Use this PowerPoint to help you deliver a Soccer Aid for Unicef Playground Challenge assembly in your school. It will help pupils understand why they are fundraising and inspire them to raise money when they take part in this year’s Playground Challenge, which is on Friday 14 June.   This ready-made assembly has been designed to take around 15 minutes to deliver. A script for presenters is included in the Notes for each slide. Please feel free to use and adapt it to suit your needs. Useful supporting information for the presenter is in italics.

Start the assembly by asking, ‘Who can tell me what a child needs to be able to grow up happy and healthy?’ Take the students’ answers. They might say: a healthy diet, health care, protection from harm, love from parents or carers, a safe home. Once students have listed the obvious, reveal the surprising element: Play.

Does it surprise you to know that play is as essential to a child’s development as nutrition, health care, love, a safe home, and protection from danger? Just 15 minutes of play can spark thousands of connections in a baby’s brain. Playing while young has a big impact on a child’s future life. It increases the likelihood of doing well at school, being healthy, living a happy life and playing an active role in society.

Find the film at socceraid.org.uk/ schools-resources This is a short film about two brothers called Ayas and Younus. They were forced to leave their home in Myanmar when conflict erupted and their parents were killed. Their grandmother took them to safety in Bangladesh, where they’ve been living in a refugee camp since August 2017. You’ll see in the film how important play is in their lives. The film will help students understand how the money raised for the Soccer Aid for Unicef Playground Challenge helps children around the world whose lives have been turned upside down. You should be able to stream the film directly from this presentation by clicking on the play button. Please make sure that external content is enabled. If you experience problems, you can download the film (or stream it) at socceraid.org.uk/schools-resources.   After watching the film you could discuss some of the issues raised. You could use the questions below as prompts. Questions What do you think would be the hardest thing about Ayas and Younus’s lives? [Students might talk about having to leave everything behind at home, not being able to see their friends, being away from their family, feeling uncertain about their future, their education being interrupted.] Why do you think they are happy at the child friendly space? [Students might talk about how the boys can meet and make friends, that they can relax and forget their worries for a while, that they can run around and play games, that they can sit quietly and read or draw.] Why is it important that Ayas and Younus play with their friends? [Play is important for physical and mental health. When children play, they learn how to think for themselves, to use their bodies, to make friends and learn who they are and where they fit into the world around them. For children like Ayas and Younus, who have experienced such huge upheaval, it provides a sense of normality. Being able to play has a big impact on a child’s future life.]

£172 could buy a preschool-in-a-box full of toys, books and games £375 could build a whole community playground in Zambia Use your fundraising guide to help you set your goal and find out what your fundraising could buy. Here are some examples to get you started. To help children like Ayas and Younus grow up healthy, happy and able to play, we are going to raise money for Soccer Aid for Unicef. With £172, Unicef could buy a preschool-in-a-box. Unicef sends these to children who need them in some of the most hard-to-reach places in the world. They’re full of toys, games and books – 43 pieces in total. The cost includes the box. It’s made of metal and is strong so that it can survive a long journey from the factory. It’s a secure and safe place to keep all the toys so that children can use them every day for years.  £375 could build a whole community playground in Zambia so that 100 children can play.

Soccer Aid is the world’s biggest celebrity football match Soccer Aid is the world’s biggest celebrity football match. Celebrities, sports stars and football legends get together to play an incredible football match and raise money for Unicef. It will take place on Sunday 16 June. We’re going to get involved in Soccer Aid by holding a Playground Challenge right here in our school on Friday 14 June. We’re going to design an obstacle course challenge that we all bounce, run, hop, climb our way around. There’s only one rule - we must include a football in our course.   Everyone in the school is going to take part and we’re going to try to raise as much money as we can.

If you already have plans, share them with the school now If you already have plans, share them with the school now. If you’ve set a fundraising target, you could tell students about it.   Explain how you’ll raise money, for example: •        We’re each going to get sponsored to complete the obstacle course. •        We’re going to ask everyone to bring in a donation to complete the course and take part in Soccer Aid for Unicef activities. •        Each class is going to compete to see who can raise the most money/who can design the most creative challenge/who complete the course in the fastest time.   You could share additional fundraising ideas, such as: a sponsored keepy-uppy challenge a bake sale beat-the-teacher penalty shootout paying to compete in a house football competition selling healthy drinks and snacks on the day.

We could even win a visit to our school from the incredible F2 Freestylers!   Competition details It’s easy to enter our competition to win a visit from the F2 Freestylers. Film it. Take a quick video of your Playground Challenge on the day – this can be on a phone. Share it. Post your video on Twitter tagging #PlaygroundChallenge @ThF2 and @socceraid. (You can also send your video to schoolschallenge@unicef.org.uk) The deadline for entries is 28 June 2019. Judging criteria. We’ll be looking for a school who: Shows creativity – from your challenge design to your fundraising plans. Champions inclusivity - get the whole school moving! (Teachers – time to take one for the team.) Shows commitment to defending play for every child – this isn’t about footy skills. Simply show/tell us how your school is playing and fundraising to change the lives of children all over the world. The visit will be take place on a mutually agreeable date. For more info and terms and conditions, go to socceraid.org.uk/f2-school-visit

The best news is that every £1 we raise for Soccer Aid for Unicef until 23 July 2019 will be matched by the UK government, doubling the difference we make to children’s lives.

Unicef UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1072612) and in Scotland (SC043677). Unicef UK Registered Charity No. 1072612 (England and Wales) SC043677 (Scotland).