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 Spring Term 2024:
| Respect and Difference Looking back at what we have learnt |
| The Federation's Values What do they mean to us? |
| British Values: Mutual Respect How does this link to the federation? |
| British Values: Democracy How does this link to the federation? |
| British Values: The Rule of the Law How does this link to the federation? |
| British Values: Individual Liberty How does this link to the federation? |
| British Values: Tolerance of Different Faiths How does this link to the federation? |
Faiths and Cultures of the Federation - Part 1 What makes us a Balksbury Family? |
World Book Day What does reading mean to us at the federation? |
| Ramadan and Eid How do our Muslim families celebrate? |
Faiths and Cultures of the Federation - Part 2 What makes us a Balksbury Family? |
Capturing the themes of the this term How do we value ourselves and those around us?
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:
