Rules, Rules, Rules!
Why do we have school rules?
by Alexandra Palmer
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider school rules and why we have them.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Rules, Rules, Rules!) and the means to display them.
- You will need a copy of your school or classroom rules. Alternatively, you can use this assembly as a starting point for developing these rules.
- Have available the YouTube video ‘Adam and Eve sin’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 3.24 minutes long and is available at: https://youtu.be/l7TDvJrjjz0
- Optional: you may also wish to use the extension activity (Rules, Rules, Rules! - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Ask the children, ‘What are our school rules?’
Pause to allow time for the children to discuss their ideas and then listen to a range of responses.
Show a copy of your school or classroom rules. - Show Slide 2.
Ask the children, ‘Which school rules are the easiest to break and why?’
Pause to allow time for the children to discuss their ideas and then listen to a range of responses. - Tell the children that you are going to show them a video about the story of Adam and Eve, which is found at the start of the Bible. The account tells us that Adam and Eve were the first people who lived on Earth. They broke a rule, which means that they did something wrong. Doing something wrong is sometimes called committing a sin.
Show the YouTube video ‘Adam and Eve sin’ (3.24 minutes long). - Ask the following questions about the video, encouraging the children to discuss their answers and, where appropriate, express them.
- Where did Adam and Eve live? (Answer: the Garden of Eden.)
- What was the tree called? (Answer: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.)
- What did the serpent do? (Answer: he tricked Adam and Eve into eating the fruit.)
- Why did Eve pick the fruit and eat it? (Answer: she wanted to have knowledge of good and evil, and be as wise as God.)
- What was the outcome of Adam and Eve’s actions? (Answer: life became more difficult because both of them had to leave the beautiful garden and be separated from God.)
- How did God show that he still cared for Adam and Eve? (Answer: God made them clothes by using some animal skins.)
- How many rules did Adam and Eve break? (Answer: they only broke one rule; God had only given them one rule.) - Show Slide 3.
Read out the words on the slide: God only gave Adam and Eve one rule to follow. Did this give them plenty of freedom to do their own thing or no freedom?
Ask the children to give a thumbs-up if they think that it gave Adam and Eve plenty of freedom, and a thumbs-down if they think that it gave them no freedom.
Explain to the children that God had given Adam and Eve plenty of freedom because they could do their own things every day. They had all their food and needs provided for them.
Time for reflection
Show Slide 4.
Ask the children, ‘Why did God give one rule rather than no rules?’
Pause to allow time for the children to discuss their ideas and then listen to a range of responses.
Show Slide 5.
Explain that God wanted to create a safe place that had boundaries. He wanted to protect Adam and Eve, and keep them safe and well.
Show Slide 6.
Ask the children, ‘Why do we have school rules?’
Pause to allow time for the children to discuss their ideas and then listen to a range of responses.
Show Slide 7 and read out the bullet points.
Explain to the children that if we didn’t have rules, classrooms and playgrounds would become chaotic, unsafe places.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the story of Adam and Eve, and the lessons that we can learn from it.
Thank you for the rules that we have at school that help to keep us safe.
Thank you for our school rules that help to create positive learning environments and fantastic friendships.
Please help us to learn from our mistakes.
Please help us to be willing to say sorry.
Amen.
Extension activities
- Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (Rules, Rules, Rules! - Extension Activity). Ask them to pretend that they are the headteacher and draw their own school rules around the picture.
