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

VE Day Whole School Assembly PowerPoint is a slideshow that helps children understand why 8th May 1945 is remembered as Victory in Europe Day. The content includes 13 slides, covering a World War II timeline, life in the UK during six years of war, Winston Churchill's radio announcement, Princess Elizabeth joining the crowds in London, the 80th anniversary and why we still commemorate VE Day now. It links to the KS1 and KS2 history curriculum and makes an ideal assembly for remembering the past and talking about peace.

The End of the War in Europe

Slides on how the war ended and what life was like during it, from rationing and blackouts to evacuation, with questions such as "If you had been alive at that time, how would you have felt hearing the news?"

Significant Individuals

Profiles of Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Winston Churchill, including the Queen's own memories of celebrating VE Day in 1945.

Impact on Us Today

A look at why peace is precious, framed around the question "What can we learn from the past?", plus ideas for further learning such as visiting a museum, researching family members who served and throwing a VE Day street party.

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.