Theme 1 - New beginnings

I’ll be the only one from this school at my new secondary
Concepts: self-awareness/managing feelings
Tanya moves from a small primary to a large secondary.  No other children from her school have made the move with her.

I didn’t get into the school that I and my parents wanted
Concepts: managing feelings/social skills/empathy
Aisha’s mum is angry because her daughter hasn’t got into the secondary school of the family’s choice. Eventually, with Aisha’s help, she begins to accept what’s happened.

I think my mum drinks too much
Concepts: managing feeling
Since Cody’s dad left, his mum has started drinking a lot. At first Cody notices only small changes in her behaviour, but he becomes increasingly worried. Who should he go to for help?

I want to go to church but my mum won’t let me
Concepts: managing feelings/empathy
Danny is in a church football team. It doesn’t mean he has to go to church, but some of the others go and he wants to give it a try. His mum’s not in favour.

I want to stop stealing
Concepts: motivation/self awareness/managing feeling
Casey has got into a bad crowd at school and started shoplifting. She’d like to stop but it’s a hard habit to break, especially when her ‘friends’ encourage her.

Moving to a smaller house
Concepts: self awareness/managing feelings/empathy
Harry’s dad loses his job. His parents have to sell the family home and move to a smaller house in a new area. It’s hard for Harry to give up so many things that he took for granted before. The whole family has to readjust.

Theme 2 - Getting on and falling out

The day I argued with my best friend
Concepts: self awareness/managing feelings
Sophie and Niamh are best friends until a silly argument threatens to spoil things for good. How can the girls learn to sort out their differences?

My friend messes around and I get into trouble
Concepts: motivation/self awareness/managing feelings
Neil’s best friend at school is Seb. The trouble is that Seb messes around a lot and Neil ends up getting into trouble, too. Neil doesn’t want to lose Seb as a friend but he wants to be able to get on with his work – and stop getting into trouble. How can he tell Seb how he feels?

Mum and Dad shout all the time
Concepts: empathy/social skills/managing feelings
Chris is upset by his parents’ arguments. They think they’re hiding them from him, but of course they aren’t really.

My Muslim friend isn’t allowed to come to our house
Concepts: empathy/managing feelings/social skills
Gemma wants her Muslim friend Jamila to come to her house. Gemma’s mum is doubtful because of an earlier experience. Jamila’s mum steps in with some common sense.

Sharing my step-brother’s room at weekends
Concepts: social skills/managing feelings
Alvin’s stepbrother is resentful of Alvin and shows it in various ways. It spoils Alvin’s enjoyment of his weekends with his dad.

Theme 3 - Say no to bullying

I didn’t stand up for what was right
Concepts: self awareness/empathy
Jack saw a younger child being bullied but he didn’t do anything to stop it. Now he feels guilty but doesn’t know what to do.

My friend is a bully
Concepts: self awareness/managing feeling/social skills
Jill has been friends with Heather for as long as she can remember – but Heather is a bully. Jill is dominated by her friend and doesn’t know how to stand up to her to tell her that what she’s doing is wrong.

I don’t like my babysitter
Concepts: social skills/empathy
A child is looked after by a careless child-minder/babysitter. What’s to be done?

I saw my friend steal from a shop and didn’t say anything
Concepts: social skills/empathy/managing feelings
Tony sees his friend steal from a sweet shop, and has a difficult decision to make.

My older cousin is a bully and makes me do stuff I don’t want to do
Concepts: empathy/social skills
Mark is forced by his older cousin to look at stuff on the internet that he doesn’t want to look at and knows he shouldn’t.

Theme 4 -  Going for goals

Why am I always last at sport?
Concepts: motivation/self awareness/managing feelings
Brooke is the first to admit that she’s not very good at sport, but it hurts her when people expect her to come last (and laugh at her). It’s just not fair!

I feel I just can’t keep up with the work
Concepts: managing feelings/motivation/social skills
Abby is a quiet child who constantly feels she’s being left behind in lessons.

I didn’t get picked for the basketball team
Concepts: motivation/managing feelings
Carlo was hoping to be picked for the basketball team but he wasn’t successful. Now he’s upset and never wants to look at another basketball again. His dad gives him some advice.

