Ideas for Inclusive Assemblies

 

Humanists endorse the educational value of school assemblies and their role in supporting shared values and the school community and ethos, but think that worship and prayers are inappropriate in situations where there is no shared religious faith. School assemblies can and should include the whole school community. Many teachers share this view and, while they do not wish to lead worship, would be happy to contribute to assemblies which inspired their pupils to lead good lives or to think deeply about moral issues. This briefing is intended to help them. Assemblies that build on the common ground of our humanity can have an important role to play in inclusive Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development and education for Citizenship. 

Contents 

General points including some information about the law, and some general advice 
Some ideas for inclusive topics and themes 
Recommended reading and resources,  for teachers, for secondary assemblies and for primary assemblies 
Days to remember - a list of dates which make useful pegs for assemblies

Some General Points 

The legal requirement 
The legal requirement for "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character" is open to interpretation. It certainly means that a substantial minority (up to 49%) need not be Christian at all, and the others can be "broadly Christian" - which entails relating to the traditions of Christian belief and according a special status to Jesus Christ ( Circular 1/94) . This too is interpretable, but humanist teachers might prefer to concentrate their efforts on the 49% that do not have to be Christian. 

Ofsted (in England) and Estyn (in Wales ) 
Ofsted (in England) and Estyn (in Wales) offer guidance to inspectors that leans heavily on Circular1/94 and defines both "Christian" and "worship" fairly narrowly, though both acknowledge that "worship may not be judged to fulfil statutory requirements but could still be observed to make a powerful contribution to spiritual, moral , social and cultural development" ( Ofsted notes on inspecting collective worship, 1995, and Estyn guidance,  2000). There is much in Ofsted andEstyn guidance that humanist teachers would endorse, though humanists would substitute "assembly" where they use "collective worship": there should be opportunities for pupils to "learn about and explore different values, beliefs and views, to develop and express their own" (Ofsted, 1995); collective worship "encourages pupils to explore questions about meaning and purpose, values and beliefs" (Of sted, 1995) and should "challenge and enrich their experience" and "contain clear messages which are both relevant and meaningful" (E styn,  2000). "Collective worship develops community spirit, promotes a common ethos and shared values, and reinforces positive attitudes (Es tyn, 2 000). 

Praying 
Praying should always be voluntary - a short silence, in which pupils can reflect on the theme, or pray if they wish, is recommended by many writers of assembly material, some SACREs, and the BHA. A voluntary prayer can fulfil some of your "worship" obligations - but you need to work out an effective and inclusive way (not "Amen") to end the silence and finish the assembly in a strong and positive manner. 

Planning 
Planning: Year and KS assemblies are lawful and enable better targeted material. Hymns are not obligatory, and there are many good substitutes if you still want music in an assembly (see theMusic section below). If you want pupils to remember what you say, it is worth getting notices out of the way first or delivering them in another way. 

Topics and Themes

"The themes of assembly are the great human themes: courage, achievement, love, compassion, wonder, imagination, joy, tragedy, hope, responsibility, humanitarian endeavour, and the mystery of existence. Its resources are human greatness, the commemoration of great lives, great events, great achievements - as well as the struggles and hopes and opportunities of contemporary women and men. The assembly should be attractive, positive, encouraging and inspiring." 
Dr James Hemming, educational psychologist and BHA Vice-President.

Few borrowed assemblies are as good as those produced by teachers themselves, based on their own interests and enthusiasms, written for a particular audience or occasion. Students tend to listen more attentively to this sort of presentation, and know when they are being "palmed off" with something second-hand. For this reason, we confine ourselves to a few suggestions rather than scripts - many of these will be obvious to experienced teachers.

