MAUNDY THURSDAY
RELIGION: Christianity
Scheme of work written by Rachel Boxer for Guildford Diocese
UNIT TITLE: What is Maundy Thursday about ?
Lesson
1
Title of lesson
INTRODUCTORY LESSON
What is Maundy Thursday ?
2
If you were the Queen, who
would you give Maundy money
to ?
3
EVALUATION LESSON
Newsflash!
GROUP: Lower KS2
LENGTH OF UNIT: 3
lessons
Main points of content
Look at the Biblical account of Maundy Thursday e.g. Jesus washes the
disciples’ feet, the Last Supper, the betrayal in the Garden of
Gethsemane etc. Using the internet, find out about the historical
traditions of Maundy Thursday & their significance
Look at the practice of the giving of Maundy money – what gets given &
why. Contact your local church & talk to people who go there about who
helps in the local community (e.g. visiting sick/elderly etc.) Consider
which of these people you think might qualify for Maundy money, if you
were Queen. Write a letter to the Queen’s secretary about your chosen
recipient, outlining why you think they should receive Maundy money.
Look at any articles found in lesson 1 that are news reports of previous
years’ Maundy services. Imagine you’re a reporter for your local
newspaper and you’ve been asked to follow the events of the giving of
Maundy money by the Queen. Write an article outlining what happened at
Guildford Cathedral on Maundy Thursday 2006.
Notes:
 Lesson 1 of this unit is the same as lesson 1 for upper KS2 – as this is a ‘special’ unit of work, all children will need to know something of the historical


practices of Maundy Thursday before the actual event!
If possible, briefly follow-up this unit after the Easter holiday, by looking at news articles / TV clips of the actual Maundy Thursday events, talking
about what happened, especially if children from your school were in any way involved.
More ideas for activities /resources can be found in Guildford Diocese syllabus
Additional R.E. Unit – 2006
Written for Guildford Diocese by Rachel Boxer
Unit title: What is Maundy Thursday about ?
Lesson title: ‘What is Maundy Thursday ?’
Lesson 1 in a unit of 3 lessons
Learning Objectives
Age range: Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3&4)
Possible Learning Experiences
Through the learning experiences,
pupils should learn:
 that Christians call
the week before
Easter Holy Week
 the overview of the
week from Palm
Sunday to Easter
Day
 about the key
Christian traditions
of Holy Week:
- Maundy
Thursday
- the footwashing
- the Last
Supper

Learning Outcomes
Introduction:
 As a class, produce a timeline of the events of Holy
Week
 In groups, produce another more detailed timeline of
the Biblical account of ‘Maundy’ Thursday e.g. Jesus
washes the disciples’ feet, the Last Supper, the betrayal
in the Garden of Gethsemane etc.
Main activities:
 Using the internet / CD-ROMs, find out about the
historical traditions of Maundy Thursday & their
significance
 You could give each group a specific event to find out
about, or allow each group to browse at their leisure
 Feedback findings to the rest of the class
Plenary:
 Link each of the events highlighted to their Biblical /
Christian roots


 retell stories of the events studied
and identify the beliefs about
Jesus associated with these
stories (L2)
 explain why these beliefs are
important to Christians (L3)
 describe the key beliefs about
Jesus in these events and connect 
them with features of Christian life
and practice (L4)
these events help
Christians to
believe that Jesus
was the Son of God
Additional R.E. Unit – 2006
Points to note
By the end of the lesson, most pupils are able
to:
Written for Guildford Diocese by Rachel Boxer

