July Assemblies

Facing History Approach to Assemblies 

Assemblies are a critical part of the school day. Regular assemblies provide an opportunity to bring your students together in order to introduce important issues and share your school’s values and priorities. Utilised correctly, assemblies have the potential to build an inclusive and supportive school community.   

At Facing History, our assemblies have been designed to introduce students to significant annual and/or historical events, whilst supporting them to become empathetic and critical thinkers. Each assembly also provides students with opportunities to share their thoughts with each other, helping them to develop oracy and listening skills. The assemblies last for approximately 20 minutes, but can be adapted to suit your specific timing requirements. 

Facing History assemblies do not require specialist knowledge and are suitable for use in a KS3 or KS4 assembly or in tutor time/PSHE. Some assemblies have been adapted from existing Facing History lessons and resources available on our website, while others have been newly created. 

Assemblies in July

There are two assemblies available for use in July. 

South Asian Heritage Month

South Asian Heritage Month takes place from 18 July to 17 August and is an opportunity for us to learn about and celebrate South Asian histories, cultures and communities. Whilst the majority of schools will be off on their summer break during these dates, many schools will be celebrating South Asian Heritage Month early and this assembly will help schools who are hoping to celebrate this event with their students. The theme for this year’s South Asian History Month is ‘Stories We Tell’ and after reading a poem by South Asian poet, Moniza Alvi, your students will have the opportunity to think about how they might share their own stories about identity and experiences. This activity could take place during the assembly, during a lesson at the end of term, or could be set as a task to be completed over the summer break.  

Reflecting on the Academic Year

No academic year is complete without students having an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and achievements over the last year. This assembly provides your students with an opportunity to journal, to reflect on the school year and to consider how they have grown as individuals. There is also an opportunity for students to share their experiences and anecdotes with one another and to explore how their shared experiences might link them as members of one community. Finally, this assembly ends with providing students with the opportunity to think about what they might like to achieve in the next academic year and so serves as both a period of reflection and reset before the start of the next school year. 

Notes for Use

Download the student-facing slides here. While you may need to modify these to meet the needs of your students, please note that Facing History and Ourselves does not endorse any changes that alter the presentation's content or original layout.