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Hopes and Dreams for the New Year

Heading towards a new year

by Hannah Taylor

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To encourage us to continue following our dreams.

Preparation and materials

  • Have available the YouTube video ‘Never lose hope’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 3.33 minutes long and is available at: https://youtu.be/CAdu-84Q5Nk

Assembly

  1. Ask the children, ‘What is hope?’

    Listen to a range of responses.

  2. Ask the children to suggest some sentences with the word ‘hope’ in them.

    Listen to a range of responses.

  3. Explain that hope is what we feel when we really want something to happen. We might really hope that it will be our favourite meal at lunchtime, or that our poorly friend feels better soon.

    Hope enables us to be positive and think of how we can make good things happen.

  4. Show the YouTube video ‘Never lose hope’ (3.33 minutes long).



  5. Ask the children if they spotted the messages about hope in the video.

    Listen to a range of responses.

  6. Ask the children, ‘What can we do to help others feel hopeful?’

    Listen to a range of responses.

    Explain that we could show people love and care. We all need to feel that we are loved and cared for.

    We could do this by:

    - offering to help someone (ask the children for ideas about how they could do this)
    - telling people that we appreciate them
    - reminding people that they deserve to be happy and helping to cheer them up
    - encouraging people to do the things that they enjoy, and expressing when they do things well

  7. Ask the children, ‘How can we achieve our own hopes and dreams?’

    Listen to a range of responses.

  8. Ask the children to think of something that they would love to do in the coming year. Ask them to think about things that they would like to do at home as a family, but particularly about things that they would like to do at school.

    Perhaps there is a hobby they would like to try, a skill they would like to learn, progress they want to make in a subject area or a team they want to join. Maybe their dream is to have more friends, to get to school on time . . . they could have all sorts of ideas.

  9. Ask the children to think about how they might achieve these dreams.

    If possible, give a personal example of something that you would like to do, and how you will try to achieve it in the coming year. Examples could include learning a new language, joining a fitness class, trying a different food and so on.

  10. Ask the children what they feel that they are good at.

    Point out that it’s good to be proud of ourselves when we learn something new or achieve something, however small that achievement might be.

    However, it’s important to look for achievements in others too. Sometimes, we can feel jealous when other people do well, but we should remind ourselves that we all have different skills and abilities. Although ours might be different from others’, they are still valuable and should be celebrated.

    Encourage the children to look for achievements in others, encourage each other and say, ‘Well done!’

Time for reflection

Ask the children to think again about something that they would like to achieve in 2025.

Ask them to consider how they can progress that idea. Is there any action that they need to take?

Encourage the children to speak to someone if they are not sure what action they could take. Point out that sometimes, the bravest thing that we can do is to take the first step towards doing something new. Challenge the children to be brave!

Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for our time on earth,
And for the beauty and love around us.
Thank you for the wonders and adventures that we are yet to experience.
Please guide us and help us to encourage and support those around us.
Please help us to follow our dreams.
Amen.

Publication date: December 2024   (Vol.26 No.12)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
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