Team challenge: The London 2012 50p sports collection

An Olympic-themed assembly to affirm and encourage teamwork.

by The Revd Alan M. Barker

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

An Olympic-themed assembly to affirm and encourage teamwork.

Preparation and materials

• The complete London 2012 50p Sports Collection comprises 29 50p coins portraying: aquatics; archery; athletics; badminton; boccia (a Paralympic sport pronounced bot-cha); boxing; basketball; canoeing/kayaking; cycling; equestrian; fencing; football; goalball; gymnastics; handball; hockey; judo; modern pentathlon; rowing; sailing; shooting; taekwondo; table tennis; tennis; triathlon; volleyball; weightlifting; wheelchair rugby; wrestling.
• You will need some 50p pieces, ideally some from the London 2012 Sports Collection.
• Information and images of the 29 Olympic 50p pieces can be found at http://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/london-2012/50p-collection?gclid=CISx7_ihwa4CFSMLtAodrQqpFw
• An overview can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11527266

Assembly

1. Produce the 50p coins. Not all 50p pieces are the same. While an image of the Queen is always found on the obverse (or ‘head’) side, a variety of designs can be found on the reverse.
   
   To mark the Olympic Games, the Royal Mint (the place in Britain where all our coins are made, and also where official medals are made) has issued a London 2012 50p Sports Collection. There are 29 different 50p coins with designs representing various Olympic sports.
2. Project some of the designs (see ‘Preparation and materials’) and invite the school community to identify and talk about the sporting events. The need may arise to pool information and experience. That’s teamwork!
3. In 2009 a competition was held to provide designs for the coins. Each one is designed by a different person and reflects the designer’s individual style and interests. Included in the series is an athletics design by Florence Jackson, who won a Blue Peter competition when she was nine. Here is another example of teamwork – people working together to achieve a shared goal.
4. While some of the 29 sports featured are team events, others are individual competitions. Some may be both. Which of the following sports (featured on the coins) are always or often team events?
   
   Football; fencing; hockey; basketball; judo; athletics; weightlifting; wheelchair rugby.
5. In teams, sportsmen and women must support and help one another. Not all will have the same position or responsibility. A good team will make the most of the different strengths and abilities of the team members.
   
   When will teamwork be important in school today?
   How does it feel to be a part of a team?
   Why is teamwork challenging?
   What makes a strong team?
   
   (Affirm and sum up the responses.)
6. Issue a challenge: invite classes to find as many of the special coins as they can (89 million were put into circulation, but they are not easy to find). 
   
   Will any class find all 29 designs? Although coins can be purchased from the Royal Mint, rule that this challenge is to find them in everyday change! The children may need to ask family and friends to help. That’s teamwork!
   
   Ask each class to make a photographic record of its finds. Opportunity could be made for individual children to collect a set of coin rubbings.
7. Observe that by working in teams, the school community should be able to find more coins than any one person alone. And to find the fullest number, classes may need to pool their efforts. Teamwork indeed!

Time for reflection

Just one 50p coin won’t buy very much, but a pile adds up.

Four are worth £2.

Ten make £5.

And twenty amount to £10.

Twenty-nine are worth £14.50!

Together they go further!

Teamwork is like that.
We can achieve more together.
We’re richer when we belong to a team.

Song/music

‘Together’ (Songs for Every Assembly, Out of the Ark Music)
Give it all you’ve got.
‘He’s got the whole world, in His hand’ (Come and Praise, 19)