assembly this week we learnt about D-Day because it was the 80th anniversary on June 6th. We also learnt about the important role women played during World War 2 whilst the soldiers were fighting, including nursing and radio communications.
As the years pass, there are less people in our lives that have memories of the war. But we discussed the connections we might have to older generations who came before us. Some of us share a middle name or even a first name with grandparents and great grandparents who were alive during WW2. Our parents and grandparents can pass stories down to us that we can then pass on ourselves. It makes us feel connected to history as well as family.
We had a visit from our friends at Kids Inspire for our Tuesday assemblies this week. Our visitors got us thinking about positive strategies to help us manage our worries. We ALL worry about something sometimes.
When we do, we can…
What do you find helpful when you are worrying about something?
We were getting excited about the 2024 Paris Olympics in assemblies this week.
Did you know…Olympics officials have unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals that will be awarded at this summer’s Olympic games in Paris, and each one contains a unique souvenir: a fragment of scrap iron from the Eiffel Tower!
The Paris 2024 mascots have been revealed! They are based on the red caps worn during the French Revolution and represent freedom. These cute characters hope to encourage people to be inspired by the Olympics and get active themselves!
We watched a video about Paralympian athlete, Beth Munro. She met some children to inspire them to try different sports. Beth competed in netball and javelin before winning her silver Taekwondo medal. We discussed which sports we are excited to watch during the Olympics and which ones we love to take part in, or would like to try.
April 22nd was the 70th annual Earth Day so in assemblies this week we thought about what we can do to look after our world…
For example…
What will you do?
In our upper school assembly today we learnt about the UK’s Covid-19 inquiry, which is trying to help us in the future by learning from the past. But the inquiry won’t just involve talking to politicians and doctors about the decisions made during the pandemic. Many children and young people, from aged 9, will be asked about their experiences back then.
So, in assembly children from Years 4 to 6 shared some of their memories from the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 when the school closed. It was a very difficult time for a lot of people and we talked about the challenges people faced. But we also reflected on some of the positive things that came from that time. We thought back to the things we missed most and realised we’d taken for granted.
What do you remember from that time?