New year/ Reaching goals assembly

Transcription

1 Introduction New year/ Reaching goals assembly It s the beginning of a new year, and this assembly - for Key Stages 3 and 4 - aims to inspire your students to think about the next leg of their life journey, and what they hope to achieve. Preparation In preparation you will need to find two or three students with good reading voices who are willing to help. Make sure they have time to practise. If you are going to use microphones, then give your volunteers a run-through with them or they could be surprised or unnerved by the sound of their own amplified voices. Alternate your readers regularly to help maintain the interest of your audience. There is a PowerPoint presentation - Top Ten Tips for the Trip of Your Lifetime - to go with this assembly, so have a practice with it so that you (or whoever is in control of the computer) know how it all works and when to click from slide to slide. You can find the PowerPoint presentation here: Lifetime_PowerPoint_0.ppt Instructions You could have some music playing to set the mood as your students arrive, but not too loudly or your audience will raise their voices to talk over it. Here are some suggestions, sadly all of certain vintage - whatever happened to the Road Trip song? The Long and Winding Road The Beatles He Ain t Heavy He s My Brother The Hollies 1 P a g e

2 Roam The B52s Begin with a game! There are two to choose from, depending on the amount of space you have and how pitiless you are feeling. You could even use both! Maze of Trust For this game you ll need a blindfold (a clean tea-towel is the perfect length), two volunteers and a short obstacle course. Set up the obstacle course at the front of your Assembly Hall before the students arrive. It doesn t have to be complicated - a few chairs to walk around, a bench to step over, a desk to crawl under and so on. You might want to indicate the route that should be taken through it with a chalk line on the floor or - if chalk is no longer available in your school - a line of masking tape. On a chair at the end of the obstacle course, place two small prizes. Most students will do anything for chocolate. At the start of the assembly ask for two volunteers - two people who trust each other - to come up to the front. Explain that one of them will be blindfolded and guided through the short obstacle course by the other who can only give them verbal instructions from the side - Left a bit, right a bit, step over the bench... etc. If they can get through the maze within a certain time limit (say, two minutes) they will be allowed to take away the prizes. Hold up a prize to get an oooh! from the audience. Your pair can either flip a coin to decide who will be blindfolded, or they can decide quickly between themselves. When tying the blindfold, make sure that it is tight enough so that the volunteer cannot see at all - not even down, or they ll just be able to follow the line on the floor. Obviously, don t make it so tight that they can t breathe or so that you ve restricted the flow of any major blood vessels. Position the blindfolded student at the start of the obstacle course and count them down for the beginning of their two minutes. Three... two... one... hang on! Too easy. Spin them round a few times (five should do it) and then face them in completely the wrong direction. Now start them off: Three... two... one... go! And their partner has to guide them as best they can from the sidelines. 2 P a g e

3 If you have lots of room, you could do this as a race between two pairs of students. Whether your volunteers succeed or not, award them with the prizes and get the audience to give them a round of applause as they go to sit down. Or... Dizz-aster Area For this you will need some PE mats, two volunteers, two brooms and a heart of stone. Place a chocolate bar at the back of your assembly hall on a chair (you might want to get a helper to put it there after the students have sat down so that it doesn t disappear). Ask for two volunteers to come up to the front, explaining that they will be rewarded with chocolate if they are strong willed enough. All they have to do is be the first to reach the back of the hall to claim the prize. But there s one thing they have to do before the race begins... They should each stand on a mat, hold a broom out in front of them, arms straight, gripping it just above the brush, so that most of the handle is sticking up in the air. They should fix their eyes on the very top of the handle and, when you give the word, spin around on the spot for ten seconds. You will tell them when they can drop the broom and head for the prize. The first one to reach the chocolate gets to keep it (although they may not feel like eating it immediately). Three... two... one... go! And count down from ten as they spin. When you reach zero, they can head for the chocolate. It is highly likely that they will have fallen over before you reach zero, which is: 1) why they should be standing on mats and; 2) why you need a heart of stone. It is, however, very funny for everyone else watching. Award both volunteers with prizes get the audience to give them a round of applause as they go to sit down. 3 P a g e

4 Whichever game you choose to play, make the point that it can sometimes be very difficult to achieve a goal if you re not sure where you re going or how to get there. This assembly will give your students some tips to help them decide where they are going in life and some ideas of where to get help. Now hand over to your volunteers to read the Assembly Script. Make sure you are ready to show the film and the PowerPoint presentation at the appropriate points! 4 P a g e

