Assembly Objective:
What can ordinary people do in the face of suffering? This assembly explores the idea that one individual taking action in response to evil can impact the lives of generations to come. It also invites students to consider the story of the Good Samaritan as a blueprint for a Christian response to the suffering of others.
Film:
One Life (Warner Brothers, 2023, certificate 12). Click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
Luke 10:25-37 (NIV UK)
Supporting Values Education:
The value of the Rule of Law asserts that when an individual is faced with a situation of injustice or wrongdoing they have the right and a duty to respond with action to avert evil. This assembly helps pupils think about the importance of ordinary people taking action together to avert evil and save life.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Blindfold Journey (illustration)
In advance of the assembly set up a small (safe!) obstacle course at the front of the room (objects to walk around, climb over, crawl through etc. or simply a path of rope or tape to follow). Invite four volunteers to come to the front. Divide them into two pairs and blindfold one pupil in each pair. The aim of the activity is for the sighted individual to lead the blindfolded individual through the course using only their voice. You can either time the activity or run it as a race between the two pairs. Once you have established a winning pair, award a small prize and ask the volunteers to return to their places.
Make the point that the ‘leader’ didn’t have to have any particular skills other than the ability to look at the course and help their friend negotiate it. The activity depended on teamwork and clear communication in negotiating an unknown situation.
FILM CLIP
Play the clip from One Life (Warner Brothers, 2023, certificate 12)
- Start time: 00:31:14 (or 00:33:4)
- End time: 00:36:00
- Clip length: 4 mins 46 seconds (shorter version 2 minutes 18 seconds)
The clip begins with Nicholas Winton (Johnny Flynn) processing the claims of refugee families who have fled from Germany to Prague. Various families come and tell him of how they have been forced to flee their homeland having been beaten or persecuted by the Nazis. The families want Winton and his colleagues to take their children to Britain to be looked after until the war is finished. Winton receives a telegram telling him that he must return home to work in London. He then receives a phone call from his mother telling him that the British government needs money, visa and assurances that there are families willing to take them. He meets with his three colleagues, and Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai) outlines the fact that the journey is dangerous and involves crossing Holland which has recently closed their borders to Jewish refugees and, of course, Germany. They agree that if the children have British foster parents waiting then the children will be able to cross legally. Doreen says there are 1,000 children on the list and that the welcome may not be warm. Winton says that they therefore have to heat things up and get the press working. He says that ordinary people wouldn’t stand for this if they knew what was happening. She says that he has a lot of faith in ordinary people. They each respond by saying that they are all ordinary people and Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) declares that this is what is needed – an army of the ordinary. They agree that Nicky should go back to London and raise funds and raise their glasses to the idea and Trevor gives Nicky his briefcase for all the paperwork.
NB at 00:33:39 there is a use of the word ‘Christ’ as an expletive (fairly muffled). In order to avoid including this, start the clip at 00:33:42 where the father and three sons appear at the door. You will have to explain that the team is facing the problem of trying to transport groups of Jewish refugee children from Nazi-occupied Czech Republic but that the British government has asked for paperwork and money for each child.
TALK
Scripted Talk
Download the One Life PowerPoint for use with this talk.
Scripted Talk
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome to our assembly. How far would you be willing to go to help another person? Would you be willing to sign a petition? Repost a social media campaign? Give some money to a charity? Stop and help someone begging in the street? Travel to another country to bring hundreds of children escape from a war?
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Perhaps some of us have done some of those things I mentioned. That’s great. I suspect, though, that none of us has smuggled children out of a war. In today’s assembly we are going to think about what the Bible says about helping others. We’re also going to learn about a man who was responsible for rescuing 669 children after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938-39. Sir Nicholas Winton, or Nicky as his friends called him, arranged for the children to travel to Britain and to be looked after by British families until the war was over. Most of the children were Jewish and many lost their parents and other family members in the war that followed. In order to rescue them, Nicky and his friends, arranged travel documents, money and foster families.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- How would we describe someone who performed such brave actions? [Take suggestions – brave, kind, courageous, bold, stubborn, unusual, powerful, special, extraordinary].
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- We’re going to watch a clip from a film about Nicholas’ Winton’s life. Nicky has lived a fairly ordinary life, working as a stockbroker in London. When he learns that Hitler has invaded Sudetenland, in the northern part of Czechoslovakia, he travels to Prague to see for himself what is happening. There he meets refugee families, most of whom are Jewish and have fled the Nazis. Nicky is shocked by what he sees and decides to try and help. He and three others begin to make lists of the children in the hope that they can help them escape. The team is facing the problem of trying to transport groups of Jewish refugee children from Nazi-occupied Czech Republic but that the British government has asked for paperwork and money for each child.