I can’t do my homework at home
Concepts: motivation/social skills/empathy
Darren’s resentful that his teacher doesn’t seem to understand the problems he has getting his homework done.

I’m scared of the dark
Concepts: managing feelings/empathy
Ben is scared of the dark. How can he conquer his fear? How can his parents help him?

Why did God invent sprouts
Concepts: motivation/empathy
Hayley hates sprouts and she can’t understand why God invented them – or why her mum tries to make her eat them.

Theme 5 - Good to be me

Controlling my temper – and counting to 10
Concepts: motivation/self awareness/managing feelings
Aden’s always losing his temper and getting into trouble. How can his parents help him control his temper?

I can’t see the board but I hate having to wear glasses
Concepts: empathy/motivation
When Bridget has to wear glasses, her mum foresees problems at school and decides to talk to Bridget’s teacher to try to head off any problems.

‘These scissors won’t work!’ Being left-handed
Concepts: self awareness/empathy
Ethan is left-handed. It makes him feel different from his classmates. His teacher helps him realise that it doesn’t have to be a problem.

I’m the shortest in my class and people call me names
Concepts: managing feelings/social skills
Ben’s teacher, Mr Scott, makes thoughtless remarks about his small stature. Ben’s mum tries to make Mr Scott realise that Ben doesn’t enjoy these comments.

Not a baby any more
Concepts: motivation/self awareness/managing feelings/empathy
Callum thinks his younger brother, Rhys, should be more grown-up – he’s not a baby any more. Rhys learns to be more responsible and Callum learns to deal with his jealousy – and finds out that there are benefits to being a big brother.

Theme 6 – Relationships

Playtime is lonely
Concepts: social skills/self awareness
Jaswinder is lonely at school. He’d like to talk about it, but finds it difficult.

I hate my sister
Concepts: self awareness/social skills
Robbie says he hates his sister. But his feelings about her are rather more complicated than that.

I lied to my dad and got found out – now he doesn’t trust me
Concepts: social skills/self awareness/managing feelings
Jack lies to get out of trouble with his dad. But he’s found out eventually.

My new grandad is very strict
Concepts: managing feelings/social skills
Kelly likes her mum’s new husband but her new grandad is very strict – and he’s going to be looking after her when her mum goes on honeymoon.

Will things be different with my new foster family?
Concepts: motivation/self awareness/empathy/social skills
Moxy is a little terror – or terrier. He arrives at his new foster home having been in several different ones over the last three years. It’s unsettling and this makes him angry and destructive. How can he overcome his bad behaviour and cope with his strong feelings? Will this new foster family be any different?

My dad has a new family and now I never see him
Concepts: self awareness/managing feeling
Kieran’s dad has married again. He has a new wife and two new stepchildren. Kieran feels resentful because he doesn’t see him as much as he used to do.

I’m good at everything – except making friends
Concepts: self awareness/social skills
Jay is good at all his lessons – but he’s not good at making friends. How can his parents and teachers help him?

Theme 7 – Changes

School dinners aren’t like the food we have at home
Concepts: motivation/social skills
Mark doesn’t like the food he gets for school dinners because it’s not like what he has at home. How can he be persuaded to actually try it?

Why can’t we have a dog?
Concepts: self awareness/managing feelings/social skills
Jodie wants a dog but her dad says ‘no’. He doesn’t think she’s mature or prepared enough to take long-term responsibility for a pet, but Jodie thinks she’s ready. This assembly offers both points of view and invites children to discuss the issue.

My sister is very ill – now everyone ignores me
Concepts: empathy/self awareness
Josh has very mixed feelings about his sister’s serious illness.

I’m my mum’s carer
Concepts: social skills/empathy
A child reflects on the emotional and physical challenges and rewards involved in caring for a parent with disability.

My best friend’s moving away
Concepts: social skills/self awareness/managing feelings
Deepak is sad because his friend is moving away. Will he ever see him again?

A new class teacher
Concepts: self-awareness/social skills
Mario suddenly finds that his favourite teacher is leaving and a new teacher will be taking over. He’s unhappy.