The theme for this assembly is “It’s good to be me” and it encourages pupils to celebrate their personal qualities. You will need some clothes pegs, large labels, a big shirt, a video excerpt from The Sound of Music and a recording of Whitney Houston’s song “The Greatest Love”. It also incorporates the song “Stand up, clap hands, shout thank you Lord.”
Start the assembly with “The Greatest Love of All”, which incorporates the line “learning to love yourself” and ask children to consider the lyrics of the song - what might it mean to love yourself?
Ask the children to close their eyes and think about the best thing about themselves. Say how you tried to do the same thing this morning and it was difficult. Then explain that this is because sometimes we are told by other people what we are good at, or we continually strive to be better without reflecting on how good we actually are right now.
Tell the children that you tried hard and came up with the following: I work hard, I am good at cooking, I encourage others, I care about children, I care about staff and I want the best work from all the children.
These should be written on card or big labels and then pegged on to a big shirt that you are wearing. (The label “I am modest” can be pegged on your back.) Ask children to read these and then choose a few individuals to come up to the front and hold a label.
Now ask children to consider these ideas and ask what is special or unique about them. Emphasise that this might be a skill such as football or dancing, or it might be a quality such as kindness. You can then offer some examples from children from your class: Christian is kind and gentle, for instance. Ask pupils to tell the person next to them their good quality and ask for some suggestions about themselves.
If you have access to video, you could show an excerpt from The Sound of Music where Maria sings: “I have confidence in sunshine”. Get pupils to think about how Maria is afraid but when she realises she has confidence in herself, it makes her feel much better. You can then remind them how it feels inside when we are proud of ourselves and when this is recognised by ourselves or others.
Finally, ask your pupils to think of the good things about themselves, their friends and their school. Tell them they should all feel good about what they do well and how important it is for them to love themselves. Ask them to take a moment to reflect and listen to the words of the song.
You could also end with a prayer: “Help us to celebrate all the good things we do. Let us be proud of the good things we do and all the many things we achieve ourselves and as a school.” The children can then exit the room to the sound of “The Greatest Love.”
Carol Murphy is headteacher at the Loyne Specialist School in Lancaster.
