To ask if non-British schools have assemblies?

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I've heard that in some parts of the world, people are baffled by the idea of a whole school being gathered together several times a week; and when assemblies appear on TV or in films, some non-British viewers don't understand this idea at all. In school fiction such as Harry Potter, or the Chalet School, the idea that the whole school is often together in one place to be addressed by the head teacher seems odd to other countries.

Can anyone who went to school abroad say whether they had regular assemblies, like the British do?

Not very often in Denmark, although occasionally the whole school will meet for something. Certainly not daily or weekly though, and no singing of hymns! There is usually “samling” (gathering) daily but that is just with your class or the other classes in the same year.

I’d never seen such a thing - grew up in the states.

Most secondary schools in the UK are so full they can no longer fit everyone into the hall at once these days. Usually just a key stage or year group.

I don't think most UK secondary schools have whole school assemblies now.
More whole year assemblies.

Based on my knowledge of American teen books, TV and films most Middle/High schools seem to have something called an "Auditorium" where assembly type things take place (or in large schools they have a speaker in the classroom and the principal talks over the PA while they are sat in "homeroom" rather than moving to the auditorium).
That's pretty much the same as the assemblies we had at my English secondary.

Yes, of course, I went to school in the US and have worked in various capacities with schools in South Africa and India (the latter two obviously follow a British educational approach though).

But yes, growing up, we definitely had assemblies. I don’t remember if it was a set weekly thing in primary, but definitely regularly enough. In secondary, we had one every day! Plus chapel on Wednesday and a second afternoon assembly with a guest speaker every Friday.

My dc’s secondary school have them once a week, but I don’t think it’s the whole school at once because there’s 1600 of them and no way they could all fit in the main auditorium at once! My primary age one does have an assembly on a Friday but it’s more for awards and I’m not sure it’s the whole school because they don’t have a hall or any central space, so not sure where they fit. I think the head teacher sort of makes the rounds and they cram 2 classes in one or something.

My children have an assembly between three and six times a year. Looking back, our 20 minutes of assembly each day seems like a huge waste of time.

No assemblies, no uniform.

France here, no assemblies. There are no points in the week where the whole school gathers together. Our school doesn't even have a big enough room for that - the gym is strictly for sports.

Also no uniforms.

And teachers only have to be in school when they actually are teaching a class, otherwise they are free to leave.

I think very few UK secondary schools do this now, as it would need a huuuuge hall. They do year group assemblies. I have been to French and German schools (MFL teacher) and they don't seem to do this at all. And yes, teachers have smaller timetables and can come and go as they please when not teaching!

Didn't have assemblies in either the US or Belgium. Also went to a British school abroad and a boarding school here and we didn't have assemblies at either.

My kids school has a whole school assembly once a week. We are in Canada. Private.

Yep. Daily. In Asian country

In France there is no assembly in state school

Whole school assemblies, every morning across West Africa.

Not a thing in Ireland. Might have like a annual celebration but not daily. And might have class mass but again not regular.

We never had any, no. No uniform either.

Only primary school children, monthly in Ireland.
As a child it was weekly, we had to sing the national anthem. The singing has stopped too.

I'm in Australia we mainly had them at primary school 😊 highschool we didn't have them too often

Never had those in Italy, but maybe that’s changed now

In Germany there are no assemblies as far as I am aware of (and no school uniforms either).

Such an interesting question. It's such a fixed feature in English primaries (and perhaps other parts of the UK) that I find it hard to imagine the school day without it. Although I do think assemblies tend to work better in separate infant and junior schools or if your school is big enough to separate by Key Stage.

No assembly in USA primary. About 4 times a year in secondary. It isn’t exactly sedate affair though. Sometimes there are speeches if there are student elections. Often the band plays or the cheerleaders perform. Sometimes another activity does a performance. They are loud, raucous events. My ASD teen hates them and finds a way to get out of them whenever possible.

We didn’t have them regularly when I was at school in Italy. There would be assemblies for a guest visitor on occasion. I presume in the U.K. they stem from the requirement to have a daily act of broadly Christian worship, and in most cases it was logistically easier for that to be everyone assembled in the hall for a story and a hymn or whatever.

(US) Not so much in elementary middle school and high school. More like a pep rally. A couple of times each semester the whole school gets together..They are upbeat with music and usually a t- shirt gun!. They let the kids know of upcoming events, sports meets, trips fundraisers all sorts. They are really aimed at promoting school spirit and community. Whenever there is a home game there is usually a good turn out of students and parents and the principal will usually do a quick talk.