Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I were part of the 2019 Transition team that went into Low Furness School to do the assembly and then a lesson with the year 6 children.  We started the assembly with a short comical drama about a family that was moving that day.  As the 'children' ran about collecting things to take the 'parent' reminding them what to get such as tooth brush - so they got a toilet brush and so it went on.  The final thing was them asking where they were going - the answer was - don't know.  This was of course the position Abraham found himself in when God asked him to move on.  Sarah then explained this to the children and pointed out that we all at some point in our lives need to move on and in school that means either moving up the school or in the case of year 6 on to a new school.  Now all the children know where they will be in September unlike Abraham who didn't know where he would end up - however he trusted God.  The verse from Joshua 1:8 was displayed which talks about being strong and courageous and not being afraid for God is with us wherever we go.  We then snag Great Big God before finishing with a prayer.  The team then worked with the year 6 children covering a range of issues they may face next year at secondary school.

Penny Bridge Academy

This afternoon Sarah and I went to do the assembly at Penny Bridge Academy.  As it is very close to Pentecost we based our assembly on that theme.  Sarah started by talking about fire and asked the children what it can do, we had give light, burn things, give heat etc  I then used the Loin Storyteller Bible and paraphrased the story for the children adding in my own ideas as we went along.  After this Sarah summed up what the story said and linked in to the song Shine.  Then after the song finished the assembly with a prayer.

Church Walk Primary School

This morning Sarah and I joined with members of the 2019 Transition team and did an assembly and then a lesson with the year 6 children to help them as they move on into secondary school.  The assembly started with a drama about a family that was moving- and there was lots of rushing about as the 'children' collected things to take with them before finally asking the all important question where are we going?  To have the reply - don't know!  This linked in with the Abraham story but can also link into the year 6 children except they know where they are going in September when they go to secondary school.  It was explained to all the children that in life we move on and sometimes the move can be a bit scary but God is with us all the time.  Using the words of Joshua 1:8 we finished this part of the assembly and moved on - to a song Great Big God.  After the song a prayer was said and the team then went to work with the year 6 children.

Flookburgh School

This morning I have been down to Flookburgh School to do the assembly.  It seems like ages since we last saw the children well before Easter, so to start off I asked if they had had a good Easter holiday and Easter weekend. The children had made some Easter gardens and they were still on display in the hall so I commented on them as this formed a link firstly to the song we were going to sing and also to my story.  So after singing Inright Outright I did a quick recap of the events around the first Easter and then told the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus.  When Jesus joined them they didn't realise it was him and to demonstrate this point I had some blurry pictures of celebs - I did explain that Jesus was all burry though.  As the story unfolded Jesus was going to go on but they asked him to stay and eat (still not knowing who he was) then when he broke the bread WOW! they realised it was him so they hot footed it back to Jerusalem to tell the others.  I made the point that it was what Jesus did that showed who he was, so I asked and encouraged the children to tell me what they might do to show Jesus and particularly his love.  After a number of suggestions and a few hints and dropping in the odd 'shine out' I said we were going to sing a song could they guess which one it was - Shine of course.  After the song I finished with a short prayer. 

St Pauls Junior School

This afternoon I have been to a new school to do an assembly St Pauls Junior School in Barrow, a few months ago I did New Testament Bible Explorer there with the year 5 and 6 classes.  The schools Christian value for this term is Endurance, so after being introduced I pointed out to the children their Christian calendar on the wall was still pointing to Easter so I asked if they had had a good Easter Holiday and a good Easter weekend and if they had had chocolate for breakfast on Easter Sunday - this was because I wanted to link the events of Easter to my first song and continue with what happened after.  The song was Inright Outright and after it I did a very quick recap of the main events and fast forwarded to Pentecost which is 50 days after Easter Sunday and this year is 9th June.  Following Pentecost the followers of Jesus started to tell more and more people about Jesus despite being laughed at, punished, beaten etc.  Then I continued there was one man who had never seen Jesus, heard Jesus speak - he started to travel about telling loads of people about Jesus and I read from one of his letters about the punishments he had endured during his life, he also said that he would push on and finish the race set before him - I then linked to the upcoming Coniston to Barrow and asked who was doing it explaining that you need to look to the finish line and the pie and peas at the end.  I then let slip the name of the man in the bible - Paul, but today we know him as St Paul.  I asked if that name was familiar to the children - it's the name of our school came the reply.  So I continued by saying if it wasn't for Paul's endurance we wouldn't be here today in St Pauls School, up the road from St Pauls Church and we would not know about Jesus at all.  I linked in the song Be Happy as it says I'll run this race and I will never stop, I'll follow Jesus til' the day I drop.  After singing the song I said a short prayer.

Broughton School

This morning I went over to Broughton School to do the assembly.  As is was before Easter when I last visited I asked the children if they had enjoyed the Easter holidays and then the long Easter weekend.  This led me to ask if they had eaten chocolate before breakfast on Easter Sunday.  To remind us what Easter is about and to link with my story we sang Inright Outright to start with, then I did a quick recap of the events of Easter moving towards the afternoon and evening of Easter day.  Two people, followers of Jesus were on their way home I said when they were joined by Jesus except they didn't realise it was him - to explain this I used some blurry images of celebs and asked the children to guess who they were.  Jesus asked why they were sad, they asked him where he'd been all weekend (or something like that) and why he hadn't seen or heard what had happened to their friend Jesus.  I continued by explaining that Jesus explained the events using the scriptures from hundreds of years before he was even born or the Old Testament as we know it.  I told the children they still didn't see Jesus, then as they got near to their house Jesus went on as if to go further but they invited him in for a bite to eat and as he broke the bread in front of them WOW! it's Jesus they shouted.  Then they hot footed it back to Jerusalem to tell the others they had seen Jesus.  The point I wanted to bring out was that when Jesus did something - brake the bread - they saw him.  So I asked what we could do to show Jesus and his love, the children suggested a number of things like getting people involved in a game, sharing things, being kind, helping people by opening doors etc.  I said that when we do these things we Shine from the inside out - cue for a song. after the song I finished with a prayer.

Croftlands Infant School

This morning I went along to Croftlands Infant School to do the assembly.  It was our first visit since the Easter holidays and the Easter weekend so I started by asking if the children had had a good Easter and if they had had chocolate for breakfast on Easter Sunday. I said that I knew Easter seem such a long time ago now but I wanted to tell the children what happened next so before I did that we sang Inright Outright to remind us what Jesus did.  I then did a very quick recap of the story of Easter and then talked about the events that happened at 'teatime' on Easter Sunday, when two of Jesus' followers were walking home.  Jesus caught up with them and walked with them except they did realise it was him - I used some pictures of celebs that I had blurred the faces of to further explain my point - not that Jesus' face was blurry or anything...you get the idea.  Anyway as the arrived at the house Jesus was going to continue but they asked him to stay - and it was when He broke the bread that they realised who it was - they made a quick exit and ran back to tell the other followers in Jerusalem.  I made the point that it was what Jesus did that showed them who Jesus was, so I encouraged the children to do things that show Jesus, such as being kind and showing love.  I did ask them for some ideas too which they willingly gave me like watching TV with a friend, sharing toys and sweets, opening a door for someone, etc.  I said that when we do that we Shine from the inside out cue for a song.  After the song I finished off with a prayer.