Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went to Low Furness School.  The theme given to us for the assembly was Going for Goals.  So after singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord I displayed on the screen the initials of a few famous sports people we had AM  Andy Murray, WR - Wayne Rooney, MF - Mo Farah and LM - Lewis Hamilton.  The point was that each of these people had worked at their sport and achieved a lot in it - but that only comes by setting a goal and aiming to reach it, and if they didn't get there doing it again and again until they did.  So through practice and persistence they kept on going.  I then displayed two more sets of initials RtB and StP.  After asking the children who they thought these people were I told them RtB - Robert the Bruce, Sarah then told the children a bit about his life before recalling the story of Robert watching the spider try and try again to build a web.  He was down at heart having been beaten by the English army but after watching the spider fail 6 times to start to build a web and then on the 7th time succeed he decided to go back and reclaim the crown of Scotland which he did.  The other set of initials I told the children was a bible character, StP we had St Peter but it was in fact St Paul.  I then quickly told part of his story, how he was ship wrecked, beaten up, travelled far and wide and then beaten and put in prison only to be released the next day.  Yet during all of this he continued to tell people about Jesus.  He then wrote in his letter to the Philippians (in whose town he had been in prison) this - Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal.  Philippians 3:13-14.  After this Sarah encouraged the children to do their best in whatever they are doing.  We sang Wonderful Lord to finish and in the middle Sarah said the prayer.

Vicarage Park

This morning Sarah and I went over to Vicarage Park School in Kendal.  It was our first visit of 2015 and we changed our assembly idea a little from the one we have been doing with all the other schools in January.  We didn't focus so much on the fresh start idea but more on the change.  So after singing Be Happy Sarah introduced the theme and then I retold the Zacchaeus story displaying pictures at various points in the story.  I also explained what a tax collector was and why we pay tax today.  Following the story Sarah encouraged the children to think about something they would like to change during 2015.  We then sang God can do Anything and Sarah closed with a prayer.

Croftlands Juniors

Following our assembly at the infants we cross the car park to the juniors.  We started the assembly by singing Be Happy then Sarah went on to talk about what people do after Christmas when they make new year resolutions linking it to making a change or a fresh start and displaying the 4 pictures of things starting off.  I then retold the Zacchaeus story and focused in on the fact that he wanted to change in after meeting with Jesus did make a change and started again.  Sarah encouraged the children to think about something they might like to change and during this year try to make that change.  We then sang God Can Do Anything followed by a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

This morning Sarah and I went along to Croftlands Infants School.  It was great to see all the children again and we had such a warm welcome from them.  Sarah started off the assembly by asking if the children had had a good Christmas and started to talk a little bit about things that people do at new year when they make new years resolutions.  The children had already heard the talk about fresh start that we have been doing for assemblies this month so Sarah handed over to me to tell the story.  She introduced it as a story about a man that wanted to change.  As we couldn't display the pictures for the story I asked the children to help me.  So I got the older and taller children to be the crowd in Jericho waiting to see Jesus and a younger (smaller) child to be Zacchaeus.  As he stood at the back of the children he couldn't see over them at all and in fact the rest of the school couldn't see him.  The children cheered as I told the part of the story of Jesus entering the town and I moved the little boy towards a teacher who play a very good tree part.  The story continued as I explained why people didn't like Zacchaeus because he collected taxes.  The crowd talked to each other about Jesus going to Zacchaeus's house for tea.  Then when he met Jesus he decided to change and now the crowd cheered and were all happy.  I made the point that he had decided to change and make a fresh start.  Sarah then continued by encouraging the children to think about something they might like to change this year.  To close we sang Go Can Do Anything before Sarah said a prayer.

Church Walk School

This morning Sarah and I went to Church Walk School for our first visit of 2015.  It was great to see all the children again.  To start the assembly Sarah wished everyone a happy new year and that they had had a good Christmas.  She then introduced the song Be Happy.  Following the song she discussed 4 pictures that we displayed on the screen.  They were all pictures related to things starting off - a wedding, a plane on take off, a race and a book about the first day of school.  She explained that at the start of a new year people very often make changes to  something and they call them new year resolutions.  She then introduced the story which was Zacchaeus which I then told.  Following the story Sarah encouraged the children to think about something they might like to change this year and she gave a few suggestions.  After this we sang God can do Anything followed by a prayer.