- Watch the clip from One Life. [If you want to avoid the use of the word ‘Christ’ as an expletive, start the clip at 00:33:42 where the father and three sons appear at the door.]
- Play the clip from One Life (Warner Brothers, 2023, certificate 12)
- Start time: 00:31:14 (or 00:33:4)
- End time: 00:36:00
- Clip length: 4 mins 46 seconds (shorter version 2 minutes 18 seconds)
- The clip begins with Nicholas Winton (Johnny Flynn) processing the claims of refugee families who have fled from Germany to Prague. Various families come and tell him of how they have been forced to flee their homeland having been beaten or persecuted by the Nazis. The families want Winton and his colleagues to take their children to Britain to be looked after until the war is finished. Winton receives a telegram telling him that he must return home to work in London. He then receives a phone call from his mother telling him that the British government needs money, visa and assurances that there are families willing to take them. He meets with his three colleagues, and Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai) outlines the fact that the journey is dangerous and involves crossing Holland which has recently closed their borders to Jewish refugees and, of course, Germany. They agree that if the children have British foster parents waiting then the children will be able to cross legally. Doreen says there are 1,000 children on the list and that the welcome may not be warm. Winton says that they therefore have to heat things up and get the press working. He says that ordinary people wouldn’t stand for this if they knew what was happening. She says that he has a lot of faith in ordinary people. They each respond by saying that they are all ordinary people and Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) declares that this is what is needed – an army of the ordinary. They agree that Nicky should go back to London and raise funds and raise their glasses to the idea and Trevor gives Nicky his briefcase for all the paperwork.
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- Did you notice how the group described themselves? They said they were all ordinary people, and that ordinary people wouldn’t stand for this if they knew what was happening. In other words, Nicky and his colleagues didn’t view themselves as special or unusual or extraordinary. They simply knew that as ordinary people who had seen something terrible, they couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- Nicky and his colleagues managed to raise money and support from thousands of ordinary people in Britain who welcomed the children into their homes. This was part of what was known as the Kindertransport, a plan to rescue children that saved many lives.
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- In later life, Nicky was invited onto a TV programme and met with many of the children, now grown up with children and grandchildren of their own, and realised that he and his ordinary friends had saved hundreds of lives.
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- Nicky and his colleagues were ordinary people who found themselves in an extraordinary situation. When faced with the evil of the Nazi threat to the lives of the children, they took action. They were brave and they used the skills and connections they had to make a difference.
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- Ordinary people, working together, can achieve great things and make a difference. Jesus told a story, or a parable, about an ordinary man who made a difference to the life of someone else. Someone had asked Jesus the question about how to live a good life, and this is how he replied:
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Luke 10: 25-28.
- Jesus told the man that the way to live a good life was to love God and to love other people. The man didn’t like the sound of that – perhaps he thought it sounded too hard to love other people – so he asked another question about who exactly Jesus meant.
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- Luke 10: 29-35. Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan is a famous one. When people heard it, they would expect the priest or the Levite to stop and help. Priests and Levites were very religious people. They would not expect the Samaritan to help, as he was an enemy of the man who had been attacked. But, like most of Jesus’ stories, there was a twist in the tail! The man who stopped and helped was not the good, religious person, but the enemy – the Samaritan!
- [PowerPoint slide 12]
- Luke 10: 36-37. Jesus went on to make it clear what he meant by his story. To live a good life, he was saying, you need to love everyone. And that is possible. It’s possible for ordinary people to love and help others, even when it’s hard to do so.
- [PowerPoint slide 13]
- When Sir Nicholas Winton was your age he could not have known how many people’s lives he would save, and there wasn’t anything particularly special about him. I wonder what will happen in your lifetime? I wonder if any of you will have the opportunity to step in and use your skills to help others?
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- You may feel ordinary but you can help someone else today. You can do that by being kind, by helping someone who is in trouble, by noticing those around you, by choosing to make friends with someone who is left out. Ordinary people, working together, can achieve great things and make a difference.
Headings and Bullets
Download the One Life PowerPoint for use with this talk.
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- How far would you be willing to go to help another person?
- Sign a petition.
- Repost a social media campaign.
- Give some money to a charity?
- Stop and help someone begging in the street?
- Travel to another country to bring hundreds of children to escape from a war?
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Today’s assembly.
- Hear what the Bible says about helping others.
- Learn about a man who was responsible for rescuing 669 children after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938-39.
- Sir Nicholas Winton, or Nicky as his friends called him, arranged for the children to travel to Britain and to be looked after by British families until the war was over.
