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

Constellations Whole School Assembly PowerPoint is a slideshow that explores the star patterns people have used to map the night sky and tell stories for thousands of years. The content includes 10 slides with teacher notes, covering what constellations are, constellations we can see in the UK, why constellations change with the seasons, stories written in the stars, how different cultures see the same stars, the science behind the stars and follow-up activities. It links to science learning about Earth and space.

Spotting Constellations from the UK

Ursa Major (The Plough), Orion and its belt of three stars and the W shape of Cassiopeia, and why we see different constellations as Earth travels around the Sun, with questions such as "Why do you think people joined stars together to make shapes instead of looking at each star on its own?"

Stories in the Stars

Greek myths such as Orion the hunter, and the different animals, emperors and dragons that Native American and Chinese cultures have seen, asking "Why do you think different cultures tell different stories about the same stars?"

Let's Learn More

Follow-up ideas, including creating your own constellation with a story behind it, drawing it in white chalk on black paper and going stargazing with an adult.

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.