My Bonny: Achievement

To help us value what others have achieved

by Gordon and Ronni Lamont

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To help us value what others have achieved.

Preparation and materials

• You will need to know the song 'My bonny lies over the ocean'. It is possible to do the assembly just saying, rather than singing, the words.

Assembly

1. Teach the traditional song, 'My bonny lies over the ocean'. The words are:
   
   My bonny lies over the ocean
   My bonny lies over the sea
   My bonny lies over the ocean
   Oh bring back my bonny to me.
   
   Bring back, bring back,
   Oh bring back my bonny to me, to me.
   Bring back, bring back,
   Oh bring back my bonny to me.
   
   
2. Now add these simple actions:
   
   Ask everyone to put their thumbs up in front of them. As they sing, they should reverse the direction of their thumbs on each word that begins with B. So:
   
   (Thumbs up)
   My bonny (thumbs down) lies over the ocean
   My bonny (thumbs up) lies over the sea
   My bonny (thumbs down) lies over the ocean
   Oh bring (thumbs up) back (thumbs down) my bonny (thumbs up) to me.
   
   ... and then it gets interesting with all the 'Bring backs' and so on.
   
   
3. Practise a few times and try speeding up, each time a little faster. It should be lots of fun and is definitely more difficult than it sounds.
   
   
4. Make the point that sometimes things sound easier than they turn out to be. How often have you heard someone say 'I could do that' in a sneering tone? Perhaps we need to learn to respect what others have achieved and how hard they have to work to get where they are.

Time for reflection

Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for all the skilled people
who have worked hard in order to be able to help us:
doctors and all health workers,
musicians, actors and entertainers,
engineers and technicians.
Amen.

Reflection:
We think of all the skilled people
who have worked hard in order to be able to help us:
doctors and all health workers,
musicians, actors and entertainers,
engineers and technicians,
and many more ... even teachers!

Song/music

'My bonny lies over the ocean'