Each month schoolswork.co.uk provide assembly and lesson resources in Youthwork magazine. In the April 2008 issue of Youthwork magazine, the schoolswork.co.uk resource page has a secondary assembly which includes a celebrity quiz. Here’s the slides of pictures in both Keynote and Powerpoint formats.

This US video from Creature Comforts is a brilliant take on self image that would be a great element in a lesson or assembly. The comments are from a wide range of Americans and, although most are adults, it’s got lots of interesting quotes that would fit into something for teenagers (and maybe even primary too?).

‘Children Talking’ is a web-based database of pupils’ responses to key questions raised in RE, with a search facility and the option for pupils to add their own responses to the original questions. What that means is that you can get a list of quotes about a whole range of subjects from young people in the UK. And you can specify the age, gender and religion of the children or young people you want to hear from. Their comments could be really useful as part of an assembly or lesson.

Over Easter 2008, the BBC screened a dramatic account of the Passion story. Here’s a collection of resources to help you use the production in lessons or groups.

Each month schoolswork.co.uk provide assembly and lesson resources in Youthwork magazine. In the February 2008 issue of Youthwork magazine, the schoolswork.co.uk resource page has a secondary lesson on forgiveness. Here’s the game ‘Can you forgive everything’ that’s part of that lesson.

Each month schoolswork.co.uk provide assembly and lesson resources in Youthwork magazine. In the March 2008 issue of Youthwork magazine, the schoolswork.co.uk resource page has a secondary assembly on bullying. Here’s the set of slides that accompany the assembly.

This is an illustration that works well as part of an assembly or even a group or club. You’ll need a can of drink - Coke or whatever is your fancy - and a thick sheet of card, hardboard or plywood. Whatever you use, it needs to be solid enough to be pushed and pulled without breaking, so if you end up using card, get the thick mounting board from an art shop not cardboard. The sheet needs to be about 70cm square. To set up, you’ll need to cut a perfect hole in the board exactly the same diameter as the can. This is the bit where patience and some useful tools come in handy. If it’s card, then a sharp art knife may do the trick. For hardboard or plywood, it’s a quick trip down to the local timber merchant to ask them if they’ll do it for you. (It’s more hassle but what you end up with will last a lot longer than card).

To tie in with the beginning of Lent and Shrive Tuesday, here are some pancake facts for assemblies:

The first recipe for a pancake appeared in an English cookbook back in the fifteenth century.

The first recorded pancake race was in Olney, Buckinghamshire in 1445.

‘Shrove’ originally comes from the archaic English verb ‘to shrive’ which means to absolve people of their sins. It was common in the Middle Ages for ‘shriveners’ (priests) to hear people’s confessions at this time, to prepare them for Lent, as priests do today.

The largest number of pancakes tossed in the shortest amount of time in the UK is 349 tosses in 2 minutes (Dean Gould at Felixstowe, Suffolk, 14 January 1995).

The Re:Jesus site has a section looking at famous followers of Jesus, many of who would make a great topic for an assembly. One of the most dramatic is the life, and death, of Maximilian Kolbe. Jesus once said that no one could have greater love than for someone to lay down his life for his friends. He has always been a tough act to follow, but there have still been people willing to follow the example of Jesus, even to the extent of dying in someone else’s place. Kolbe is one of those people.

There are lots of sites on the web where you can design and print your own cards or stickers, but none comes close to ’Moo‘ for ease of use and quality of the finished product. Once you’ve uploaded your own photos (either directly or from Flickr), you design the loom at feel of the card or sticker and, hey presto, your results arrive through the post a few days later.

Moo postcards have great potential to be used as a classroom resource for schoolsworkers. You get 20 laminated postcards for £9.99 which is pretty reasonable given the quality and the fact that they’re laminated with a hard-wearing gloss.