Glorious Sunshine
The summer solstice is on Saturday 21 June 2025
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Key Stage 2
Aims
To explore what the sun means for us.
Preparation and materials
- None required.
Assembly
- Explain that today (or point out when 21 June will occur) is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.
Ask the children whether they know what this means.
Listen to a range of responses. - Explain that 21 June is also known as the longest day because it is the day of the year when there are the most hours of sunlight.
- Explain that, when it is the summer solstice, Pagans - a group of people who worship the sun - gather at a place called Stonehenge and at other ancient monuments to celebrate this event. This shows how important the sun has been to humanity throughout history. Solstice celebrations have taken place for thousands of years.
- Ask the children whether they know of any ways in which sunlight can be harmful.
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that in summer, the sun can burn our skin if we don’t cover up, wear a hat and put on some sun cream. It can also do more long-term damage by causing skin cancer.
Alongside this, we should always remember that it’s very dangerous to try to look directly at the sun. - Ask the children whether they know of any ways in which moderate levels of sunlight are beneficial to us.
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that sunlight encourages our bodies to produce something called Vitamin D, which helps to keep our bones, muscles and teeth healthy. Sunlight encourages the production of a hormone called serotonin too, which affects our mood. Most of us feel more positive when the sun is shining than on a cloudy, rainy day. Sunlight can also boost our immune system, helping us to fight off infection and illness more easily. - So, sunlight benefits us, but it can also be harmful if we don’t treat it with respect.
Time for reflection
The Pagans at Stonehenge and other ancient monuments think of the sun as more than just a physical star in space. They are not there just to bathe in the warm glow of the sun. For them, the sun represents something more: they see it as fundamental to life itself. This idea occurs throughout the history of other religions too, including Judaism and Christianity.
In the creation story at the beginning of the Bible, the sun is a symbol of all that is regular, stable and predictable. The sun rises, and the sun sets. It happens every day. It never fails, except in those moments when God shows his displeasure, such as at the moment of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross at Calvary on Good Friday, when the sky goes totally dark.
The sun also represents the greatness of God in the Old Testament section of the Bible. All that is good, all that is glorious about God, is symbolized by the sun. When people disobey his commands, it’s as if the sun has gone behind a cloud. When people turn back to him, it’s like the sun rising again.
This is similar to how Jesus is described in the New Testament too. In his gospel, John describes Jesus as light, with no darkness in him at all. Jesus represents all that is open, true and just. Nothing is hidden. The very last description of Jesus in the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, says that ‘his face was like the sun shining at full strength’.
Song/music
‘Walking on sunshine’ by Katrina and the Waves, available at: https://youtu.be/iPUmE-tne5U (3.48 minutes long)
