Church Walk Primary School

This morning I went to Church Walk Primary School for the last assembly of this School year.  It was great to see all the children again.  I decided to tell the story of Daniel and talk about the idea of moving on, so to start of we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  I then displayed pictures as I retold the Daniel story how he was a teenager who lived in Jerusalem and than the Babylonians took over and took Daniel and some of his friends off to Babylon.  I explained about being given the Kings food to eat and Daniel saying he only wanted water and vegetables - and how this action and him being obedient to God resulted in him being blessed and gaining a high position in the palace.  I explained that God showed his love to Daniel and his friends and protected them too and he shows that love and protection to us too.  I encouraged the children in that when they move up a year in September and perhaps move to a different class with a new teacher that God will be with them as he was with Daniel and like Daniel in Babylon they may find the place is different, that the work is different they may need to learn new things and find their way round in a new room.  To finish off we sang Great Big God as it talks about God holding us in his hands.  I then closed with a prayer.

Lindal and Marton School

This morning Sarah and I with Vic and Co went to do our transition lesson at Lindal and Marton School.  We started with the assembly which featured a drama about Daniel and how he made a move to Babylon.  We covered a few issues with it like leaving family and friends as well as being in a strange new place with new sounds, sights and smells.  We then sang Great Big God before Gary from Pennington Church said a short prayer to close.  We then set up our three stations and worked with the year 6 children to hopefully help them as they transition into secondary school.  We looked at some big questions children often have like what do I do if I get lost, or if I forget my homework.  We looked at other things too like bullying, as well as things that scare us about the move.  To help us at the end the children took a sheet of paper and put down one thing they were worried about.  We made it into a paper aeroplane and flew it across the room saying God I give you all my worries, then the children took someone else's and did the same this time saying God I give you all this persons worries.  I explained that this was like a practical prayer.

St Mary's Dalton

This morning Sarah and I with Emily and Vic went to do our transition lesson and assembly at St Mary's School in Dalton.  We started with the year 6 children in an hour long lesson to hopefully help them make the transition to their secondary schools in September.  After the lesson we went and did a whole school assembly.  In the assembly we did a drama about Daniel moving to Babylon and the changes he faced.  These changes will be similar to the children as they move on into new class's as well as new schools, we talked about the change in people, sounds, buildings, smells and the fact that they will be leaving friends behind and in some case's family members (younger brothers and sisters).  We encouraged the children with a verse from Joshua 1:8 which says be strong and courageous for I am with you wherever you go.  After this we sang Great Big God before ending with a prayer.

Vicarage Park School

This morning Sarah and I went over to Vicarage Park School in Kendal for our last assembly of this school year.  It has been a while since we were last there so it was good to catch up with the staff and see the children again.  We started by singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then we did our assembly about Respect which includes the little clip from finding Nemo.  Sarah talked about what Nemo did and that he had been so dis-respectful towards his dad which in the end landed him in big trouble.  She linked it to the parable of the lost son explaining that he too didn't show his father any respect.  I then showed the 10 commandment about respecting our parents and explained that we could expand it out to include everyone.  Sarah then introduced our final song Shine.  After the song I closed the assembly with a prayer.

Newton School

This afternoon Sarah and I did our first assembly at Newton School.  It was great to go into a new school, to see new children and staff.  After introducing ourselves Sarah explained what we do and invited the children to stand up and sing Great Big God.  Some of the children knew the song, I did go through the actions for the children first so that they could join in.  After the song Sarah asked for two people to come out to the front.  She gave one a plate and the other some toothpaste.  Sarah explained that they were going to make some decorative art with the toothpaste - which they did.  However when asked to do a little more I gave the tube a big squeeze and loads of toothpaste came out making a real mess everywhere.  Next she asked them to put the toothpaste back into the tube - so they tried and tried and tried - tipping the plate up, turning it around but they couldn't do it of course.  I then explained that it was so easy to get the toothpaste out but very hard in fact impossible to get it back in again.  It is a bit like us when we open our mouths to speak - sometimes we say good things but there are times when we don't and once we have said it we can't take it back again - just like the toothpaste.  I went on to say that our tongue can do more damage that hitting or kicking someone.  Sarah then asked how a fire is started - by a spark she linked this to the verse in James which talks about a small spark starting a huge fire - that is what our tongue is like.  We should use our tongue for good things like giving praise to people.  After the little talk we sang Shine.  Sarah then closed the assembly with a prayer.

Low Furness School Transition Assembly and Lesson

This morning Sarah and I with Tommy and Emily did our transition assembly about Daniel at Low Furness School.  Some of the issues that Daniel faced when he went to Babylon will be similar to the ones that face year 6 children moving into secondary school, like leaving friends and family behind, different smells, different people, new food stuffs etc.  We encouraged the year 6 children with a verse from Joshua 1:8.  After the assembly we set up for the lesson in a small classroom.  We showed the children a video which had children who are now in year 8 but was filmed when they were in year 7.  The children were asked some questions on the video about going to secondary school like what they had missed most about primary school, what was good about their secondary school etc.  Then the children in year 6 moved around three stations were they looked at other issues they might face next year.  We ended with all the year 6 children making a paper aeroplane inside the folds of the plane they had put down one thing they were worried about.  We flew the planes and as we did we said 'God I give you all my worries'  they then picked up someone else's plane and flew that one saying as they did 'God I give you all this persons worries'  We had a great time with the children of year 6.

Pennington School Transition Lesson and Assembly

This afternoon I along with Vic, Tommy, Emily and Lisa went to Pennington School for the year 6 transition lesson and assembly.  The lesson went really well as the children of year 6 moved around various stations set up in the hall and looked at different aspects of moving on to secondary school.  Each child was given a booklet to help them.  They also saw a video of three young people who made the move to secondary school two years ago and they talked about some of the issue they thought they might face.  After the lesson we went on to do the assembly for the whole school.  We started with introductions and then did a short drama based on Daniel and his move to Babylon.  After the drama Vic did a summing up of some of the things Daniel would have faced as he moved to a new place.  We then sang Great Big God and closed the assembly with a prayer.