Learning outcomes in
italics are additional to
those contained within the
syllabus
This lesson is basically the
same as lesson 1 for upper
KS2 – as this is a ‘special’
unit of work, all children
will need to know
something of the historical
practices of Maundy
Thursday before the actual
event!
You can find articles about
Maundy Thursday on
www.bbc.co.uk/religion/reli
gions/christianity/holydays/
maundythursday.shtml
Also look at the ‘related
links’ section of this web
address for news reports
related to Maundy money
ceremonies
Unit title: What is Maundy Thursday about ?
Age range: Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3&4)
Lesson title: ‘If you were the Queen, who would you give Maundy money to ?’
Lesson 2 in a unit of 3 lessons
Learning Objectives
Possible Learning Experiences
Through the learning experiences,
pupils should learn:
 how Christians
demonstrate their
belief in
 compassion
 love
and relate them to
their Biblical
foundation.
 Christians believe
they can
communicate their
faith through
actions towards
others
Additional R.E. Unit – 2006
Learning Outcomes
Points to note
By the end of the lesson, most pupils are able
to:
Introduction:
 Recap on the findings of the previous lesson especially
the event of the giving of Maundy money
 Look at what gets given out at the Maundy money
ceremony & why.
Main activities:
 Invite the vicar / local church contact in to talk to your
class about the many different acts of ‘service’ that go
on within & maybe even outside the church community,
and who is involved.
 Consider the lives of these & other Christians you know
& talk about how they demonstrate Jesus’ new
commandment to ‘love one another as I have loved you’
 Choose one person who you think is worthy to receive
Maundy money (see ‘Points to note’ section)
 Write a letter to the Queen’s secretary about your
chosen recipient, outlining why you think they should
receive Maundy money.
Plenary:
 As a class, present your cases – if time allows, and you
have photos of each candidate, you could display them
alongside the letters

identify Christians who have an
impact in the local community(L2)
 describe how the actions of
different Christians have changed
the local community (L3)


respond sensitively to the fact that
great changes can be made by the
work of an individual (L2)
 make links between the
characteristics of the Christians
studied (L3)

Written for Guildford Diocese by Rachel Boxer

Learning outcomes in
italics are additional to
those contained within the
syllabus
If you prefer, you could
consider the lives of
famous Christians (e.g.
Mother Teresa, Martin
Luther King etc. – see
‘Points to Note’ section for
ideas).Try
www.intouch.org/myintouc
h/mighty/portraits/index_77
957.html for articles about
famous Christians – you
may need to edit the
information as each article
is quite lengthy
You might choose to focus
on one individual as a
class, with pupils writing
their own letter of
recommendation, or each
group could choose a
different individual, or if
you prefer, each pupil
could choose their own
candidate to write about
Unit title: What is Maundy Thursday about ?
Lesson title: ‘Newsflash!’ (evaluation)
Lesson 3 in a unit of 3 lessons
Learning Objectives
Age range: Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3&4)
Possible Learning Experiences
Through the learning experiences,
pupils should demonstrate that
they can:
 identify the key
traditions of
Maundy Thursday,
and their
significance
 describe how the
traditions of
Maundy Thursday
show the
significance of the
events being
remembered
Learning Outcomes
Points to note
By the end of the lesson, most pupils are able
to:

Introduction:
 Look at any articles found in lesson 1 that are news
reports of previous years’ Maundy services.
 Outline the events of a typical service
Main activities:
 Imagine you’re a reporter for your local newspaper and
you’ve been asked to follow the events of the giving of
Maundy money by the Queen.
 Write an article outlining what ‘happened’ at Guildford
Cathedral on Maundy Thursday 2006
 As well as ‘reporting’ the facts, encourage pupils to
explain the significance of these events for Christians,
linking what happens to Christian belief

 identify the key traditions of
Maundy Thursday, and their
significance (L2)
 describe how the traditions of
Maundy Thursday show the
significance of the events being
remembered (L3)

Plenary:
 Make the articles into a class newspaper and display
for other classes to view

Additional R.E. Unit – 2006
Written for Guildford Diocese by Rachel Boxer
These learning outcomes
have QCA references to
help with assessing
children’s work
It is possible that not all
children will show evidence
in their work of all the
learning objectives /
outcomes listed and that
some more able children
may show evidence of a
higher level in their work.
Please refer to QCA level
descriptors to help you
decide
Try this link for an outline
of a Maundy service at:
www.bbc.co.uk/gloucester
shire/faith/2003/04/maundy
/maundy_timetable.shtml
If you prefer, this lesson
within the unit could
happen after the events of
the real Maundy Thursday
service, then children
could report on actual
rather than imagined
events