What's included in the Bodhi Day Whole School Assembly PowerPoint resource and why is it useful?

Bodhi Day Whole School Assembly PowerPoint is a slideshow that introduces children to the day Buddhists remember Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha. The content includes 9 slides, covering what Bodhi Day is, the story of Siddhartha Gautama under the bodhi tree, how Bodhi Day is celebrated, a short mindfulness exercise and a reflection. It links to RE learning about Buddhism.

The Story of Bodhi Day

How a rich prince in India left his riches behind and sat beneath a bodhi tree until he reached enlightenment and became known as the Buddha, opening with "What does it feel like to make a new discovery?"

How Is Bodhi Day Celebrated?

Candles and lights to symbolise wisdom, decorated fig trees and stories about the Buddha, with the question "Can you think of any special days that you celebrate in a similar way?"

Mindfulness and Reflection

A guided mindfulness exercise that can be timed to suit your assembly, followed by a reflection on "What can we learn from the story of Bodhi Day?"

How do our whole school assemblies work?

Our whole school assemblies are PowerPoint slideshows that follow a similar structure: an introduction, questions to get children thinking, the key points of the topic and reflection time. They're paced to suit a primary school assembly and work best on a whiteboard, projected out to the hall. You can use them:

• as a whole school assembly, from EYFS up to KS2
• as a class assembly
• as a teaching PowerPoint when you want to cover an event or topic in your own classroom

The majority of our assemblies include teacher notes and guidance to support delivery, and because they're pacey, you can adapt them to however long your assembly lasts.

Adapting the Assembly for Your School

Every assembly is editable, so you can add, remove or change slides to suit the needs of your school. We cover religious events, seasonal topics, values such as kindness, friendship and tolerance, science, history, PSHE, music, significant people and sporting events, so you can choose the assemblies that fit your school year.

Supporting Learning at Home

Families can carry the conversation on at home by asking children about their assembly: what they heard, how it made them feel and what they think about it.

You can explore more of our whole school assembly resources here.