Church Walk Primary School

Yesterday Sarah and I went to Church Walk School for the assembly.  It was great to see the children again and we told them that it makes us feel happy whenever we see them.  This led to singing Be Happy.  After this we played a bit of a game with the children as I acted out the name of one of the Mr Men they had to guess who I was.  This was just a lead into talking about how we can sometimes be happy, sad, shy etc.  I then told the story of Jesus going to a party hosted by a rich man, Jesus aske the man if next time would he consider inviting all the poor people from around the town - the man said no way as then he won't get invited back to their parties as they couldn't afford to throw a party.  Jesus reminded him that if he did that he would be pleasing them but also pleasing God as he would show such kindness to those that could even have a party.  Sarah encouraged the children to think of ways that they could change someone who was sad into a happy person - it could be a simple as a smile.  She reminded them that we all have it within us to make people happy so we should Shine from the Inside Out.  Cue for a song.  After the song we did a plug for the holiday club at Croftlands Community Church which is Polar Explorers.  Sarah close the assembly with a prayer.

Broughton School

This morning I went over the hill to Broughton School, it was a beautiful view as I travelled over to see the children.  As I started the assembly I shared this with the children and about how it makes me happy.  This idea of being happy linked to the first song Be Happy.  After the song I displayed a load of Mr Men pictures and talked a little about them before acting out the name of some of them for the children to try and guess who I was - they got them all.  I ended with Mr Happy and then talked a little about other emotions like being sad or shy as well as happy.  I then retold a story from Matthew 14 of Jesus going to a party and how he asked the host if next time he had a party would he consider asking all the poor people to come along instead of all his posh rich friends.  The man asked WHY? because Jesus said when you do that you show true love and kindness.  This was the main point of the assembly how to turn sad people to happy by showing them some kindness because when we do we Shine from the inside out.  After the song I closed with a prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I went to St Peters School for the assembly.  It was great to see all the children again after the half term holiday.  Sarah said it made her feel happy to see the children - this linked to our first song Be Happy.  After the song we introduced the theme of kindness and I displayed a collection of Mr Men pictures.  I then acted out a few of them and Sarah asked the children to guess which one I was.  Sarah then talked briefly about some of the emotions we have as I displayed a few photographs of children that were shy, sad, happy, excited etc.  I then told the story of Jesus going to a party and telling the host that the wrong people were there.  He had invited all the types of people that could have invited him back for a party, but Jesus said next time he should invite all the people that are poor and would never be able to invite him back because then he would be showing true kindness and love to them.  Sarah then said that we should look at what we can do to help maybe a sad person become happy by being kind to them in some way.  Showing kindness to others allows us to shine out what is inside us to others, everyone of us is capable of showing kindness to each other.  We then sang Shine and I closed the assembly with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon I went over to Crosthwaite School to do the assembly.  As I pulled up the children playing in the playground gave me such a wonderful welcome it made me feel really happy.  I mentioned this in the assembly before we sang Be Happy.  Following the song I acted out some of the Mr Men names for the children to see if they knew who they were ending with - Mr Happy.  I then displayed a few pictures of people showing different emotions but again ending with happy.  The idea was to explain how they could change someone's emotion from sad to happy.  I then told the story of Jesus going to a party from Matthew 14 -  Jesus had been invited to a party and told the person that the party had the wrong people there, the man was confused and asked why.  Jesus replied that only rich people had been invited to the party and that the man only invited them because in turn he would be invited back.  Jesus told the man that he should invite the poor people next time, people who would not normally get invites to parties this way he can show true kindness.  I reminded the children that each and every one of us has the ability to turn a sad person into a happy person by showing them some kindness and when we do that we Shine from the inside out - cue song.  After the song I closed the assembly with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I did the assembly at Low Furness School the theme was kindness.  Following a song - Be Happy Sarah introduced the idea of kindness and did so with Mr Men while I acted out a character the children try to guess who I was.  We aimed to get to Mr Happy.  Then we looked at some pictures of people with sad, excited, happy faces and talked about how we can perhaps change someone who is sad into someone who is happy.  I then told a story from Matthew 14.  Jesus had been invited to a party and told the person that the party had the wrong people there, the man was confused and asked why.  Jesus replied that only rich people had been invited to the party and that the man only invited them because in turn he would be invited back.  Jesus told the man that he should invite the poor people next time, people who would not normally get invites to parties this way he can show true kindness.  Sarah reminded the children that each and every one of us has the ability to turn a sad person into a happy person by showing them some kindness and when we do that we Shine from the inside out - cue song.  After the song Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

Pennington School

This afternoon I went along to Pennington School for the assembly.  Following the song So Many Ways to Praise the Lord I displayed a number of optical illusions.  I had explained that sometimes we see something while someone else sees something different hence optical illusions.  The children looked for black dots that weren't there and lines that looked as if they would meet but couldn't or a 4,5,6 or 7 legged elephant and tried to work out if they could see an old women or a young lady or even both!  This all led to the telling or retelling of the story about Samuel following God's instruction anointing David to be King.  As the 7 older brothers of David had stood before Samuel he looked at the outside while God looked deep down inside them into their heart.  All 7 looked like kings but God said no to each one then young David stood there and God said yes! he's the one he loves me, he trusts me and he follows me.  David became the greatest King Israel had ever had.  The lesson was simple man looks on the outside while God can looks on the inside.  We should shine out  from the inside out.  Cue for a final song Shine following the song I said a prayer.

Penny Bridge School

This morning Sarah and I went to Penny Bridge School for the assembly.  It was great to see all the children again and to feel such a warm welcome from the staff too.  After singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord we displayed a series of optical illusions and asked the children what they saw, Sarah had opened the assembly by talking about how sometimes we can see one thing and someone else can see something different hence the pictures.  Some of them didn't work perhaps due to the bright light but most did.  We saw lines that looked like they could touch but were in fact parallel to each other, a multi-legged elephant and an old women or was it a young lady??  This was just to bring the children to a point in the assembly were I told a story from the Bible - the selection of David as King of Israel by God through Samuel.  After Samuel had looked at the outside of 7 brothers God looked on the inside of them into their hearts, David came to stand before Samuel and God told Samuel he was the one as he trusted God, loved God and followed God.  Sarah talked about how we can sometimes look at a person and think that they are a good person when inside they perhaps are not - God looks on the inside whereas man looks only on the outside.  However what we have on our inside from God we should Shine out to show everyone - cue for a song....Shine from the Inside Out so the world will see you live in me.  Following the song Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.