A New Year Ahead

Looking ahead

by Jan Edmunds (revised, originally published in 2009)

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To consider the new year ahead.

Preparation and materials

• You will need seven pieces of A4 card. On one side of each piece, write one letter, which together spell out NEW YEAR. On the other side, write the word and the sentence that accompany that letter.
  
  - New. This can be a new start for everyone.
  - Everyone. Everyone has a chance to do something.
  - Want. It is important that we really want to make those changes.
  - Year. As each year goes by, we grow, we learn more about life and hopefully, we become better people.
  - Every. Every year, we make new resolutions, but how many of us actually stick to them?
  - Attitude. We need to have the right attitude towards the things that really matter.
  - Ready. We should be ready to do our best as the new year begins.
• Optional: you may wish to prearrange for some children to read out the poem in the ‘Assembly’, Step 4. If so, they will need time to rehearse prior to the assembly.

Assembly

1. Welcome the children back after the Christmas holiday.
   
   Explain that another year has passed and we have now entered a new one. Tell the children that you will need some of them to come to the front to help you in a minute.
   
   
2. Show the letter on the first card as you talk about it, and then ask a child to come and hold it up. Repeat this process for the remaining six cards.
   
   - N is for the word ‘new’. This can be a new start for everyone.
   - E is for the word ‘everyone’. Everyone has a chance to do something.
   - W is for the word ‘want’. It is important that we really want to make those changes.
   - Y is for the word ‘year’. As each year goes by, we grow, we learn more about life and hopefully, we become better people.
   - E is for the word ‘every’. Every year, we make new resolutions, but how many of us actually stick to them?
   - A is for the word ‘attitude’. We need to have the right attitude towards the things that really matter.
   - R is for the word ‘ready’. We should be ready to do our best as the new year begins.
   
   
3. Invite the children to look at all seven cards. What do the letters spell? Yes: NEW YEAR.
   
   Optional: you may wish to see whether the children can remember what each letter stands for.
   
   
4. Tell the children that they are going to hear a poem about the new year now.
   
   Invite the readers to the front, if using.
   
   New Year
   Every day is a new day:
   New adventures, new games to play.
   Learning new lessons, new things to find out:
   We’ll begin to discover what life’s all about.
   
   Doing our best, so the more we know,
   We can gather knowledge as we grow.
   A new year, a new friend,
   We just don’t know what the year will send.
   
   Time marches on for me and you;
   There’s simply nothing we can do.
   So think about your resolutions;
   Be sure you come to the right conclusions.
   
   
5. Optional: you may wish to spend a short time discussing new year’s resolutions. Are they only personal to ourselves, or do they affect others too?

Time for reflection

Think about any resolutions that you might make or have already made. How will you manage to stick to them?

A new year is a great reminder that each of us can have a fresh start. It may be that we feel that we didn’t work hard last year or that we didn’t behave well. This is a new year, so it can be a new start!

When we want a fresh start, we need to have people around us who are a good influence. Our friends are important.

Encourage the children to spend a few moments thinking about their friends. How can they be better friends to those around them?

Pause to allow time for thought.

Christians believe that God is always wanting to give people a new start. He wants to forgive them so that they can start again.

Prayer
Dear God,
We are hopeful that this new year will be a peaceful one.
We hope that world leaders can find solutions to the many problems that exist.
Please help us to be more caring in the things that we say and do
So that we can help to make our world a better place.
Please be with us now and always.
Amen.

Song/music

‘You’ve got a friend in me’ from the film Toy Story, available at: https://youtu.be/DNZUKm0ApEM (2.08 minutes long)