Assemblies
Assemblies at Balksbury Federation
Assemblies are a time for the federation to be together and provide an opportunity to build a strong sense of community; they are a valuable experience for both children and adults regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs, and build on the federated culture, ethos, vision and values.
Assemblies are a time:
- To celebrate shared commonalities
- For reflection
- To nurture our culture and ethos
- To promote spiritual, moral and cultural development as well as our federation values
This year our assemblies will focus on what makes our federated community who we are. We will celebrate our shared commonalities and differences.
Each week, we celebrate our diverse community and choose entry music featuring a language from one of the 30 which are spoken at our federation.
How often are assemblies?
Children from across the federation attend assembly each day. Typically, assemblies follow the below weekly format:
How can I keep up with what is being covered in assemblies?
Every half term, our newsletter - Across the Playground - contains 'Assembly Corner' which provides information on the theme of each week's assemblies as well as key questions and stimuli.
Here are our assembly themes for Autumn Term 2024:
| Friendship What is a friend? |
| Being a Good Friend What characteristics does a good friend have? |
| Feeling Alone and Making Friends How can we make friends? |
Harvest for the World & Noticing Stop Signals With Friends How do I know when my friend needs me to stop? |
Trying to Impress Friends How do I connect with friends and not try to impress? |
Being True to Yourself When is it best to keep to yourself what you are Thinking and when to share? |
Diwali The festival of new beginnings 31st October to 1st November & Contributing to a Friendship Group What do I have to offer my friends? |
Bonfire Night Staying safe/being seen in the dark & Saying No When Needed How do I say no to my friends? |
Rememberance A time to remember & What is Teasing and Bullying? How do I understand the difference? |
Respecting Others’ Choices How do I respect others when their choice is different? |
St Andrews Day Patron Saint of Scotland |
Christmas Around the World How do communities celebrate Christmas? |
Christmas in a Song |
Christmas Carol Concert at St Mary’s Church (children only due to space) Whole Federation Assembly Outstanding Certificates and Prestigious Reader Award |
Celebration Assembly
Celebration Assembly is a chance to get together as a Balksbury family to celebrate the incredible achievements which have taken place in the federation over the week. Each Friday, we celebrate the accomplishments of all children in the federation by talking about the successes from that week. We might congratulate them on showing excellent mutual respect at playtime, for example.
Certificates are awarded for Achievement and Behaviour and Values. Achievement Awards are given when a child has achieved something exceptional in their learning to make themselves, their peers and their teaching team proud. Behaviour and Values Awards are given for demonstrating our learning values of Collaboration, Perseverance and Respect or being a Balksbury Citizen and following the Code of Conduct.
During celebration assembly, children are also kept informed of the most up to date house point and class token totals and are awarded their certificates and badges for bronze, silver, gold and platinum house point awards.
The children and staff love this opportunity to come together to celebrate and it truly is a highlight of the week at Balksbury - especially when Miss Thompson gets all the children singing and dancing their way back to class!
Our Prayer
At the end of each celebration assembly we finish with our federated end of the week prayer. This is a time where children are invited to reflect if they wish.
Dear God
Come be with us today
Fill our hearts with joy
Fill our minds with learning
Fill our classrooms with peace
Fill our lessons with fun
Fill our friendships with kindness
Fill our school with love for the following week
Amen
Visitors
From time to time, we are lucky enough to have external visitors come into school to talk to the children to offer industry insight, or specialist knowledge.
Here are some of the visitors who came to see us last year:
