The Big Think Resources
Here you can access 120 Assembly and Lesson Kits for a comprehensive 2-year rolling programme.
Each kit comprises:
Assembly Screens
Silent Sitting Track
Lesson Plan and Screens
The Big Song
My Big Think Journal Page
The Big Story
Click on a TBT Core Value to search for relevant Assemblies and Lessons.
Click on a TBT Core Value to search for relevant Assemblies and Lessons.
The Big Think comprises 120 Assembly and Lesson Kits for ages 5 to 7 and ages 7 to 11 to be delivered as part of a flexible and progressive 2-year rolling programme. It is intended that Year 3 children will repeat a few sessions in Year 5, offering them the chance to revisit content using a more mature point of view and giving space for them to notice and reflect on how they might have changed or developed.
TBT assemblies work best at the start of the week so the whole school can notice that value in action all week, with the follow-up lesson running straight after, or later that day, to keep The Big Story fresh in children’s minds.
We suggest involving the school community in selecting the order you wish to visit each core value and decide together how best to link these to your own school values. Our programme is flexible – it can be taught as standalone Assemblies or Lessons and in any order, however here are 3 recommendations from our pilot schools:
Select 30 values your school community wants to focus on this year. We recommend choosing 6 related values from each of the 5 Core Values and running one or two core values over each half-term e.g. Autumn Term 1 could be three Responsibility values and three Truth values.
Plan your annual Assembly rota using The Big Think Calendar (see above) to help you link sessions with key national or global events such as Autism Day, Safer Internet Day, Anti-bullying Day, etc.
Leave the Summer Term free to run The Big Think Community Projects in mixed-year groups (Coming Soon!) and/or deliver Sex Educations sessions organised by your school.
There are 15 five-minute mindfulness tracks with one used at the start of a session, linking to its value. Outside TBT sessions, to help refocus each class for the afternoon, ask pupils to select a Silent Sitting track to be played after lunch. To support the mental health of your entire school community, ask the whole school to stop and join in – even office staff and visitors.
There are 5 Songs based on our 5 core values, written and performed by The Big Thinkers band and suitable for all ages. Add actions or sign language, or your own school chant to the musical interludes.
Journaling is a rare opportunity for self-reflection. Journals can be printed off and bound to produce a book for each pupil to take through the school. At each child’s discretion, they can be personal or shared – but they are never marked.
A guide to all the elements of The Big Think, including scripts to support you when starting out and tips for Early Years teachers who want to bring some TBT elements to their 4-year-old pupils.
Over time, My Values Journey sheets capture each pupil’s changing thoughts and ideas about each core value.
Before starting a new core value, ask pupils to complete in one colour, the Values Journey sheet for the relevant value. Once they have explored that value for a few weeks, ask them to reflect and add new thoughts in a different colour to show changes.
Each child should have their own My Big Feelings Compass to refer to in each lesson. Cut out the front and back and stick them together. There is one compass for ages 5 to 7 and one for ages 7 to 11.
