Why Wendover continues traditional assemblies
Assemblies are the perfect opportunity for a whole school to join together on a regular basis to share their thoughts. For an online school like Wendover Online School, assemblies are even more valuable. Assemblies give everyone involved the chance to come together. They also provide each child an equal voice before the whole school community.
In this blog, Wendover Principal Sarah Bacon picks out her highlights from a recent Assembly.
Reinforcing our shared community
“Our team love the opportunity to bring pupils of all ages and abilities together in assemblies,” enthuses Sarah. “Although they work independently or in small online groups, our pupils enjoy seeing their fellow students at online events like this. It is also great for our teachers to meet both pupils and colleagues outside the online classroom.”
For example, Science teacher Dan Gregory shared a stimulating presentation on a recent school-wide project for British Science Week. His examples from across the school showed the different ways in which pupils had explored the theme of Growth. It was clearly fascinating for everyone to see the range of experiments carried out, and how their work fitted in to the community-wide project.
And in our end of year school assembly, we welcomed John Thorpe – Former Headmaster of Sunninghill Prep School, who gave an inspirational talk to our students and staff on perseverance .
Valuing every child
Wendover assemblies are structured to give time for a summary of what each year group. To show what they have been working on during the term, and to give individual praise for special effort. Teachers may take the opportunity to ask students to explain their work. This gives everyone from youngest to oldest an equal voice and is a valuable builder of confidence.
Celebrating achievements
Our assemblies are the perfect forum for sharing praise, whether for individual student progress or for group achievements. This time, Art teacher Stephanie Beesley shared the variety of artistic talent across the school. The presentation showcased last term’s whole school ‘Ocean Art’ project. Pupils were clearly impressed by their fellow students’ work and along with staff gave live feedback.
We also congratulated our Year 11 students who have worked so hard this year and deserve to get some outstanding GCSE results this summer.
Learning from your peers
Perhaps most helpful of all to fellow students was a heartfelt contribution from a Year 11 student, who explained how worried she had been that she would not achieve anything. Arriving at Wendover just a year ago after having been home-schooled, Amelie described her “newfound love of learning”. Amelie encouraged students to take advantage of Wendover’s system, trusting that it works. She is on course for some good GCSE results this summer.
Regular assemblies are rewarding for us all
“We find our assemblies motivational for both staff and children,” concludes Sarah. “It gives everyone an opportunity to catch up and we all leave with smiles. Plus, it gave Emily the chance to remind us about her birthday!”
If you’d like to hear more about our online assemblies, or how we provide online support outside the classroom, please contact us on +44 1604 213 477 or email on enquiries@wendoverschool.com. Alternatively, download our Prospectus.
