Resources

The Dalai Lama: outline for an assembly

Read the Dalai Lama's Life Story. If it is too long for one session it can be divided into 3. There are useful illustrations in Chris Gibbs' book, and also in Tom Andrews' Tibet pack, otherwise there are suggestions for pictures which are accessible on the web. (These will need to be prepared for use in advance).
You may want to highlight parts of the story, for e.g. his discovery at age 2. It is traditional when searching for important reincarnations to test them by offering their possessions from the previous life, and other, similar ones. It is based on the belief that a true reincarnation will always recognise their 'own'. If you want artefacts, you can buy a rosary, 'mala' in Tibetan, and a ritual drum, 'damaru'(see resources for details). His escape is also very dramatic.
A useful approach would be to then explore why he didn't fight back. The background notes give useful information about this, and it is obviously important to note that the tiny and ill-equipped Tibetan army would have been no match for the might of the Chinese army. However, the Dalai Lama's Buddhist beliefs in non-violence are the most important factor. The Buddha taught that hatred and violence are the easy way, but ultimately wrong. And that trying to sort out differences peacefully, with love takes more courage. It is the only real way to achieve success.
As the Dalai Lama said:

'...what is most important is the fact that we Tibetans and our Chinese brothers and sisters have always been neighbours and must remain so. The only alternative for the future is to learn to get along and live in harmony with our neighbours.'
How do we sort out differences peacefully, with love? Explore how the children think this could be done. The Buddhist approach is to train our own minds to be strong and loving.
You could offer one of the two following quotes by the Dalai Lama for the children to contemplate for a few moments:

'We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves'

'In the practice of tolerance (or patience), one's enemy is the best teacher'
See the introduction page for possible follow up activities in class or in other assemblies. Particularly useful is the story 'The King with Dirty Feet', an Indian folk tale illustrating the need to work on our own minds rather than looking for the solution to our problems outside, and the 'Co-operation is better than Conflict' activity from Global Communities.