Story Assemblies for the School Year

Age range: Ideal for key stages 1 and 2. This book is full of memorable stories, designed to engage and delight pupils at primary level. The stories are essentially parables about God and the events of the Bible, creatively told to help children understand the big story of God's love for the world. Pupils are invited to imagine themselves as part of the story and also encouraged to think about their own values and behaviour, not by learning the right answers to give, but by making a leap of imagination and identifying themselves with the characters in the stories. There are six themes in total, each with its own easy-to-make storytelling prop. The stories within each theme are divided into six weekly episodes, covering a wide range of contemporary values and topics. Together the stories cover the whole school year, with a key theme and a story in six parts for each half-term period. At the end of each half-term there is a special assembly to mark that part of the school year: harvest, Christmas, Christingle or Pancake Day, Holy Week or Easter, Pentecost and a leavers' farewell. As well as being ideal for collective worship, there are practical follow-up ideas to help children connect with the stories in the classroom. Alongside those in the book, there are further curriculum links on the Barnabas in Schools website. The six themes cover: God's creation The message of the Old Testament prophets Stories about Christian values The story of Holy Week and Easter Jesus' resurrection and ascension The journeys of the apostle Paul