Equality in Practice Assemblies and other activities for primary schools

Activity 1 Applause for All 2

*Gain confidence in leading activities within the setting to further develop inclusive practice* Activities to try with staff and children Appreciating unique qualities

All different, all happy together ● Explain to the children that they are going to think about the things that make them who they are. ● Ask them to stand up if you say something that applies to them. Start with general categories, e.g. boy/girl, age; then move on to more specific things, e.g.: hair colour, people who live in a house/flat, people who wear glasses, etc. When each group stands, those still sitting give them a clap. ● Discuss how it felt to be clapped. How did it feel to give others a clap? Talk about feeling good about themselves, and valuing things about other people. ● All children have the same rights, whatever they look like, wherever they live, etc. ● Everyone is unique, but also have many things in common. ● Differences between people make everyone unique, and individuality is something for everyone to celebrate. ● Differences should not be reasons for leaving people out. (activity adapted from Unicef website

All different, all happy together ● This morning we are going to think about some of the things that make us who we are. ● I’m going to say some words now. If one of my words is true for you, then I would like you to stand up. Ready? Are you a girl? Are you … years old? Do you have brown hair? Do you have a brother? Do you wear glasses? Do you like PE? When each group stands, I’ll give them a clap and those of you who are still sitting should also clap.

All different, all happy together ● How did it feel to be clapped? How did it feel to give others a clap? What things make us feel good about ourselves? What things make us feel good about others?.

I’m different, you’re different, we’re different ● All children have the same rights, whatever they look like, whoever they are.. ● Everyone is unique, but we also share so many things. ● We’re all different but each of us is unique. Everyone has something we can give them a clap about. …AND WE WON’T LEAVE YOU OUT!

Activity 2 Parrot Island 9

Parrot Island Once there was a green, beautiful island. The island had wide, sandy beaches, palm trees and dense forests where plants and shrubs growing delicious fruit.

Parrot Island Lots of yellow parrots lived in the trees. They had plenty to eat, they had lots of yellow parrot friends and they were very happy.

Parrot Island On the other side of the island there lived a group of blue parrots. They too were very happy.

Then one day, one of the yellow parrots came flying home, all upset and looking ruffled. ‘What’s the matter, pet?’, asked a worried yellow parrot mum. ‘Well’, the young parrot spluttered, I’ve just seen something really weird. It w a parrot but it was bright blue!’ ‘How ugly’, chorused the other yellow parrots, we can’t have blue parrots on this island!”

So the yellow parrots went over to where the blue parrots were. There was a nasty fight. Nearly all the parrots, both blue and yellow, were killed in this fight.

… but that is not the end of the story. There were just a very few parrots left. ‘It will be easier to find food and friends on this island if we all stay together’, one of them said. The other parrots agreed. The blues and yellows made friends, and some blues married yellows too. So, after a little while, the blue and yellow parrots between them produced …

…you guessed it, some little green parrots! Soon there were lots of greens around. The blues and the yellows were all very happy about this, but it’s still not the end of the story.

Some of the green parrots were looking at the other green parrots. They noticed that not all greens were the same! Some had blue heads. Some had yellow faces. Some had black beaks. Some had pink beaks.

Some of the blue faces were beginning to fight some of the pink beaks. They called each other names. It was all getting very nasty. Finally, the older blue and yellow parrots called everyone together for a big meeting. A yellow parrot said, ‘I think it’s really nice having all those different looking beaks and faces. it would be so boring if we were all the same!” A blue parrot added, ‘This fighting and name calling is making me very unhappy and I’ve seen how dangerous it can get in the end. What shall we do to make it stop?’

What should the parrots do?

Activity 3 Dotty Behaviour 20

Dotty Behaviour This activity is suitable for a children’s workshop on equality. You will need: Three sets of coloured sticky dots – say, red, blue and green. Divide the group into two halves. An adult (or peer) sticks a dot onto the forehead of each child in one half..All except the person himself/herself can see which colour has been chosen. No-one is allowed to ask which colour they have been given, or to tell someone the colour of their dot. In the meantime, the rest of the group decide on rules, e.g. we will –Smile every time we see someone wearing a red dot –Roll our eyes skyward every time a blue dot is seen –Give a high five to every wearer of a green dot we see.

Dotty Behaviour After a few minutes of walking around the room and treating each ‘dotty colour’ as agreed, the group stop and reflect. What did ‘dotty dot wearers’ note about the way thwy were treated? How did they feel? Repeat the exercise, this time agreeing new rules and changing the dots so that each chlid is wearing a different colour from before. How did they feel this time around? Disclose the rules to the dot wearers– who can figure out which colour they wre first time/second time around? Discuss the impact of the colour – and colour change – on the feelings of each child, whether they were wearing a dot or making rules. Discuss ways in which we respond to difference/diversity, how we/others may feel if rated in a particular way and how we might want to change our behaviour in this respect..

I’m different, you’re different, we’re different ● All children have the same rights, whatever they look like, whoever they are.. ● Everyone is unique, but we also share so many things. ● We’re all different but each of us is unique. Everyone has something we can give them a clap about. …AND WE WON’T LEAVE YOU OUT!