5 Film Digest Life is a Journey (1:17) Topic: Ethics and Religion Sub-Topic: Religious Traditions How many new beginnings have you been through? Here is an animated introduction to 'Rites of Passage', thinking about life as a journey and the things that happen along the way. Resources Digital projector (connected to the internet or you will need to download the films beforehand). Microphones (if needed, or available). Two or three volunteers to read the Assembly Script. Enough copies of the Assembly Script for you and for each of your volunteers. Some music to set the mood: The Long and Winding Road The Beatles; He Ain t Heavy He s My Brother The Hollies; Roam The B52s. Prizes for the games most students will do anything for chocolate. Blindfolds for Maze of Trust tea towels are ideal, but make sure they are washed before and after! A small obstacle course for Maze of Trust (chairs, benches, desks) and some chalk or masking tape to mark the route through it. Brooms and PE mats for Dizz-aster Area (speak nicely to your site manager and your PE Department respectively!). The PowerPoint presentation - Top Ten Tips for the Trip of Your Lifetime you can find it here: our_lifetime_powerpoint_0.ppt 5 P a g e

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7 Assembly Script Welcome back! It s a brand new year. So how do you feel? Excited? Glad to be back? Eager to get educated? No? It s a fresh new start, the beginning of the next stage in life s journey. Now is the time to think about what we want to achieve this year, next year, and the years to come. Where will the journey take us? When we talk about our lives, we often describe it as a journey without even thinking about it. How many times have you heard people say things like: I m at a crossroads, I don t know what to do. It s a milestone in my life. I m taking a big step. It s a change in direction for me. I m finding it tough going. Where do you want to be in five years time? When you re on a journey, you re usually heading for somewhere - you have a destination in mind: school, home, your friend s house, your auntie s house, the hotel in Spain or the caravan in Wales. Especially on longer journeys, the scenery will change along the way; there might be different stages to your journey; and you might have problems to deal with. The whole experience might teach you something about yourself that you didn t know before: that you get travel sick at the back of a coach; that you really enjoy seeing new places; or that you hate caravans. Life is much the same. We re all travelling through our lives and most people stop off at similar places along the way: adolescence, getting a job, finding a partner, having children, and so on. But we will all have different ideas about where we want to go and what we want to visit while we re travelling, and each person will take a different route. Some people say that you should live each day as though it s your last, but it s impossible to live like that - you d be exhausted. Life should be about a journey, because it s while we re travelling that we learn more about 7 P a g e

8 ourselves - what we re good at and what we re not, what we like and what we don t, the people who ll help us, and the people who won t. Start the PowerPoint Presentation here with Slide 1 Journeys are important in many cultures as symbols of change in someone s life. Most religions encourage their followers to go on journeys they call pilgrimages. People travel to a place that has a special meaning where they usually perform some sort of worship. Slide 2 Buddhists might go to a place that was visited by the Buddha, for instance Bodh Gaya in India where the Mahabodhi Temple marks the place where the Buddha became enlightened - or to put it another way - where he worked out what he thought was wrong with the world, and what to do about it. Slide 3 Christians have a whole variety of places they can go to on a pilgrimage: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Rome, Lourdes; but in this country many Christians like to go to Walsingham in Norfolk or Canterbury Cathedral in Kent. Slide 4 Hindus also have many places of pilgrimage to choose from, but the most important is the river Ganges which they believe will wash away bad karma which means that they will not have to face punishment for the things they have done wrong. 8 P a g e

9 Slide 5 Muslims go on the Hajj a journey to Makkah in Saudi Arabia where they see the Ka bah, a cube shaped temple that was the first building to be used for the worship of Allah. They also travel out of the city to the Plain of Arafat where they ask for Allah s forgiveness, so they can return home with a clean slate. Slide 6 Jews go to Jerusalem where a huge Temple once stood. It was the centre of Jewish life for hundreds of years until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Only the Western Wall is left standing, but Jews still go there to pray and to feel connected with their history. Slide 7 Sikhism does not have an official pilgrimage, but many Sikhs like to go to Amritsar in India to see the Golden Temple - the first ever Sikh holy building - which houses the original copy of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. Very often the place of pilgrimage isn t the point. The aim of the journey is to learn more about yourself as you travel. Show the film Life is a Journey Then continue with the PowerPoint presentation... Slide 8 So imagine that your life is a journey and you are travelling towards a tower you can see in the distance. The tower can represent anything you want - a dream you want to come true, an ambition you want to fulfil, a goal you want to achieve. It might be passing your GCSEs, training to be a doctor, writing a book - anything. Slide 9 So how are you going to reach that tower? Here are our Top Ten Tips for the Journey of Your Lifetime. 9 P a g e