- Most of the children were Jewish and many lost their parents and other family members.
- Nicky and his friends, arranged travel documents, money and foster families.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- How would we describe someone who performed such brave actions?
- [Take suggestions – brave, kind, courageous, bold, stubborn, unusual, powerful, special, extraordinary].
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- Introduce the clip.
- Nicky has lived a fairly ordinary life, working as a stockbroker in London.
- Travels to Prague to see for himself what is happening.
- He meets refugee families, most of whom are Jewish and have fled the Nazis.
- Nicky is shocked by what he sees and decides to try and help.
- He and three others face the problem of trying to transport groups of Jewish refugee children.
- The British government has asked for paperwork and money for each child.
- Watch the clip.
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- Ordinary people.
- The group said they were all ordinary people, and that ordinary people wouldn’t stand for this if they knew what was happening.
- Nicky and his colleagues didn’t view themselves as special or unusual or extraordinary.
- They simply knew that as ordinary people who had seen something terrible, they couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- Kindertransport.
- Nicky and his colleagues managed to raise money and support from thousands of ordinary people in Britain who welcomed the children into their homes.
- This was part of what was known as the Kindertransport, a plan to rescue children that saved many lives.
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- Nicky saved many lives.
- In later life, Nicky was invited onto a TV programme and met with many of the children.
- He realised that he and his ordinary friends had saved hundreds of lives.
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- Ordinary people who found themselves in an extraordinary situation.
- When faced with the evil of the Nazi threat to the lives of the children, they took action.
- They were brave and they used the skills and connections they had to make a difference.
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- Ordinary people, working together, can achieve great things and make a difference.
- Introduce the parable.
- Jesus told a story, about an ordinary man who made a difference to the life of someone else.
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Luke 10: 25-28.
- The man asked another question about who exactly Jesus meant.
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- Luke 10: 29-35.
- Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan is a famous one.
- People would expect the priest or the Levite to stop and help.
- Priests and Levites were very religious people.
- They would not expect the Samaritan to help, as he was an enemy of the man who had been attacked.
- [PowerPoint slide 12]
- Luke 10: 36-37.
- Jesus went on to make it clear what he meant by his story.
- To live a good life you need to love everyone.
- It’s possible for ordinary people to love and help others, even when it’s hard to do so.
- [PowerPoint slide 13]
- Who can you help?
- When Sir Nicholas Winton was your age he could not have known how many people’s lives he would save.
- There wasn’t anything particularly special about him.
- What will happen in your lifetime?
- Will any of you have the opportunity to step in and use your skills to help others?
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- You may feel ordinary, but you can help someone else today.
- Being kind.
- Helping someone who is in trouble.
- Noticing those around you.
- Choosing to make friends with someone who is left out.
- Ordinary people, working together, can achieve great things and make a difference.
Photo copyright for One Life Powerpoint: Slide 1 petition gatherer Pixabay.com smart phone Pixabay.com charity box Freeimages.com homeless man Pixabay.com children Pixabay.com / Slide 2 Associated press Li-Sung / Slide 3 Pixabay.com / Slide 4 Bleeckerstreetmedia.com / Slide 5 Bleeckerstreetmedia.com / Slide 6 Bleeckerstreetmedia.com / Slide 7 Bleeckerstreetmedia.com/ Slide 8 Bleeckerstreetmedia.com / Slide 9 Pixabay.com / Slide 10 Lumoproject.com image 1 / Slide 11 Lumoproject.com image 7 / Slide 12 Lumoproject.com image 29 / Slide 13 Bleeckerstreetmedia.com / Slide 14 happy girls Pixabay.com outcast Freeimages.com / Slide 15 National archive / Slide 16 Pixabay.com
RESPOND
Reflection
- [PowerPoint slide 15]
- The German Christian, Pastor Martin Niemöller, was arrested and imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. Earlier in his life he had supported the Nazis, and had not spoken up when they began discriminating against Jews and other groups of people. After he was released from the camp, Niemöller wrote a poem that has been used to help people think about the difference an ordinary person can, and should, make when they are faced with an evil situation. Read the poem slowly and think about what it means.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
Prayer
- [PowerPoint slide 16]
- Display the slide with the prayer on it and read it aloud if you wish.
- Father, we are ordinary people but we know that you use ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Help us to do what we can to help others and to speak up when we see things that are evil or wrong. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
YOU WILL NEED:
- A copy of One Life (Warner Brothers, 2023, 12). Click here to buy the DVD online.
- One Life PowerPoint.
- Selection of objects laid out as an obstacle course and blindfolds for Opening Activity plus a small prize for the volunteers.
Ethos Education 
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