• Art and music can contribute to the spiritual dimension and demonstrate human creativity and the ability to share with and inspire others. Just to look or listen with an introduction from an enthusiast can be enough (but the practicalities of slide projectors and sound systems can be a nuisance!).
• The natural world is an excellent theme - its wonder, interdependence and co-operation. Pictures or objects (e g fossils) can provoke awe and wonder - or just look out of the window or listen to natural sounds outside.
• Poetry and prose - fiction and non-fiction - your favourites. Or ask the English department for ideas for particular themes.
• Anecdotes from your own experience, especially your school days, can be enthralling for pupils, who benefit from reminders that teachers have lives outside school and were once young. But make sure you have a point to make!
• The daily news can be a rich source of assembly themes. Good news about human achievements can inspire students. Events can stimulate moral questions and raise issues of rights and responsibilities. If you do need a last-minute theme, take the front page of a daily paper, choose a story from it, outline the facts, read extracts, and highlight some moral questions, or extrapolate from the issues involved to wonder what will have changed in, say, 20 years'  time when pupils will have adult responsibilities.
• Shared human values - see the National Curriculum Appendix Statement of Values for a summary of the commonly agreed values.
• What sort of person do you want to be? Kind / unkind? Trustworthy and respected / dishonest and disliked ?… What would you like to be remembered for towards the end of your life?
• Pupils can lead excellent assemblies. Each set of pupils due to lead one will need a teacher to brief them, be available for guidance and rehearsals, and be there on the day to support them.
• Visitors can be refreshing, but need to be well briefed, and should be vetted for suitability - usually a role for the head. You may have heard reports of evangelical drama groups and bands visiting schools; the BHA is strongly opposed to this.
• Days to remember: There are plenty of non-religious events to mark in assemblies. The anniversaries of famous people's births or deaths, or of historical events, can be used to introduce inspirational stories or figures who otherwise would remain unknown to your pupils. You can use birthdays, yours or someone else's , or the school's , to reflect on new beginnings, time passing, or ageing. Many Christian festivals adopted earlier pagan or seasonal events, and many non-religious or non-Christian people have adopted Christian festivals, and this can be interesting to explore in assemblies. Astronomical events such as eclipses and comets, and natural events such as volcanoes, can inspire awe and wonder, both at the size and power of nature and at our growing understanding of natural phenomena. And almost every day of the year has been adopted by a charity or pressure group which would be only too glad to provide information about themselves. A few suggestions for each school term can be found on the final page. You can find biographical information about the people mentioned on the internet or in a good encyclopaedia, and information about some (marked "BHA") can be obtained from the BHA or on this website. Some dates are moveable, so check every year.

Further Reading and Resources 

For teachers : 

Collective worship - a statement of the current legal position and your rights. 

Spiritual Development in Schools - a briefing for teachers 

Statement of Shared Values, Appendix to the National Curriculum

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers publishes its own guidance, Collective Worship: Policy and Practice (March 1995). 

Some SACREs, notably Hampshire and Suffolk, have published very useful guidance on inclusive assemblies. 

School resources on Citizenship and PSHE can be very useful. See for example the Citizenship Foundation's Good Thinking series (published by Evans Education). 

Space for Reflection (RE Today / CEM) Although this resource has a Christian perspective, there is much good advice on assemblies, with topics and ideas for readings, music and reflection that a humanist could happily borrow; for example on friendship, trust, families, death. Updated annually. The 2003 edition included 3 humanist assemblies for primary schools, now also on our website. 

For secondary assemblies: 

Maureen Harrison Time to Think (Collins Educational) A4 photocopiable sheets, a mixed bag of items though some a humanist could use with a clear conscience. Uses silence and reflection (with occasional invitations to pray "if you wish") throughout instead of prayer - a good thing for the humanist teacher and endorsed in an introduction by the former Archbishop of York. 

The Secondary Assembly File ( pfp ) - A4 photocopiable - available by subscription here and updated annually - another mixed bag but some useful ideas. Often involving student participation, mostly non-religious (though refers to "the created world" in an otherwise mostly non-religious section). Uses reflection as a response to the readings rather than prayer. 

Humanist "Thoughts for the Day" - sample talks and assemblies.  

E d Margaret Knight, revised by Jim Herrick The Humanist Anthology (RPA) 
Insights from some of the world's great thinkers, from Confucius to the present day, an excellent source of quotations and inspirational readings for the humanist.  

Thinkers Guide to Life , edited by Marilyn Mason (RPA) - brief quotations from great thinkers, arranged thematically. Useful "thoughts for the day". 

Seasons of Life , compiled by Nigel Collins (RPA) - prose and poetry reflections on life, time passing, nature, ideals, love, marriage, children, death. Good for reading aloud. 

For primary assemblies: 

Curriculum materials to develop children's social, emotional and behavioural skills, launched by the DfES early in 2005, include some good inclusive assemblies, here . 

Aesop's Fables, folk and fairy tales, and popular children's stories often contain moral ideas that can be drawn out - on fairness, justice, kindness, mutual respect. Even familiar stories can be given a fresh angle with appropriate questions or comments. 

