Flookburgh School

This morning I went to do the assembly at Flookburgh School it was the last assembly of 2016.  I gave the children the choice of which song to start with and they picked - God's Love is Bigger than a Burger (great choice).  After the song I asked the children what time of year we were in - first hand up little boy said Advent, I did have a second question in case no one got it first time round - which was did you have chocolate before breakfast, that usually gets them thinking.  I explained that Advent is the time of year when we start to get ready and think about Christmas, it is a time of waiting.  I also said that I wasn't going to tell them the Christmas story as they know already but what I did show them was a video which was produced by the Bible Society which tells the story as a poem which has been set to some pictures.  The poem in the video has a repeating line which says "...turn sad into glad again..."  After the video is over I asked the children about the line to see if they picked up on it.  I then asked what makes our world sad - I got a number of answers mainly centred around war and fighting and falling out - I added one of my own about making a mess of the beautiful world God gave us to live in.  I then explained that God sent Jesus into the world to show us how to turn sad into glad again, in the way he lived his life showing love, kindness, compassion and being humble too.  Jesus showed us how to live our lives.  I also mentioned that without Jesus we won't celebrate Christmas which was a bit of a shock for some of the little ones at the front.  I encouraged them this Christmas time to spend a moment thinking about what Christmas is really all about amid the busy rushing around we all do as the day draws near, and also on Christmas morning as they open gifts and presents and say thank you to pause a moment an thank God for Jesus.  To close we sang our Christmas song Rejoice with Us.  After the song I closed with a prayer.

Broughton School

This morning I went over to Broughton School for the last assembly of the year with them.  To start off I asked the children which song they would like to sing and someone picked God's Love is Bigger than a Burger (good one)  I then explained that this time of year is Christmas time - yes - but we call it Advent which is the time that leads up to Christmas.  I told them that they know the Christmas story already and what it is all about so instead of me doing the talking I showed them a video which was a poem set to some pictures - all about Christmas.  In the clip there was a repeating line which said "...turn sad into glad..."  So I asked them what is it that makes our world sad - I got a number of very good answers from all kinds of fight and war to people not respecting the world around them.  I reminded them that Christmas is all about God sending Jesus into the world to show us how we should be.  Jesus showed love and compassion to everyone he met and through his teachings he told us how we should live our lives.  The school had a display up which said Jesus is the reason for the season so I pointed it out to them as I was talking to them.  I encouraged them to say thank you to God for sending Jesus to us like on Christmas morning when they were opening their presents, I also encouraged them to stop and consider Jesus amid the rushing about that leads up to Christmas day.  To finish we sang Rejoice with Us before I closed the assembly with a prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I made our last visit of the year to St Peters School.  It was great to see all the children again, they were well and truly in the festive mood and looking forward to Christmas.  We started the assembly by asking what song they would like to sing first they picked Shine.  After the song we did a recap of the assembly we did two weeks ago before showing them a short video clip which tells the Christmas story with lovely pictures and a rather catchy poem.  After the clip I spoke to the children about it, there was a repeating phrase that came out several times which was "...turn what was bad in to glad once again..." I asked what is it that makes our world bad, I got several really good answers from fighting and war to people not respecting nature.  I explained that Jesus came to show us the way we can turn things around and change what is bad into glad.  By his love, kindness, compassion, humbleness he showed us how we should live our lives in the way God wants us to.  Sarah then introduced the final song which was our Christmas song Rejoice with Us.  After the song she closed the assembly with a prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon Sarah and I made our last visit for the year to Crosthwaite School.  We decided to do our Christmas assembly but to start with we sang My Lighthouse because last time we were at the school someone asked us about singing it.  We then showed the Christmas story video/poem which tells the story of the birth of Jesus and has a repeating line that says he turned sad into glad.  After the video I made a few remarks about this phrase and asked what makes our world bad - the children responded very well with things like war/fighting - falling out - destroying the woodlands - people who flea because of war - the lack of food.  I then explained that Jesus came into the world to help change that, he lived his life in a perfect way showing love and kindness to everyone he met even washing the feet of his disciples!  This is how he started to turn bad to glad.  It is why we celebrate at Christmas with such joy because it is the birth of Jesus.  I explained that without Jesus there would be now Christmas.  Sarah then introduced our Christmas song Rejoice with US.  After the song she closed the assembly with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This Morning Sarah and I went to do our last assembly for this year at Low Furness School.  We started by asking the children what song they would like to sing to start us off and they picked My Lighthouse.  After the song Sarah reminded the children about the assembly we had done two weeks ago and how we had talked about getting ready for Christmas.  Today we showed them a video about the Christmas story - it was a poem that had pictures with it and a line that kept on repeating "...to turn what was sad into glad once again..."  After the video clip I talked about what they had seen and I also repeated the words of the poem.  I explained that we live in a world that is a times sad and people do things that made it that way.  I asked the children for some thoughts - a number said fighting or war or fallings out (they had the idea) but as the video explained God set Jesus into the world to turn that sad into glad once again and that is why we celebrate at Christmas.  I mentioned that with out Jesus there would be no Christmas, I also said that last week when we said that in another school it shocked the children.  So we should be glad at Christmas time and be happy and joyful one of my all time favourite carols is Joy to the World and I told the children that I love to sing it.  Sarah then introduced our Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas and after she reminded the children about turning the sad into glad part of the poem before she closed the assembly with a prayer.

Penny Bridge Academy

This morning Sarah and I were at Penny Bridge doing our Christmas assembly.  We didn't start with a song as we wanted to show a video and to finish sing our Christmas song.  We first asked the children what time of year it was - we got the usual answers of Christmas, December - but then we got the answer we were looking for - Advent.  I explained that Advent is the time of year before Christmas when we wait and prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  I then asked who in the Christmas story needed to prepare to go and see Jesus, the children suggested a few people like Mary and the shepherds then we got the answer - the wise men.  I tried to explain just how far they had to travel in order to see Jesus and then asked what we needed to do to prepare for such a long journey, children offered suggestions like Ipad, food, drink, clothes - Sarah said SatNav as she couldn't navigate with just the stars.  Sarah then told the Babushka story which we pointed out wasn't in the Bible and was just a folk tale.  She wanted to see Jesus but was far to busy then she missed out.  I then played a video that I made a few years ago which starts with the nativity scene but then soon gets covered with all the other things to do with Christmas like, sellotape, turkey and other food, long cues and decorated house's finally ending with a baby crying and a return to the nativity scene once again.  I explained that all that the children had seen is to do with Christmas but the real reason we celebrate is because of the birth of Jesus, and we can so easily forget that as we rush around getting ready for Christmas.  We then sang Rejoice with Us before Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon Sarah and I went to do our Christmas assembly at Croftlands Infants.  We didn't start with a song as we wanted to sing Rejoice With Us this Christmas to end.  I asked the children what time of year it was - some said December, winter, Christmas - one girl said it was Advent.  I then asked who in the Christmas story made a very long journey to see Jesus.  One person said the three wise men which was the answer I was looking for.  I then talked a little bit about long journeys and how we need to be ready.  The wise men made good plans to see Jesus.  Sarah then told the story of Babushka and how she missed the point and couldn't see Jesus.  I explained that as we rush about before Christmas we can sometimes miss the point of Christmas - I said that if it wasn't for Jesus there would be no Christmas - this shocked the children a bit.  So I encouraged the children to take a moment to think about why we celebrate Christmas.  We then sang our song.  Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.