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

Navratri Whole School Assembly PowerPoint is a slideshow that introduces the Hindu festival of nine nights. The content includes 11 slides, covering what Navratri means, the story of the goddess Durga, how long the festival lasts, Lakshmi and Saraswati, garba and dandiya dances, how Navratri is celebrated, Dussehra, key themes, links with school values and what everyone can learn from Navratri. It links to RE learning about Hinduism.

The Story of Durga

How Navratri celebrates the goddess Durga's victory over an evil demon, why she is seen as a symbol of strength and protection, and how some families fast during the nine nights and ten days.

Celebrating Navratri

Garba and dandiya dances, prayers at home or in a temple, lamps, special food and Dussehra, the celebration of good over evil, alongside Lakshmi and Saraswati, with the question "Why are learning and wisdom important in school?"

Lessons for Everyone

Good overcoming evil, courage and togetherness, and how we can learn from the festival even if we do not celebrate it, ending with "How will you show courage, kindness or togetherness this week?"

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.