Doctors and nurses

To help children appreciate those who care for our needs.

by The Revd Sophie Jelley

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To help the children appreciate those who care for our needs.

Preparation and materials

• Prepare a set of quiz questions about those who help us (see 1. below).
• You will need a Bible.
• A doctor's and nurse's outfit if you can get hold of them – if not, something to represent these professions.

Assembly

1. Ask the children if any have had a wobbly tooth recently. Use that to introduce the quiz questions about those who care for our health needs.
   
   Who do we go and see when we have a problem or need a check-up for our teeth? Dentist.
   Who comes to school to check our health, etc? School nurse.
   Who would we go to if one of our pets was poorly? Vet.
   Who do we visit when we need new glasses? Optician.
   
   Maybe throw in some harder ones if appropriate, like:
   
   Who would your mum go to see if she were expecting a baby? Midwife.
   Who treats people's feet problems? Chiropodist.
   Who might treat a bad back? Osteopath.
   
   Add your own questions suitable for the context. Explain that we are very fortunate to have so many people who are specially trained to care for our needs.
2. Some of these healthcare people wear special clothes that tell other people what job they do. Tell the children that you have brought some things that these people wear or use when they do their jobs. Choose two volunteers to come and model them. Introduce them as nurse (name of child) and doctor (name of child) – they stand at the front.
3. Say that in the Bible, at the time of Jesus, there were also people like this whose job it was to care for the needs of others. You are going to tell a story about one of them – ask for a show of hands whether they think it's a nurse or a doctor.
   
   Read the opening verses of the Gospel of Luke (1.1-4). Explain to the children what this means – that the writer was very interested in history. You could ask the children who likes history lessons, etc.
   
   This man was called Luke and he wrote one of the most important books ever written. He wrote one of the Gospels – the books of the Bible that tell the life story of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). He also wrote a second book, continuing the story, all about the very first church there ever was. That book is called the Acts of the Apostles.
   
   But this man's job wasn't as a writer of books or a historian. He was actually trained as a doctor – hands up who guessed right. Luke was called 'the beloved physician', which means that he was a valued doctor who looked after the needs of others.
   
   Give the volunteers a round of applause.

Time for reflection

Reflection

Close your eyes. Touch the teeth in your mouth. Touch your eyelids. Touch your ears. Pat your tummy. Feel your toes.

Think about all the people who care for the different parts of our bodies when we have a problem.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for all the people who care for our needs and the needs of others.

We pray for all those who are learning to become doctors and nurses

so that they can look after people when they are ill.

We pray for all who work in hospitals and doctors' surgeries today.

Please help them in their work.

And we think of countries where there is not as much healthcare as we enjoy.

Amen.

Song/music

'Spirit of peace' (Come and Praise, 85)