1. This assembly will focus on helping you all to think about how you can Live Your Best Life and how we can all, as a community, Live Our Best Life. We will also be talking about racism, institutional racism and discrimination, so that you understand the part that each of us can play in building and living in a fair and just society; feeling loved and valued and safe, and striving for the best we can. This assembly will focus on a young man named Stephen Lawrence.
[Note: During the Assembly, there may be a need to check if children understand the terms ‘racism,’ ‘institutional racism’ and ‘discrimination’. Definitions are provided in the PPT notes, slide 3].

2. Family Snapshots of Stephen
Stephen Lawrence was born and grew up in south-east London. Stephen had many friends from all backgrounds and from different countries. He showed friendship and kindness to others, and he often acted as a calming influence and a peacemaker. Like most young people, he juggled an active social life with school work, sport and family commitments. He had also started on a pathway to becoming an architect, using his talents for maths, art and design.
Tragically, on the 22 April 1993, at the age of just 18 (so he was a bit older than you), he was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack. A group of white youths beat and stabbed Stephen, while Stephen and his friend were just standing waiting for a bus. These people did not respect Stephen and killed him because of the colour of his skin.

3. Stephen’s Family Fought for Justice
Initially, the Metropolitan Police involved in the investigation made serious mistakes. A major investigation was undertaken by a retired High Court Judge (called Macpherson) and he came to the conclusion that some of the police involved in the investigation were themselves racist and this affected how they handled the case. It was only the efforts of Stephen’s family, over many, many years, that finally led to the trial and jailing of two of Stephen’s murderers. The love and commitment from Stephen’s family, in seeking justice for Stephen also resulted in changes to the law and school curriculum. Now every child in UK schools has opportunities to learn about racism, institutionalism racism and discrimination, and living respectfully in diverse communities.
What can we learn from Stephen’s story?
Stephen was not able to fulfil all of his dreams and ambitions. His premature death prevented him from living his best life. But his family really believe that children and young people can learn from Stephen’s life about why it is important to understand and respect each other, whatever your colour or background; to be kind and caring, and to work hard to achieve your dreams. [Here are four suggested themes that you could select from, depending on school context and age. You might follow up in subsequent Assemblies and linked classroom activities].
Definitions
The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust believes..
Racism:
Racism comes from a belief that one person is better than another person and then treating someone unfairly, badly or differently because of differences in skin colour, nationality, religion and/or culture. 
Example: if someone believed that someone else in their class was not as smart because they had a different skin colour and then that person refused to include the other person in a class game.
Discrimination:
Discrimination is treating someone unfairly or badly due to differences in skin colour, nationality, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, social class and personal features.
Example: if your teacher let you decide what games the class would play on the playground and you decided to exclude certain people from the game based on what they looked like or their religious beliefs.   
Institutional racism:
Institutional racism is a form a racism which we can’t always see straight away as it can be deeply embedded within organisations and specific parts of society. It is a type of racism that creates advantages for some groups of people and disadvantages for others based on differences in skin colour, nationality, religion and/or culture.
The Macpherson Report defines Institutional Racism as "The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people."

4. Stephen was a kind, caring and inclusive person
Stephen was a kind, caring and inclusive person. Stephen made good choices. What are you like as a person?
EARLY YEARS AND PRIMARY
Loved by family and friends; enjoyed
school and many other activities
LOWER SECONDARY
Enjoyed school, worked hard,
interested in music and building
on his art interests
UPPER SECONDARY
Worked hard, dreamed of studying
architecture, mini-marathon runner
and fund-raiser
Early Years and Primary
Loved by family and friends; enjoyed school and many other activities
13 September, 1974 – Stephen Lawrence was born
Loved by his family – Mum (Doreen), Dad (Neville), brother (Stuart) and sister (Georgina)
Attended nursery and school in south London
Loved school – maths, art, PE and playing with his friends were his favourites
He was kind and generous to his brother and sister and others
Lower Secondary
Enjoyed school, worked hard, interested in music and building his art interests
Attended Blackheath Bluecoats Secondary School in London
Loved his friends and was generous with other pupils, particularly those who may have been excluded or marginalised by others
He enjoyed being entrepreneurial around his interests; painting pictures of friends and printing t-shirts
Upper Secondary
Worked hard, dreamed of studying architecture, mini-marathon runner and fund-raiser
Kind and aspirational – enjoyed helping others by setting himself personal goals; signed up for the Greenwich Mini-Marathon and raised money for Great Ormond Street Hospital
Alongside his studies, music, running and drawing all featured as favourite pastimes as he transitioned to upper secondary
Stephen was a kind, caring and inclusive person. What are you like as a person?
Take a few minutes to think about what people see in you: Are you kind, respectful and caring?
Talk to a partner sitting next to you about what single word you think classmates would use to describe how you treat people.
Talk to your partner about what qualities you would like to “work on” to help you to be more caring and inclusive. What changes would you like to make to achieve these personal qualities?

5. Stephen wanted to be a good runner:
Stephen wanted to be an
architect:
He worked hard
He cared about the environment
He was creative
He trained hard
He didn’t give up – even when he didn’t win
He raised money for charity
Stephen loved maths, drawing and running. He set himself goals to work hard and achieve highly. What are your goals?
Take a few minutes to reflect on your own goals. Share these with a partner.
Talk to your partner about a skill or goal that you really wanted to achieve that required you to work hard and show real persistence.
How did you feel when you were “doing the hard work” and when you finally achieved your goal?

6. We need to think about each other and ourselves to be safe
Safety ‘To Do’ List
Identify a trusted friend or family member to go to if you are frightened or worried about anything
Be safe on the streets – have a plan if you are worried – e.g. Stranger Danger
Be web-safe – NEVER post photos or your phone number or address or talk to strangers
Tell your ‘trusted friend’ if someone asks you to carry a knife or drugs
Stephen and his friend were not in a gang, nor were they ever in fights or involved in criminal activities. They were victims of an unprovoked vicious attack, simply because they were black. How can you stay safe?
Think about the friends and company you keep outside of school [some children might be susceptible to gangs and/or risky behaviour].
Think about ways you can keep safe and help others to keep safe. Think about someone you can tell if you don’t feel safe.
Think about how you can keep safe using social media.

7. Stephen’s Family Made A Difference
Stephen’s family made a difference. What can you do to make a difference in relation to racism and discrimination?
Is there anything you need to speak up about? Who do you trust that you could speak up to?
What should you do when you see people not being treated well by others?
How should we speak about, and speak to people who are different to ourselves?
Stuart Lawrence speaking at
Stephen’s memorial service.
Doreen Lawrence became a
Baroness in 2013.

8. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
– Maya Angelou
Stephen Lawrence inspires us to Live Our Best Life. Remember what you have thought about today when you are faced with some of these questions. Remember you can always talk to someone, like your teacher. When you go back into your class, your teacher might read you the poem "Life Doesn’t Frighten Me”, by a very famous black poet and author, Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou’s general view of life is: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Baroness Lawrence tells us that
Maya Angelou inspired her to
Live Her Best Life