Unley Primary marked a special moment in the school’s history last week when we hosted our first virtual assembly! Rather than us all gathering in the Sport Arts Centre as would usually be the case, students across the school tuned in from their classroom using the interactive whiteboard at the regular time of 2.30pm on Thursday afternoon.

With classes and their teachers busy adapting to the many changes in the current circumstances, this assembly was hosted by our school’s leadership team. We had a lot of fun pulling together a few items to provide some light entertainment and a much needed laugh.

We decided that, like all good assemblies, this one needed a theme. We went for an alliteration flavour, with riveting segments including Jokes with Julie, Poetry with Peter, Optical illusions with Mr O’Connor and Rapping with Miss Reid! You’ll be relieved to know we included regular assembly items like the national anthem and acknowledgment of country. We all agree the highlight was doing a whip around of classes where we all had the chance to wave to one another and say hi. Our screens lit up with live footage of kids smiling ear to ear and bursting forward to get a moment in front of the camera.

While the leadership team thought things went pretty well for our first go, we’d much prefer to leave the running of assembly in the far more capable hands of kids!

As we settle back into Term 2, we will look at ways of making virtual assemblies a regular part of our school calendar, including for those students who are learning at home. Staying connected with our school community is especially important right now and there’s no better way to lift the spirits than an Unley Primary School assembly – no matter how it looks!