Flookburgh School

This morning I went down to Flookburgh School due to the weather Sarah stayed home again today.  The children were pleased to see me again and I had offers of help from the children as I was setting up.  I started with Be Happy but first went through the actions to help the children during the song.  I then displayed the 4 pictures we have been using all week to show the start of something.  After I displayed them I did ask what the common link was and the word -Start did come out.  I explained that people decide at the start of a new year to perhaps change something or to have a fresh start about something.  I then displayed some more pictures as I retold the Zacchaeus story.  I explained at the end that Zacchaeus decided to change something about his life and make a fresh start.  I then encouraged the children to think about that and decide what they might like to change.  We then sang God Can Do Anything and I closed with a prayer.

Leven Valley School

On Thursday morning after Our Lady's School I went along to Leven Valley school to do the first assembly of the new year.  After talking with the children a bit about Christmas we sang Be Happy.  I then displayed the 4 pictures of things that are just starting a race, a plane take off, a wedding and first day at school.  I asked some of the older children what the link was between the pictures the answer came back they are at the start of something.  I explained that at the start of a new year many people decide to start something new or to change something about themselves.  This led to me telling the Zacchaeus story and explained that he wanted to change his life.  I then encouraged the children to perhaps think of something they wanted to change or something they wanted to start even in 2015.  We finished by singing God Can Do Anything followed by a prayer.

Our Lady's School

On Thursday morning I went along to Our Lady's school by myself as the wind was very strong and the rain was driving and Sarah didn't fancy getting blown about and wet.  It was our first visit for a couple of months so it was good to see the children again.  After saying hello and happy new year etc we sang Be Happy.  I then displayed 4 pictures and asked if anyone could tell what the common theme was.  The pictures all showed things starting a race, a plane on take off, a wedding and a book about the first day at school.  I explained that at this time of year many people make a new years resolution and decide to change something about themselves and in a way make a fresh start.  I then told a story from Luke about a man who wanted such a fresh start that he wanted to see Jesus and couldn't so he climbed a tree - it was the story of Zacchaeus.  Following the story I encouraged the children to think about something they might like to change in the life - it could even been a time to start a new hobby or sport or something.  We then sang God Can Do Anything and I closed with a prayer.

Broughton School

I went along to Broughton school this morning to take the assembly.  So after saying hello and wishing the children a happy new year we started the assembly with Be Happy.  I then displayed 4 pictures of things that are about to start, a plane, a wedding, first day at school and a race.  I reminded the children that at the start of a new year many people decide to do a new year resolution which involves them changing something in their lives.  I then told the Zacchaeus story and explained that he changed his life after meeting with Jesus.  I then encouraged the children to perhaps ting about something they might like to change this year or about something they might like to start doing like a hobby or joining a new club. To close we sang God Can Do Anything and then I said a prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I went to St Peters school for the first assembly of 2015.  It was great to see all the children there and to chat to some of them about what they got for Christmas.  After singing Be Happy Sarah talked about the start of the new year and displayed some pictures, the pictures showed things that were starting, like a plane taking off, a wedding, a book about the first day of school and a race starting.  She explained that at the start of a new year many people decide to do something differently either they change something or they start something new.  This led to me telling the story of Zacchaeus and about how he changed his life following meeting with Jesus.  Sarah then encouraged the children to perhaps thing about something they might like to change this year.  We then sang God Can Do Anything and Sarah closed with a prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon Sarah and I went over to see the children at Crosthwaite School.  It was our first visit of the New Year.  We began the assembly with Be Happy then Sarah displayed 4 pictures which all showed something starting, a race, a plane taking off, a wedding and a book about the first day at school.  She explained that at the beginning of a new year people often start on a new project or decide to change something and we call them resolutions.  This led to me telling the story of Zacchaeus, following the story Sarah summed up what I had said and encouraged the children to perhaps start something new or change something in the lives.  Following this we sang God Can Do Anything and Sarah closed with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning we went along to Low Furness School for the first of our assemblies of 2015.  We decided to do the Fresh Start assembly that we have been doing however some of the pictures we displayed the children had already seen last week in another assembly (used same website) but we had added to our assembly the story of Zacchaeus.  So after Sarah had done the intro bit to the assembly I told the story, then Sarah concluded the assembly with a challenge to the children to start something new or to make a fresh start at something this year.  We sang Be Happy at the start of the assembly and God Can do Anything at the end.  Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

