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

World Astronomy Day Whole School Assembly PowerPoint is a slideshow that celebrates our curiosity about space and encourages children to explore the wonders of the universe. The content includes 11 slides with teacher notes, covering what astronomy is, why we celebrate World Astronomy Day, amazing facts about space, astronomers who changed our view of space, exploring beyond Earth, space in our everyday lives, careers in space, a reflection and follow-up activities. It links to science learning about Earth and space.

Amazing Space Facts

How light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach Earth, the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way and why more than 1300 Earths could fit inside Jupiter.

Changing Our View of Space

Galileo Galilei, Caroline Herschel and Edwin Hubble, and how telescopes such as Jodrell Bank, rockets, probes and rovers explore beyond Earth, with questions such as "Why do you think scientists use robots as well as people to explore space?"

Space in Our Everyday Lives

How satellites support GPS, weather forecasts and the internet, and the many jobs in space science, asking "Which space career interests you the most and why?"

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.