Assemblies

[Richard1978]

What memories do people have of school assemblies?

We've covered hymns elsewhere, but they tended to have other elements.

Speeches & readings by teachers tended to be a staple, especially if the message they were trying to put across was misunderstood.

Every now & again someone from outside school would give a demonstration of something sometimes with the same result as the above.

Primary schools used to have family assemblies, with one class often performing a play or something like it on stage. These always seemed to have a younger pre-school sibling making a noise like a tortured pig at a crucial moment.

My secondary school ones didn't seem to be much more than a reading or 2, with the odd presentation by a form. I think my form managed not to give a single one in the time I was there. I always had the excuse I was too busy with homework!

[Moonraker]

Re: Assemblies

I recall in primary school we use to enter the hall quiety with Swan Lake playing in the background.

[Donald the Great]

Re: Assemblies

We had assembly outside on the concrete playground in the sweltering heat of summer and freezing cold of winter. Never send your kids to boarding school.

[Danniella]

Re: Assemblies

We had assembly outside on the concrete playground in the sweltering heat of summer and freezing cold of winter. Never send your kids to boarding school.

I remember you telling me about your boarding school when we first got acquainted Donny, sounded awful to be honest. I went to a Catholic school, i remember my brother being locked in a cupboard with other kids because they were late for assembly one morning.

[victorbrunswick]

Re: Assemblies

At my elementary school assemblies were held in what was called the Multi Purpose Room, aka the school cafeteria. One of the things I hated about assembly was having to sit on the floor. At first they used to put out chairs for the assemblies and then after a while stopped doing that. A few years ago I went there to vote (it was being used as a polling place) and was struck by how small it actually was. Back when I was a kid it looked cavernous.

[Richard1978]

Re: Assemblies

I never liked sitting on the hall floor, especially as one teacher used to make use change for PE before so we could use the hall straight after.

In my last year at primary school we were supposed to sit on benches at the back of the hall, but as our classroom was furthest away from the hall, another class had normally sat on them by the time we got there!

[Danniella]

Re: Assemblies

I remember my primary school had a carpet with square patterns on, we were told to sit on the squares, it gave us plenty of room instead of being squashed.

[George 1978]

Re: Assemblies

Yes, it was called "Service" at Infant School - we sung hymns and listened to what the headteacher was going on about. Friday mornings we had a pianist come in and we sung to what she was playing.

Harvest Festivals, birthdays, that sort of thing also came to mind as well.

[Arran]

Re: Assemblies

Friday mornings we had a pianist come in and we sung to what she was playing.

What? None of the teachers could play the piano!

There was a time when the ability to play the piano was a great advantage when applying to become a primary school teacher.

Some primary schools even had kids playing the piano in assembly because none of the teachers could or they weren't in that day.

[zabadak]

Re: Assemblies

I remember filing in to the assembly hall once and Mrs. Nuttall was playing The Rustle Of Spring on the piano - rather well as I recall!

[Richard1978]

Re: Assemblies

I remember the teacher who could play the piano best at my primary left & the next best was never as good, but a few teacher who started soon after was a good as the first.

At another school one of the teachers used to play a tape of hymns when no-one was available to play the piano.

At both schools we occasionally had music played as came in & out, sometimes I would try to dance & sing along & get told off!

[MalcolmAndSheldon]

Re: Assemblies

I went to a CofE junior school, where assemblies would often be taken by a vicar. It was actually pretty good - less about god, more about interesting moral dilemmas. He was a pretty good vicar - a part-time cartoonist apparently; there was once a TV news segment/documentary (I can't recall which) about his efforts in getting a cartoon published in one of the dailies.

[Arran]

Re: Assemblies

A friend attended a religious primary school that held communion services in assembly with bread and wine. The head teacher would fill a silver cup with Ribena then take a swig of it before offering it round to all the kids. If you were one of the last kids to be offered a sip it was more spit than Ribena. One day the friend poured caustic soda into the Ribena bottle. The head teacher in assembly said "Blood of Christ" before taking a swig then spat it out and dropped the cup. None of the kids knew what had happened when the head teacher was choking and spitting on the stage before other teachers got up to help her. She was off sick from school for the rest of the week due to chemical burns to her mouth and lips. During the week the vicar came in to hold assembly where he gave a stern lecture about sin making reference to the caustic soda in the Ribena and how God has seen the kid who put it in who had not owned up yet. The friend never owned up to doing it.

[Twocky61]

Re: Assemblies

As for school assemblies: I appreciate it's a school community thing. Obviously for the headmaster/principle to tell the school's pupils about coming up school events. Fair enough

But the religious issue? I refused to attend school assemblies. I wasn't the only one

So us 'refusing to attend school assemblies' group, we were often called into the headmasters room to be chastised for not attending

Our response?

Not actually "F*** off" but words to that effect.

We stood up for our non-belief of religion

The headmaster had no response to that & just left it there in the ether

[80sChav]

Re: Assemblies

Par Primary - mosdt of ours was rubbish, especially at both my Secondarys!

The later encomposed probably notices/warnings about where to not venture (just off the Playgrounds) as they did at Primary, which included an RE element too!

A lot of time the Secondary's included other warnings too - like Uniform in-particular especially!! Another from Primary (or theme clinked) was Harvest Festivals and the like (which is religously linked) and that we'd all have a chance to go this Sheltered Complex for Reired people - which was either in 4th or 5th Year (Year 5 or 6) at Primary - but far from it did we all have a chance what-soever!!


80sChav