Pennington School

This afternoon Sarah and I went to Pennington School for the first assembly of 2015.  It did seem a little different as the assembly time has shifted from morning to afternoon.  Sarah started the assembly by saying happy new year before we sang Be Happy.  She then went on to show 4 pictures of different things and asked what was common to them.  there was a plane on take off, a wedding, a book called the first day of school and the start of a race, the common thing was starting.  This led to her talking about new year and how some people decide to make a new year's resolution and decide to change something or start something new.  She then introduced the story I was going to tell which was all about a man that had done things wrong but then changed - Zacchaeus.  Sarah then encouraged the children to do something new or make a change, right a wrong at the start of this new year.  To finish we sang God Can Do Anything and Sarah closed with a prayer.

Penny Bridge School

This morning Sarah and I did the first assembly of 2015.  We went down to Penny Bridge School.  After wishing the children a Happy New Year we sang Be Happy.  Then I started to talk about what people do at the start of a new year, to help explain this I displayed 4 pictures, one was a plane taking off, a wedding, a book about the first day at school and runners at the start of a race.  I asked the children what the common theme was in these pictures.  The answer came back they were all the start of something - which was the answer I was wanting.  I went on to say that many people decide at the start of the year to perhaps change something like what they eat, make up with people they have fallen out with etc.  This led to Sarah telling the story of Zacchaeus while I displayed pictures from the story.  After the story I encouraged the children to perhaps think of something they might like to change or something they perhaps might like to start like a new club, sport or hobby.  After this we sang God Can Do Anything reminding us what God can do.  Sarah then closed with a prayer.

St Peters

On Wednesday 17th December we did our final assembly of 2014.  We took a pass the parcel with us and played some Christmas music and got a child from each year group to play it.  Each layer that was on the parcel had a meaning, the first layer was Christmas paper to celebrate Christmas, the next one was birthday paper because it is a birthday, the next layer was new born baby paper to remind us hat it was a baby boy - Jesus that was born at Christmas time, the next layer was silver and sparkly to remind us that the angels announced the birth and that the wise men followed the star to find the baby, the next layer was brown paper to remind us that Jesus was born into humble circumstances in a stable, the last layer was newspaper to remind us that the birth of Jesus is good news.  The present at the end was a box of celebrations which we then shared with the children.  We also sang Rejoice with us this Christmas.

Crosthwaite School

On Tuesday 16th December Sarah and I went over to Crosthwaite school to do our Christmas assembly.

Low Furness School

On Tuesday 16th December we did our final assembly of 2014 at the school.  We took a pass the parcel with us and played some Christmas music and got a child from each year group to play it.  Each layer that was on the parcel had a meaning, the first layer was Christmas paper to celebrate Christmas, the next one was birthday paper because it is a birthday, the next layer was new born baby paper to remind us hat it was a baby boy - Jesus that was born at Christmas time, the next layer was silver and sparkly to remind us that the angels announced the birth and that the wise men followed the star to find the baby, the next layer was brown paper to remind us that Jesus was born into humble circumstances in a stable, the last layer was newspaper to remind us that the birth of Jesus is good news.  The present at the end was a box of celebrations which we then shared with the children.  We also sang Rejoice with us this Christmas.

Penny Bridge School

On Monday 15th December Sarah and I went down to Penny Bridge School to do our Christmas assembly for the children.  As with all the schools this year we did the John Lewis advert assembly and followed it by showing the greatest gift we can all have.

Flookburgh School

We did our Christmas assembly at Flookburgh school on Friday 12th December.  The children and staff were all dressed in their Christmas jumpers and looked great.