Robert Fisher Stories for Thinking (Nash Pollock ISBN 1 898 255 09 1) - 30 multi-cultural stories for 7-11 year olds with discussion plans and thinking activities and a useful chap ter for teachers introducing the idea of philosophy for children. Varied and interesting stories with some excellent discussion questions on topics such as happiness, anger, beauty, personal identity. Also by Robert Fisher and worth looking at: Poems for Thinking ; Games for Thinking; Pictures for Thinking . 

The Primary Assembly File ( pfp ) - A4 photocopiable - available by subscription here and updated annually - another mixed bag but some useful ideas. Often involving student participation, mostly non-religious (though some references to "the created world" in an otherwise mostly non-religious section). Uses reflection as a response to the readings rather than prayer. 

Margaret Goldthorpe and Lucy Nutt Assemblies to teach Golden Rules (Learning Development Aids, ISBN 1 85503 310 0) - these assemblies convey an inclusive and universal morality in a lively, positive and involving way, through story, anecdote, activity and pupil participation (some demanding a bit of preparation). Rules / topics are: Look after property; Be kind and helpful; Listen; Be gentle; Be honest; Work hard. Each rule is returned to several times in a variety of guises and every assembly ends with a "thought for the day" or an optional prayer. Bible references are given, but are optional too. 

The Green Umbrella (WWF & A & C Black) - starting points for environmental assemblies. 

There are some good ideas for inclusive assemblies aimed at helping pupils' social and emotional development at this DfES website:http://www.bandapilot.org.uk/pages/seal/ws_assembly.html 

3 humanist assemblies for primary schools. 

Music resources: 

The tinderbox assembly book (A & C Black) - Personal, social and environmental issues for assemblies, with a companion songbook: Tinderbox. 

Sing a silver lining (A & C Black, various editions: music, melody, classroom with CD, teachers 'book) - 16 cheerful, optimistic songs for primary children, very suitable for non-religious assemblies, some familiar, some new, about friendship, happiness, and celebration of the good things in life - a much more inspiring and inclusive start to the day than hymns! 

Days to Remember 

Spring Term 

January

Chinese New Year ( www.new-year.co.uk/chinese )
National Storytelling Week at the end of the month

1st New Year
8th Death of Galileo
9th Simone de Beauvoir's birthday
12th Martin Luther King's birthday
17th Benjamin Franklin's birthday
19th James Watt's birthday
Auguste Comte’s birthday
22nd Francis Bacon's (philosopher and scientist) birthday
25th Burns Night (Scotland)
29th  Thomas Paine's birthday

February

Mardi Gras - Pancake Day
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch www.rspb.org.uk

2nd Death of Bertrand Russell
8th Ruskin's birthday
11th Nelson Mandela released from prison, 1990
12th Charles Darwin's birthday
Death of Immanuel Kant
14th Death of Julian Huxley
15th Jeremy Bentham's birthday
Galileo's birthday
16th Giordano Bruno burned as a heretic
22nd Birthday of Francis Bacon, scientist and philosopher

March

Mothering Sunday 
British Summertime begins 
UN day against racism 
World Book Day ( www.worldbookday.com ) National Science and Engineering Week ( www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/NSEW/ )

3rd William Godwin's birthday
7th Wordsworth's birthday
8th International Women's Day
9th Commonwealth Day
14th Death of Karl Marx
Albert Einstein's birthday
21st Spring Equinox
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
22nd World Water Day
25th Shelley expelled from Oxford University for publishing The Necessity of Atheism
31st Birth of Descartes

April

Freedom Day ( South Africa )

7th World Health Day
11th Death of Primo Levi
12th Galileo imprisoned by the Inquisition, 1633
13th Thomas Jefferson's birthday
15th Death of Sartre
16th Death of Simone de Beauvoir
18th Death of Einstein
19th Death of Charles Darwin
22nd Immanuel Kant's birthday 
World Day for Water
23rd Death of Wordsworth 
Shakespeare's birthday
24th World Day for Laboratory Animals
26th Birthday of Marcus Aurelius 
Birthday of Leonardo da Vinci
27th Mary Wollstoncraft's birthday

May

First Sunday
International Dawn Chorus Day http://www.wildsong.co.uk/dawnchorus1.html

