Previously a secondary science and dance teacher, followed by many years as a parish priest, Ronni Lamont now works freelance as a writer, trainer and consultant, as well as editing www.assemblies.org.uk. Her other books include The God Who Leads Us On, Understanding Children, Understanding God and More Secondary School Assemblies all published by SPCK, and Leaping the Vicarage Wall, published by Continuum.

This new addition to the SPCK Assemblies series is a collection of assemblies that will help teachers to celebrate with all their children throughout the school year, no matter which faith they belong to. The book features assemblies dedicated to the festivals of nine major world religions: the Baha'i Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism. All of the assemblies have been written by people of a Christian background, so they conform to the present law concerning Collective Worship in schools. As with all books in the Assemblies series, helpful icons and a subject index make the book a user-friendly resource for school assembly leaders.

Ronni Lamont

Cover

Title page

Imprint

List of contributors

Foreword

Introduction

Editor’s note

1. BAHA’I

Naw-Ruz: Beginning of spring (21 March)

Ridvan: Baha' Ullah's time in the Garden of Ridvan (sunset 21 April to sunset 2 May)

The ascension of Baha' Ullah (29 May)

The martyrdom of the Bab (9 July)

2. BUDDHISM

Bodhi Day: The enlightenment of Buddha (8 December)

Magha Puja: Fourfold Assembly day (usually February/March – movable festival)

Wesak: Birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha (April/May – movable festival)

3. CHRISTIANITY

St Francis (4 October)

Epiphany: The coming of the wise men (6 January)

Candlemas: Jesus' presentation at the temple ceremony remembered (2 February or nearest Sunday)

Corpus Christi: The body of Christ (Thursday after Trinity Sunday – movable festival)

Lent: Jesus fasting in the desert (spring – movable festival)

Ascension – Jesus says goodbye to his friends and ascends into heaven (Thursday, 40 days after Easter – movable festival)

Pentecost: Beginning of the Christian Church (Sunday, 50 days after Easter – movable festival)

Ignatius of Loyola (31 July)

4. HINDUISM

Diwali: Festival of lights (October/November – movable festival)

Ganesh Chaturthi: Birthday of the elephant-headed god (August/September – movable festival)

Holi: Festival of colour (February/March, movable festival)

Janmashtami: Birth of Krishna (August/September – movable festival)

Raksha Bandhan: A festival for brothers and sisters (usually August – movable festival)

Vasant Panchami: A new beginning (January/February – movable festival)

5. ISLAM

Al-Hijra: Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina, Islamic New Year (varies – movable festival)

Eid ul-Adha: Festival of sacrifice (varies – movable festival)

Eid ul-Fitr: End of Ramadan (varies – movable festival)

Ramadan: Month-long fast (varies – movable festival)

6. JAINISM

Mahavira Jayanti: Mahavira's birthday (March/April – movable festival)

Paryusana: A time to pray and learn (August/September – movable festival)

7. JUDAISM

Rosh Hashanah: Jewish New Year, Day of Remembrance, Day of Judgement (September/October – movable festival)

Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement (September/October – movable festival)

Sukkot: Feast of Tabernacles and Harvest (September/October – movable festival)

Hanukkah: Festival of Lights (December – movable festival)

Tu bi-Sebat: New Year of Trees (January/February – movable festival)

8. SIKHISM

Birthday of Guru Nanak: Celebration to remember teaching of equality (October/November – movable festival)

Hola Mohalla: Celebration of valour and defence preparedness (March – movable festival)

Baisakhi: Sikh New Year and celebration of commitment (13 April)

Martyrdom of Guru Arjan: The consequences of jealousy (16 June)

9. ZOROASTRIANISM

No Ruz: Zoroastrian New Year (21 March – movable festival)

Zartusht-no-diso: Remembering the first Zoroastrian prophet (26 May/26 December – movable festival)

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This new addition to the SPCK Assemblies series is a collection of assemblies that will help teachers to celebrate with all their children throughout the school year, no matter which faith they belong to. The book features assemblies dedicated to the festivals of nine major world religions.

Previously a secondary science and dance teacher, followed by many years as a parish priest, Ronni Lamont now works freelance as a writer, trainer and consultant, as well as editing www.assemblies.org.uk . Her other books include The God Who Leads Us On, Understanding Children, Understanding God and More Secondary School Assemblies all published by SPCK, and Leaping the Vicarage Wall, published by Continuum.

The Good Book Stall

Anyone who regularly rises to the challenge of putting together an assembly or act of collective worship knows how important 'off the shelf' resources are. We all benefit from being able to draw on the wisdom and experience of others. In this wonderful collection of primary school assemblies we have plenty of both.  
  
Drawing on the expertise of a dozen authors, Ronni Lamont has compiled an imaginative collection of assembly material that celebrates a wide variety of religious festivals from nine of the world's major religions. Each assembly is presented in a similar format with a clear aim, guidance on preparation and materials, content for the assembly itself, resources for a few moments of reflection and a song. Although these are assemblies and not acts of collective worship, they do lean towards the latter. Each includes a prayer that would not be out of place if used in church and a song, all of which, I think, are Christian in origin.  
  
There are some wonderful touches in these assemblies - such as the lighting of candles to illustrate that sharing light (or love or happiness) can never reduce the light of the giver. And the emphasis on storytelling is brilliant – after all, stories provide the foundations for all our faiths. Whilst I might reduce the information content of some of these assemblies, I can also see how to apply them quite readily to a secondary school environment. It also might be more helpful to organise the contents by date or time of year, rather than by faith. 'What can I do today?' being the common refrain of assembly leaders!   
  
An excellent collection that should be available in every staff room.  
  
(The editor also edits The Assemblies Website \[see link\] for those whose appetites are inexhaustible!.)

Primary School Assemblies for Religious Festivals

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