Lyfta impact: An assembly on perseverance at Brookfield Primary Academy

Excited learning

Leo academy trust

Brookfield Primary Academy is a large primary school where over a third of the pupils speak English as a second language. Rachel Mander, the Vice Principal, used Lyfta to deliver an assembly to Year 5.

She started by introducing the word 'perseverance' and asking the pupils what they thought it might mean. They gave varied answers, and then Rachel launched the Lyfta assembly plan on perseverance in the Lyfta student interface, which uses the Dinnertime 360 storyworld Anni's Home. She modelled how to explore the space and watched the film from the front of the class before using the questions from the 'Think' section of the plan:

How does Anni show perseverance in the film?

What does she achieve as a result of her perseverance?

What does she say her life would be like if she didn't have any hobbies?

Think of something you would like to achieve in the near future. What strategies could you learn from Anni to help you?

Rachel paused on each question in the plan, and gave pupils the opportunity to think about their answers, share them with a partner and share as part of a class discussion.

"This meant the assembly kept pace and the discussion was really profound. The children loved then being able to go back and watch the video and spin 360° around the kitchen where Anni and her family were eating. The video was great - as the children were able to put their headphones on and watch it at their own pace. I was able to help read subtitles for children that struggled with reading."

At the end of the lesson the children shared instances where they had shown perseverance during their own lives. Rachel said:

"The assembly really helped the children to relate to Anni and see the benefit of not giving up and trying your best. They also learned that practise is essential."

She also described the longer term impact of the assembly on her pupils:

"My children are really encouraging towards each other and enforce the message of keeping going, not giving up and that it is good to try new things...In a Maths lesson, one child was becoming really stressed by a task, they began to get overwhelmed and before I went over, a child on their table reassured them and said that it was ok to make mistakes and to not understand it yet - they talked about having a growth mindset and persevering."

Rachel showed that using Lyfta resources can have a powerful impact when it comes to character education and nurturing positive values in the classroom. She anticipated taking Lyfta forward and using it more widely in her school:

"I can't wait to deliver key topics to the whole school in an assembly - when we are allowed to all be in the hall together."

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