Winter Weather 2

To be thankful for those who work for us whatever the weather.

by Jill Fuller

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To continue and reinforce the themes of Winter Weather 1. To be thankful for those who work for us whatever the weather.

Preparation and materials

• You might like to prepare a display to act as a focus, perhaps including pictures of winter scenes, a pair of wellington boots, a skipping rope, a scarf, gloves and hat, a kite.

Assembly

1. Remind the children of the reflections on weather in Winter Weather 1. Invite them to share what they have noticed about the weather since that assembly.
   
   
2. Ask if the weather makes any difference to them in their daily routine. Are there some types of weather that make life more difficult for them?
   
   
3. Discuss those people for whom the weather is really very important and why the weather affects them - you could include farmers, seafarers, airline pilots.
   
   
4. Talk about those jobs which are made difficult by floods, fog or ice, such as lorry drivers, bus drivers, road workers, builders.
   
   
5. With the children, identify those jobs which can be uncomfortable in winter weather - crossing patrol, post delivery, police work.
   
   
6. Suggest how the children can be helpful in winter weather, e.g. being particularly careful themselves when crossing roads, saying a big thank you to their own crossing patrol person, allowing extra time for journeys.

Time for reflection

Invite the children to think of all those for whom winter weather can be difficult. Ask them to think of a person or group of people whose work in winter weather helps them - they can silently think of this at the end of the prayer below.

Dear God,
Thank you for all the people who help us when the weather is harsh.
The letters still get through - thank you.
We're helped to cross the road - thank you.
The farmer's work in the cold and rain - thank you.
Ships set sail and aircraft fly - thank you.
And I'd like to say a special thank you for ...
Thank you.
Amen.

Song/music

'Lay my white coat' (Come and Praise, 112).

Curriculum links

• PSHE: Arrange for a postal delivery worker, a lorry driver, or a visitor from a charity for elderly or homeless people to speak with the children about how the winter weather affects their work.

Also suitable from Winter Weather 1:

• Literacy: Make an anthology of poems and rhymes about winter weather, and write your own. Look at the winter scenes in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
• Numeracy: Make a graph showing different types of weather over a week, or several weeks.
• Geography: Keep weather records and learn the symbols used for different types of weather.
• Art: Look at how different artists have portrayed seasons.
• Music: Compose a winter sound sequence, exploring the season through timbre and texture.