Autumn 1 - Love and Peace

Assembly Plan

We read a book about Rosa Parks and Years 4 to 6 watched a dramatisation of her bus journey on 1 December 1955 in the town of Montgomery, Alabama. Parks was making her usual journey returning home from work when she was asked to give up her seat in the section of the bus reserved for black passengers by a white passenger who had boarded and could not find space in the section reserved for whites. Parks refused to give up her seat and was later arrested and charged.

We reflected about times when we'd experienced things that seemed unfair... How we felt and what we did.  We discussed that, at times, we need to show courage (one of our school core values) to say something, as sometimes all it takes is a single courageous voice to begin to put things right.'

In Key Stage 1 learnt about Mary Seacole, who Mary lived a long time ago. She was born over two hundred years ago and is a figure from Black history.

We can learn important things from Mary’s extraordinary life. Her determination to help others, her refusal to listen to those people who thought she wasn’t good enough, her immense courage and energy, he care she provided to soldiers from all backgrounds during a terrible time of war, the way she demonstrates what it is possible for one person to achieve when they show persistence, courage and determination.

Courage is also one of our school's core values so we thought about how we could show courage.

In Key Stage 2, we learnt about Martin Luther King. 

Dr King was born on the 15th of January 1929 and lived in America, where every year there is a public holiday to remember and celebrate his life.

At the time Martin Luther King lived, much of America did not allow the same rights to all its citizens, for example, a Black person might not be allowed to go to the same places or do the same things as a White person. Dr King devoted his life to finding peaceful ways to struggle against that injustice and became a figurehead for what is known as the Civil Rights Movement.

He is particularly famous for a speech he gave, one of the most famous speeches of all time, in which he outlined his vision for a fairer, more just society for everyone. Today we call it the ‘I have a dream speech’.