Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon we made our last visit of this school year to Croftlands Infants School.  It was great to see all of the children and they greeted us so well as we arrived.  After singing Great Great Brill Brill I told the Daniel story using some of the children to act out the various parts - Sarah directed them as needed to the correct places as we heard about how Daniel continued to worship God even though some of the officials that he was in charge of tricked the king into making it illegal.  Daniel eventually end up in the lions den but he didn't stay there for long as the next day he was taken out un harmed and those that plotted against him became cat food.  Sarah explained how God had protected Daniel and how he still protects people today.  She linked what she was saying to the words for Wonderful Lord which we sang at the end.  I said a prayer part way through as usual.

Croftlands Junior School

This morning Sarah and I went to do our last assembly of this school year at Croftlands Juniors.  We only had the year 3 and 4 classes in as the rest of the school do swimming.  So to start with we sang Great Great Brill Brill then I went on to tell the story of Daniel.  We selected some children to come and play the various parts.  We had a fun time as the story rolled out and as the actors acted out various bits of it.  Then Sarah explained at the end of the story about how Daniel was a man of God and that he trusted God.  She also explained how God protected Daniel and how he still protects people today.  This led to our second song Wonderful Lord, during which I said a short prayer.

Broughton School

This afternoon we made our last visit of the school year to Broughton School.  It is sad to think that when we go back in September the year 6 children will have left and be at various secondary schools in the area.  To start the assembly we sang Great Great Brill Brill pointing out that the term wicked in the song is street talk.  Then Sarah using the Lion Storyteller Bible told the story of Paul being ship wrecked.  After the story I explained a little about Paul and about how he faced many changes as well as challenges in his life but God was always there to protect him and look after him.  I wanted to encourage the year 6 pupils as they leave and say no matter what they face in the future they should look to God and he will help.  After the talk we sang Wonderful Lord because it talks about God protecting us and looking after us.

Croftlands Juniors Transition Assembly and Leson

Today Sarah and I were joined by Vic and Andre and together we took the assembly at Croftlands Juniors.  The theme was change, we started by singing God Can do Anything then between us we did a short sketch about Paul and the changes he went through as he changed from someone who hated the Christians to someone who spoke to more people about Jesus than anyone else at that time.  The focus was on the fact that he had changed and we can change too.  We sometimes get stuck in the same routine day in and day out like what time we eat, what we wear to the things we like doing.  This was demonstrated during the drama sketch as there was Mr Change who kept on changing his hair to Mrs Same who didn't change anything including her socks.  Paul visited their travel agent shop and told everyone how he had changed, Paul kept coming back to make travel plans as he went on to more and more places.  Following the assembly we did the transition lesson with year 6 which took about an hour.  The children moved around the hall and visited four stations each one looking at a different aspect and potential problem in a new secondary school.  Then at the end we summed up what the lesson was about said a prayer and dismissed the group.

BX OT5 Pennington School

Had a great time this afternoon at Pennington School finishing off the Bible Explorer with the year 5 class.  They all responded well to the lesson and joined in with all the actions.  There was a lot of excitement each time I went to the prop box to get out more props as the children wanted to be part of the story and wear the crowns or the lions head or just to be part of a story.  During the lesson today we cover one of my favourite stories which is Esther.  Once the lesson had finished and everyone did all the hand signs I was able to give out their certificates.

St Peters Ireleth

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters again.  To start we got a lovely welcome from the children as they said good morning to us.  Our first song today was Great Great Brill Brill, we haven't sung it much in recent months but it kind of fitted with what we wanted to talk about in that it says 'He's always there, he always listens when I talk to him...' After the song Sarah read the story of Paul's shipwreck using the Lion Storyteller Bible.  There was a response for the children to say when ever Sarah said ...was Paul worried... the response was... no not at all.  After the story I spoke to the children and explained that the storm that caused the ship to be wrecked had lasted 14 days.  I asked who had been on a boat at sea and asked if they have ever been in a storm.  I told of the time when we were coming back from Ireland when Grace was a baby and the boat ran into a storm, the shop was closed but we could hear all the bottles and jars crashing to the floor and there was people being ill and it was a little frightening.  I also told the children that on the boat there were 276 prisoners which Paul had been told would survive the ship wreck.  It would have been easy to throw them over the side to make the ship a little lighter but instead they throw the cargo, the ships tackle as well as the anchors into the sea and as God had promised to Paul all hands were saved.  I encouraged the children by saying that in life we do go through difficult times and we should do as Paul did and look to God and Jesus to help and protect us if you like through the storms of life.  God is our shield and our protector and he will look after us through whatever we face each day.  This was a cue to a song so I asked who knew what the song was and a hand went up and Wonderful lord was the answer.  During the song I said a prayer.  Then after we closed the assembly.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went to Low Furness School for the assembly.  We decided to do a plug for the Urswick Holiday Club today so we sang one of the more upbeat action songs Great Great Brill Brill Wicked Wicked Skill Skill, point out that the word wicked was street talk.  Then I told the story of Daniel in the Lions Den.  I used children to act out the parts as I recalled the story with a bit of humour which caused the children to laugh.  After the story I then explained that it was just one of the stories that will be told at holiday club this year although I will not be telling it in that particular way.  Sarah also continued to talk about the holiday club before explaining that God was looking after and protecting Daniel during his time in the lions den so to close we sang Wonderful Lord, during which I said a prayer.