Loud or Quiet?

An assembly from the Culham St Gabriel archive

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To consider that we can all make a difference.

Preparation and materials

• You will need to be familiar with the story of a person who has made a difference to the lives of many people, such as Louis Braille or Grace Darling.
  
  - More information about Louis Braille is available at: http://tinyurl.com/jmgoume
  - More information about Grace Darling is available at: http://www.gracedarling.co.uk/

Assembly

1. Ask the children if they can think of any people who have made a difference to the lives of many others.

   Listen to a range of responses.

2. Louis Braille was born in France in 1809 and was three years old when he lost his sight in one eye. By the age of five, he was completely blind. At that time, there was no help available for blind people and many of them would end up begging for food on the streets. Louis’ parents didn’t want that to happen to their son, so they continued to educate him in every way possible.
   
   When Louis was 12 years old, he met an army captain who showed him a way of sending messages at night using raised dots and dashes. Louis saw the potential for a communication system for blind people and, by the age of 15, he had found 63 ways to use a six-dot cell in an area the size of a fingertip. In this way, he created Braille, a form of written language for blind people, which they can ‘read’ by feeling the raised dots of the Braille characters with their fingertips.

3. Grace Darling was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper. In the early hours of 7 September 1838, she looked out of the lighthouse window and spotted that a ship called the Forfarshire had become wrecked on some rocks. The weather was terrible, with strong gales and crashing waves, but together with her father, Grace rescued many people. She is still remembered today for her courage and bravery, and also for her willingness to help people in need.

4. Encourage the children to consider how easy it would have been for Grace to feel that she was too tired or frightened to help in the rescue. Encourage the children to think about how easy it would have been for Louis Braille to give up after his accident rather than working on a system that blind people still use to read today.

5. Point out that we often seem to take more notice of people who make a lot of noise and like to get attention for themselves. However, it is often the behaviour and qualities of the quieter, more thoughtful people that make a bigger, more positive impact.

Time for reflection

Let’s try to be people who have the courage to move forward, no matter what happens. At the same time, let’s remember that there are many people who can help us if we need to talk about our worries.

Prayer
Dear God,
Whether I’m big or whether I’m small,
Whether I’m short or whether I’m tall,
Whether I’m Nathan or Hannah or Dave,
Sometimes I’ll try to be ever so brave,
And think about what God sees in me
And aim to be the best that I can be.
Amen.

Song/music

‘He made me’ (Come and Praise, 18)

‘The prayer of St Francis (Make me a channel of your peace)’ (Come and Praise, 147)