A high-quality school assembly is one of the most important aspects of a school’s curriculum. Its potential to nurture a positive school ethos that stresses on care for one’s self, others and the pursuit of all forms of excellence should not be underestimated. It powerfully nurtures the development of intra – personal intelligence.
Assemblies should aim to create, nurture and sustain a sense of community. They can serve to develop a positive school ethos that affirms the school’s identity and aspirations. The result is that the school lives in cohesive harmony that sustains the pursuit of excellence in all its forms.
A school assembly makes a positive contribution to pupil self- development and therefore is at the heart of raising achievements and standards.
Assemblies must be developed to encourage pupils to reflect upon a set of universal values such as love, peace, truth, co-operation and respect. These values act as the foundation for the development of personal, social and health education, citizenship along with the spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of the curriculum. In other words, they underpin the school’s institutional values and the curriculum as a whole.
Assemblies may also be used for enhancing and reinforcing the learning taking place in class. Keywords used must be visually reinforced.
Monday morning assembly is particularly important, as it should bring the whole school back together again after the weekend break, to focus upon the week in view. On its objectives and the tools that will be used to achieve them.
Other assemblies during the week build on the standards / themes that are set at the beginning of the week. Special assemblies can be held to showcase festivals or important events in the calendar.
The key element that contributed to a successful assembly is the planning
The importance of planning cannot be underestimated. Last minute thinking does not create meaningful assemblies. Assemblies can be based on yearly plan that incorporates monthly values and weekly themes. this plan is the subject of the staff discussion and amendment because it is important that all staff feel comfortable with the proposed themes. This process gives a sense of ownership of both the process and content of the assemblies. all assembly scripts must be checked by the teacher- in- charge and rehearsed to ensure that content and information is age appropriate, accurate and relevant. Sensitivity to all people, communities and religions is kept in mind and that the children pronounce and use language correctly.
In case of a special occasion / special days assemblies may be longer and of a duration decided by the Principal / VP
A follow up activity of this assembly must take place to reinforce learning.