1st May Day / International Labour Day
3rd World Press Freedom Day
4th T H Huxley's birthday 5th Karl Marx ' s birthday
NSPCC Children’s Day
7th Sigmund Freud's birthday
David Hume's birthday
8th International Red Cross and Crescent Day
Death of John Stuart Mill
9th Europe Day
14th World Fair Trade Day www.fairtrade.org.uk
15th Intern ational Conscientious Objectors ' Day
Intern ational Day of Families
18th Bertrand Russell's birthday
mid-May Be Nice to Nettles Week www.workingwithwildlife.co.uk and www.nettles.org.uk
20th John Stuart Mill's birthday
21st Thomas Paine's Rights of Man banned, 1792
28th Anniversary of the founding of Amnesty Internationa l
30th Death of Voltaire

June

Father's Day
Dragon Boat Festival (Chinese)

First week Green Week – see www.yptenc.org.uk for ideas for making your school greener
2nd Thomas Hardy's Birthday
5th World Environment Day
6th Death of Jeremy Bentham
11th World Population Day
12th Anne Frank Day
World Day Against Child Labour – see www.ilo.org for information about childlabour and children’s rights, or www.unicef.org or www.endchildexploitation.org.uk
mid-June International Refugee Day and Refugee Week www.refugeeweek.org.uk
21st Longest Day - Midsummer
Intern ational Humanist Day
Jean-Paul Sartre's birthday
22nd Galileo condemned, 1633
Death of Julian Huxley
25th George Orwell's birthday
27th Death of A. J. Ayer
28th Rousseau's birthday

July

4th Independence Day, USA
8th Shelley drowned at sea
10th Anniversary of the Scopes trial in 2005 - more about it here.
11th World Population Day
14th Emmeline Pankhurst's birthday
18th Nelson Mandela's birthday
21st Death of Robert G Ingersoll 
27th  Anniversary of the excommunication of Spinoza (350th in 2006)


Autumn Term

September

UN International Day of Peace
World Maritime Day

8th International Literacy Day
10th Death of Mary Wollstonecraft
11th - 19th Red Squirrel Week. See www.wildlifetrust.org.uk.
11th World Trade Centre , New York , destroyed, 2001 13th Death of Montaigne
15th Battle of Britain Day
21st H G Wells' birthday
21st-23rd Autumn Equinox.
See www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/weather/autumnal_equinox.shtml 
28th Confucius' birthday, 551BCE

October

Harvest
National Poetry Day
End of British Summer Time
World Habitat Day
Columbus Day (USA)
The People ' s Charter 1839 demands the vote for adult males
Inside Justice Week

2nd World Farm Animals' Day
5th International Teachers' Day
10th Women’s suffrage movement founded, 1903
14th Death of Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek  
17th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
21st Trafalgar Day
24th United Nations Day
29th Make a Difference Day http://www.csv.org.uk/difference
31st Keats ' birthday

November

Thanksgiving Day (USA) - last Thurday in November www.holidays.net/thanksgiving
International Buy Nothing Day www.buynothingday.co.uk
Road Safety Week

2nd Anniversary of the founding of the Samaritans
3rd Death of Harriet Taylor Mill
4th UNESCO Day
5th Guy Fawkes' Night
9th Fall of Berlin Wall, 1989
11th or nearest Sunday
Remembrance Day
14th Jawarhalal Nehru's birthday
16th International Day for Tolerance
18th Pierre Bayle's birthday
20th Universal Children's  Day (UNICEF)
21st Voltaire's birthday
World Television Day
UNESCO Philosophy Day
22nd George Eliot's birthday
24th Evolution Day - anniversary of the publication of Darwin' s The Origin of Species
28th Friedrich Engels' birthday

December

World Aids Day  www.worldaidsday.org

1st Rosa Parks arrested for challenging segregation on Alabama buses, 1955 http://www.rosaparks.org
2nd International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
4th Death of Hobbes
5th Internataional Volunteer Day
10th Human Rights Day
12th Erasmus Darwin ' s birthday
17th Beethoven ' s birthday
22nd Shortest Day

 

See also 

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/gc/calendar/ 

Humanist "Thoughts for the Day" for some sample talks and assemblies 
http://www.secularseasons.org/ 

http://www.unicef.org.uk/tz/resources/taster.asp?gclid=CM-KgeXe5ZYCFQuJ1QodwyRrPQ

http://www.teachingexpertise.com/social-emotional-aspects-learning

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/category.htm?7

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/global_citizenship/assembly_ideas/