Magna Carta Assembly by Musicline
• Suitable for Years 3 to 6 (age 7–11 years)
• Aim: To celebrate The Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary
Resources required: None
PowerPoint Slide 1
Old map of England and Wales.
Welcome the children.
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“Why is 2015 a special year in English history” appears.
What is missing after the word “history”?
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A question mark appears.
Has anybody spotted what has appeared?
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Question mark turns 360°.
Ask if any of them know why 2015 is a very important year in English / British history.
Clue: It isn’t the birthday of a person!
It is the birthday of a special piece of paper, an idea…
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The Magna Carta or…
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The “Big Idea”.
The Magna Carta
Explain that Magna Carta means ‘Great Charter’ in Latin; today we might call it ‘The
Big Idea’ or ‘Important Document’.
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“An Important Document” shows followed by a copy of part of the original “Magna
Carta”.
A great and very successful king called Richard was on the throne from 1189.
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The successful king, Richard the Lionheart.
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Richard underlined.
The next 3 x pictures show what we think Richard may have looked like.
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Richard the Lionheart leading his troops into battle.
Ask the children what this picture of Richard shows them about him i.e. a great
leader of men.
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Richard with crown and mace.
Ask the children what this picture of Richard shows them about him. i.e. a pious and
good king.
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Richard celebrating a victory. Caption says “Nicknamed ‘the Lionheart’ for his
bravery”.
Ask the children what this picture of Richard shows them about him. i.e. a king
victorious in battle.
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“Kings of England” on blank page.
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Dates of Richard’s reign.
Tell the children that in 1199 Richard the Lionheart died.
How many years did Richard reign for?
He had spent most of his reign away from England fighting wars, but had been
successful, so the people didn’t mind too much.
After he died, his brother, King John became king.
He is the bad King John from the time of Robin Hood and as many of you know, he
was hated by the people.
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Blank Page.
Let’s put a scroll on this page.
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Scroll.
Let’s list King John’s bad deeds.
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List of John’s bad deeds.
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He demanded more and more money from the people in tax.
He stole their lands, often putting them in prison so he could take things that
belonged to them and he told lies.
He could even sell the daughters and widows of the barons, who were the rich
powerful men, to make money.
He argued and quarrelled with the barons over this, and always promised to
be good but kept breaking his promise.
At the time, the Church was very important and people had great respect for it… not
King John though.
Now have a look at Disney’s King John.
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Picture of Walt Disney’s King John in the film “Robin Hood”.
When the most important man in the church, the archbishop of Canterbury died,
John even stole land from the church.
This made the new Archbishop very cross.
He called a meeting of the most powerful lords and told them that they didn’t have to
put up with this.
English law allowed them to take action if the king did not act for the good of his
people.
This was interesting news for the barons!
Meanwhile, John’s men were collecting taxes from everyone… rich and poor… to
pay for the wars in France.
The people were used to this from the days of Richard the Lionheart, but at least he
won his battles.
John just kept on losing and demanding more and more money.
This is what happened next at a place called Runneymede.
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King John at Runnymede on blank page.
So in June 1215, the barons demanded that John meet them at Runnymede, on the
banks of the river Thames close to London.
This was half way between Windsor, where the king’s castle was, and Staines,
where the barons had their armies.
You’ll see a slide of the river Thames in a few minutes.
The river Thames flows into London.
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Picture of King John signing Magna Carta.
The barons forced John to agree to the Magna Carta. He didn’t sign it though… in
fact, we don’t even know if King John could write!
Nothing was even written down that day; it was all written down later.
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The Runnymede memorial.
The Runnymede memorial was funded and erected by the American Bar Association
(American lawyers) as Magna Carta formed the basis for the American Constitution.
A Constitution is a set of rules by which a state or country is governed.
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Map of the river Thames.
This is a diagram of part of the river Thames which includes the Runnymede section.
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Runnymede ringed.
Point to the slide and tell the children that after Windsor, Runnymede and Staines
comes London.
The Magna Carta
There were 63 ideas in the Magna Carta.
They included Protection for the church, swift justice, no new taxes without the
barons’ agreement and protection against illegal imprisonment.
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63 x ideas and 3 x ideas still exist.
Three of these rights still exist today.
Let’s put these 3 x ideas in a scroll.
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3 x ideas are scrolled.
The rights of the Church
The freedom and rights of London
The right of people to a free trial and not to be put in prison without a good reason.
The people of England, represented by the barons had limited the power of the king
of England.
25 barons were picked to keep an eye on the king.
They made sure he did what was best for the people of England; this was the
beginning of the English parliament.
It wasn’t a true democracy yet… but it was a huge step forward.
The Magna Carta became the basis for all constitutions, including the United States.
Ask the children if they remember what a “Constitution” is.
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1965 Runnymede Memorial Service.
In fact, in 1965, the Queen gave an acre of land at Runnymede to the American
people in memory of President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated two
years before.
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Montage Photos which will take about 5 seconds to start appearing:a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Jackie Kennedy, her children and the Royal family.
Close up of John F Kennedy memorial.
John F. Kennedy memorial and crowds.
Walkabout at Runneymede.
Magna Carta.
This means that you can go to Runnymede, only a little way out of London, and
stand on American soil.
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Blank screen.
PRAYER
Dear God,
Help us to appreciate the freedom we have and to use it wisely and well. Please help
us to respect others and to keep our promises.
Amen