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Lots of Flags!

What is the Commonwealth?

by Helen Gwynne-Kinsey

Suitable for Key Stage 2

Aims

To consider what the Commonwealth is as we approach the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Preparation and materials

  • You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Lots of Flags!) and the means to display them.
  • Have available the YouTube video ‘The Commonwealth: helping every voice be heard’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 2.40 minutes long and is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNlgO7-n68

    Optional: you may wish to read out the sentences in the video as the music plays.

Assembly

  1. Explain that you are going to show the children a series of flags and you want them to work out which country each flag represents.

    Show Slide 1.

    Ask the children to name the flag.

    Identify that it is the Union Jack, the national flag of the United Kingdom.

    Ask the children whether they know how the flag is formed.

    Listen to a range of responses.

    Explain that the Union Jack combines the crosses of three of the four countries that make up the UK: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For 120 years from 1801, the whole of Ireland was part of the UK, but in 1921, the country was separated and only Northern Ireland remained in the UK.

  2. Show Slides 2 to 5.

    Ask the children which country each flag represents.

    - Slide 2 shows the cross of St George, the patron saint of England.
    - Slide 3 shows the cross of St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland.
    - Slide 4 shows the cross of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
    - Slide 5 shows the Welsh flag.

    So, the Union Jack combines the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland. The Welsh flag doesn’t feature on the Union Jack because Wales and England were united when the flag was originally created.

  3. Ask the children whether they have heard of the Commonwealth.

    Listen to a range of responses.

    Explain that, about a century ago, the British Empire covered a quarter of the Earth’s total land area. It consisted of lands that were ruled or administered by the UK. The world has changed a lot since then, and many of these countries are independent now. They rule themselves and decide their own laws and how they want to elect someone to lead their country.

    However, many of these countries still wanted to work together and be united in some way. So, they chose to become part of what is now called the Commonwealth, a group of 54 countries that have similar shared goals. They have all agreed to work towards a world where there is fairness and peace. The Commonwealth has a combined population of 2.4 billion people, nearly a third of the world’s population.

  4. Tell the children that you are now going to show them a video that explains more about what the Commonwealth is and what it does.

    Play the YouTube video ‘The Commonwealth: helping every voice be heard’ (2.40 minutes long).

  5. Emphasize that the Commonwealth has some important common goals such as fairness, justice and peace. It also addresses important issues such as education, human rights, gender equality and climate change. Being a member of the Commonwealth is like being part of a big family in which everyone is looking out for each other. Commonwealth countries work together to bring communities closer for the common good.

  6. Show Slides 6 to 10.

    Explain that all of these countries are members of the voluntary association called the Commonwealth.

  7. Ask the children whether they have heard of the Commonwealth Games.

    Listen to a range of responses.

    Explain that the Commonwealth Games is an important sporting event that takes place every four years. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be happening in Birmingham this summer, running from Thursday 28 July to Monday 8 August.

Time for reflection

As a school community, we can take a lot from the goals of Commonwealth countries.

We may come together from different backgrounds and points of view, but we aim to promote fairness, justice and peace in our dealings with each other.

We aim to value the opportunities that our school gives us so that we can gain the skills that we need to be successful in later life.

We aim to think about our impact on the environment and treat the world’s resources responsibly and with respect.

Ask the children, ‘How can we play our part to achieve these aims?’

Pause to allow time for thought as you reread the aims.

- We aim to promote fairness, justice and peace in our dealings with each other.
We aim to value the opportunities that our school gives us so that we can gain the skills that we need to be successful in later life.
We aim to think about our impact on the environment and treat the world’s resources responsibly and with respect.

Prayer
Dear God,
We give thanks for our connections across the world.
We pray that fairness, justice and peace will be at the foundation of our dealings with others.
We pray that we may live together in peace.
Thank you for the Commonwealth.
Amen.

Song/music

‘When I needed a neighbour’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7a7LdgRh-k (1.49 minutes long)

‘A million dreams’ from the film The Greatest Showman, by One Voice Children’s Choir, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v49-3Xp5fPg (4.53 minutes long)

Publication date: July 2022   (Vol.24 No.7)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
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