As the new term arrives, you may be considering how to revamp your approach to assemblies, whether whole-school or key stage. This blog outlines how bringing the news into school assemblies can support children’s understanding of the world around them, whilst keeping your content engaging and fresh! Why include the news in primary assemblies? Assemblies are a great way to bring the school community together to explore important topics and issues, often inspiring further thought and reflection in the classroom. Adding a news angle to assemblies helps showcase issues in real-time, providing a topical focus to enhance children’s view of the world around them. It offers the opportunity for children to share opinions, and discuss events and issues happening now. So let’s explore some tips for refreshing assemblies (with a news twist)! Quick tips for including the news within assemblies · Incorporate pupil involvement for interactive assemblies Think about how you can get your pupils involved in assemblies, with a focus on current news stories or ongoing world issues. Pupil involvement can help boost children’s engagement with the assembly’s content – from researching a story, to planning and presenting the session. · Focus on images from the news Imagery from the news can be a great starting point when discussing a story. It gives children important visual context to grapple with what’s happening. Encourage children to point out what they can see, or what they recognise or relate to in the image. This can further help to create an interactive assembly! Always be sure to vet images and video content prior to sharing with children. · Big questions surrounding the news topic After working through what’s happening in the news, think about the bigger philosophical questions and issues which surround the story. Asking open related questions about issues connected to the story helps children learn from the news, taking their global awareness and reflection further. It’s also a productive opportunity to hear a variety of perspectives, experiences and opinions! · Nurture the learning that can comes from exploring the news Contemplating news stories and wider issues can bring about self-reflection, encourage children to take action, or motivate pupils to investigate further. Based on what you’ve encountered together in the news within assembly, what can you do as a school or key stage to discover more about this topic? How can your assembly learning inform classroom activities across school? For more support in holding assemblies about the news, check out the latest Picture News assembly resource (which focuses on a current story!) Click here to request a free sample.