10 Slide 10 1) Keep the Tower in Sight. So you need somewhere to go on your journey. You might be very clear in your head where it is, and you are determined to reach there as soon as possible; but for many of us, it can be difficult to decide what it is we really want to aim for. But don t worry. It doesn t have to be the goal of your whole life. Your Tower could just be something you want to achieve this year, or even this term. The important thing is to have something to aim for. You might not go straight there, but sometimes a path will take you away from where you want to go, so you need to change direction to make sure the Tower is always in sight. On your journey, you might decide that actually, you don t want to go to the Tower in the distance after all, but that mountain over there instead. But if you hadn t been walking towards the Tower, you would never have seen the mountain in the first place. Whatever it is, make your Tower something you think you ll be able to reach, and make it something definite so that you will know when you have got there. So, a good Tower to head for would be: to pass all my GCSEs because you ll have a certificate to prove you got there. A bad Tower to head for would be to be famous because how will you know when you re famous enough? And what will you be famous for? You don t want to be famous for being the person who accidently caused the end of western civilisation as we know it. Slide 11 2) Start Walking. You are never going to reach the Tower unless you start walking. To get to where you want to be, or to get anywhere at all, you have to get off your backside and walk. In other words: you can t just sit back and expect things to happen to you. If you do, you ll end up being the mercy of other people s decisions all the time, and you ll have absolutely no control over your life. You re not going to get anywhere unless you put some effort in. There are no short cuts on the way to your Tower. Even if you don t have a particular Tower to aim for, you should start walking anyway: Put some effort into the things you are good at or the things 10 P a g e

11 you enjoy, and then eventually you might see a Tower you want to go and climb. If you stay where you are, the view will always stay the same. And don t worry if you get to the top of your Tower really quickly or unexpectedly. You deserve to be there, just enjoy the view and see what else is out there for the next stage of your journey. Slide 12 3) Get Equipped. You shouldn t go on a long journey without the equipment and skills you need to get to the Tower safely. On a real walk you d need a comfy pair of boots and some map-reading skills. Or maybe a satnav. On the journey to your Tower, you ll need to be prepared for whatever happens. So now is the time when you can be learning what you need to know, and equipping yourself with the understanding and skills you ll need to survive. Slide 13 4) Get Directions. Get directions or get a map. But make sure you listen to the correct directions, and read the right map. If people direct you away from your Tower, then they could be the wrong people to listen to. Remember that most people will always talk about themselves, even when they are giving advice. They are thinking about what they would do and what they wouldn t do - and useful though this often is, it might not always be helpful, because they aren t you. Always think carefully about any advice you are given - and that includes this assembly. Is someone saying to you Don t do it, because it s the wrong thing to do or are they really saying, Don t do it, because I wouldn t? Slide 14 5) Get Help Accept a lift when you re tired, because you don t have to do it on your own. When people offer to help, whether that s your parents, teachers, friends or anyone else, it s because they really want to. It can sometimes feel like they re nagging or getting in your way, but all they really want to do is give you a hand. So let them. 11 P a g e

12 Slide 15 6) Read the Signs Don t take stupid risks. If you see a sign that says, Beware of the dog, or a sign that says, Minefield - Do Not Enter, then it s probably a sensible idea to heed the warning. It s good to take a risk occasionally, to get out of your comfort zone, to try a different way of doing things; but if everyone is telling you not to do it, or if there are clear warnings that it wouldn t be a very good idea, then listen. No one puts up warning signs unless there is a real danger. Slide 16 7) Get Lost Sometimes you will get lost. You ll lose sight of your Tower and have absolutely no idea what you are doing or why you are doing it. And that s okay. Everyone gets lost occasionally. Even if you take a wrong turning, you can usually find your way back to the path, and - who knows? - you might see something interesting on the way. And sometimes the wrong turning takes you in a completely different direction and you see a new, taller, better Tower that you d rather be heading towards. Slide 17 8) Be Kind Be kind to the people you meet along the way. You ll enjoy yourself more, you ll get more help, and you ll have more people to travel with if you want to. Never think that you can treat people badly because you re only passing through and you re never coming back. It s usually at that point that you realise you ve made a wrong turning and have to re-trace your steps. Slide 18 9) Explore Explore! If your Tower is a long way off in the distance, you don t have to go straight for it. There might be other things you want to see along the way, and it s sometimes nice to take the long way round to make the journey more fun. But always remember where you are going and keep the Tower in sight. The journey will help you to decide who you are and what you really want. 12 P a g e

13 Slide 19 10) Enjoy the Journey Enjoy the journey. You might only be in one place for a very short time, so make the most of it. The Tower is the goal and it s great to get there, but there s a lot to enjoy on the way as well. Leave the places you visit more interesting and happier for having been there. Slide 20 An ancient Chinese proverb says... A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step....so take the first step to get where you want to go. 13 P a g e