At Holly Park we have an assembly every day. Our assemblies vary daily – some are at 9am but most are at 11.40am just before lunch. Assemblies finish with a moment of reflection.
Monday
Monday morning is our whole school assembly. The assembly is led by the Headteacher.
At this assembly we all meet together in the main hall. At this assembly we give out special awards for special work, award certificates to teams – e.g football, athletics etc and also allow individuals to share awards they have achieved from outside school – e.g karate, dance or music etc.
At this assembly we sometimes sing our school song – Holly Park Forever . You can listen to the children singing it on the homepage of the website.
Sometimes we have presentations from our Councils, wellbeing champions etc. We also introduce themes – for example Harvest, New Year, Anti-Bullying etc. We will often remind children about upcoming events such as our fund raising projects or PTA events.
Sometimes we use Picture News – and discuss a topical item from the news. These topics link with British Values and with Rights.
Listen to the whole school singing Happy Birthday:
Tuesday
Tuesday assembly is usually divided into KS1 and KS2. These assemblies generally take on a more religious theme. We sometimes invite in speakers from different religions to these assemblies. We have had in a local Rabbi, a Priest, a Reverend and some teachers from a local Mosque. These assemblies are taken by senior members of staff.
Tuesday is also the day that classes in Y4 and Y5 do an assembly. Each of these classes does one assembly during the year. Parents are invited in to see the assembly. The assembly is generally based on what the children have been learning about in class.
Sometimes the Tuesday assemblies are reading assemblies. They may cover issues based around Equalities and the Protected Characteristics. Sometimes they are about Consent or Safeguarding or anti bullying and behaviour.
Wednesday
Our Wednesday assemblies are KS1 and KS2 together.
The assemblies alternate fortnightly between a music assembly and Rights Respecting Assembly.
Our music assemblies include a wide range of songs. Songs are often sung in relation to upcoming events and themes. For example – the school song, the Olympics, The World Cup, Anti- Bullying week, Eco songs about litter and waste, Harvest songs, songs from other cultures, songs in other languages, songs relating to various religious festivals and Christmas Carols.
Rights Respecting assemblies relate to the UN convention on the Rights of the Child and feature different Rights and are often linked to items in the world news.
Thursday
On Thursday, there is a collective gathering in each class for ‘Talk Time.’
Talk Time is when the children meet together as a class group either in their own classroom, the hall or the dining room. Talk Time focuses on issues that children want to put forward, class issues, PHSE topics, news items or picture books with specific themes. Talk Time is a good opportunity for speaking and listening to others. As a vehicle for learning, Talk Time fosters a sense of community. Although it supports the development of all children – each child, regardless of ability, can experience a feeling of belonging to the group during circle time. Talk Time enhances the social, moral, spiritual and cultural aspect of the curriculum.
Friday
Friday assemblies are separate KS1 and KS2 assemblies. Friday assemblies are celebration assemblies. These are led by school staff.
Each teacher awards two Stars of the Week certificates to members of their class. One is chosen by the teacher, the other is chosen by pupils in the class. Reasons for awards range from being kind, trying very hard, to excellent pieces of work across the whole curriculum.
At this assembly we also read out the House point totals for the week and award a cup to the winning House.