Summer: An end of term assembly

To appreciate and welcome summer and to say goodbye to friends who are leaving.

by Jan Edmunds

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To appreciate and welcome summer and to say goodbye to friends who are leaving.

Preparation and materials

• The lines of the poem could be written on cards for groups or individuals to read. Paintings or pictures could help to illustrate the poem. An OHP/whiteboard would be useful to display the words for everyone.
• The song/tune ‘The sun has got his hat on’ could be played as the children enter.
• You could also use this assembly to reinforce the importance of using sunscreen and covering up in the hot weather.

Assembly

1. Most people love the summer: the sunshine, and the things we can do, like visit the seaside or the park. We look forward to the summer holidays. But we also remember that when we come back to school in September some of our friends will no longer be here. They will have moved to another school. In our school there will be new classes, new children and new teachers. It will be a new adventure.
2. Ask the children to listen carefully to the poem, as you would like to discuss it with them afterwards.
   
   Summer
   By Jan Edmunds
   
   In summer the living is easy with holidays, blue skies and sea.
   We can eat our meals in the open air beneath a shady tree.
   The perfume of flowers surrounds us.
   We can smell the new-mown hay.
   There’s a lazy drone of an aeroplane as it flies along its way.
   People look so much happier and children can go out to play.
   We all feel so much better in the warmth of a summer’s day.
   Remember, though, when summer ends we’ll see some friends no more,
   But we shall not forget them, of that we can be sure.
3. Allow time for discussion: Why does the poem suggest that living is so much easier in the summer? Why would we sit under a shady tree? Why has the hay been cut and gathered? Where do you think that aeroplane might be going? Why are there more flowers in the summer than at other times of the year? Do you feel happier at this time of year? Why is that?
4. Optional: The children could join in and sing ‘The sun has got his hat on’.
5. Although summer is a happy time and we enjoy it for all these reasons, it’s also a time when we say goodbye to some of our friends. The holidays are an interval – a time between – for those who are in our school today but will soon be leaving us and moving on to a new school. We wish them well and hope they will not forget us – and we will not forget them.

Time for reflection

Reflection

Summer: most people love it, but in this country the summer doesn’t always turn out to be as warm and sunny as we hope!

So what will you do to make the best of the best days of the summer? Think about that quietly now and determine not to waste a second of the sun when it comes!

Prayer

Dear God,

We thank you for the summer holidays.

Thank you for all our friends here today.

Thank you for all the lessons we have learned and for all the games we have played,

for the stories and poems we have heard and for the songs we have sung.

Please bless all those who are leaving this school today.

We ask you to watch over them and keep them safe and happy

in the holidays and in their new schools.

We thank you for the warmth of the summer sun that brightens our lives.

May that warmth be forever in our hearts.

Amen.

Song/music

‘God of the morning’ (Come and Praise, 105)