This assembly plan celebrates over 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta, inviting students to reflect on this important document and its legacy today.

Included in this pack is a fold-out copy of Magna Carta provided by Salisbury Cathedral. On the back of this poster is a blank template to inspire your students to consider the rights and freedoms they would include if they were creating a Magna Carta for today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES Students will: • Gain an overview understanding of the story behind

Magna Carta

• Know that there are three clauses of Magna Carta still relevant today

• Reflect on the significance of Magna Carta in the development of rights and freedoms in the UK

• Consider what rights they believe are important in the UK today

Magna CartaASSEMBLY PL AN

rights do they feel everyone should have – the right to food, housing, education?

Step 6Conclusion: Allow some time for the group to share their ideas – there may be some agreement and some that others don’t agree with. Ask– ‘who is responsible for debating and agreeing our rights and laws today?’ Explain that we have the UK Parliament, made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords who work together. We also have devolved assemblies and local councils. You may even have a school council representing your class or year group. These bodies are all part of our democratic way of life.

Wrap up by reminding the group that Magna Carta stated that no king was above the rule of law and set out some key rights for everyone, starting a long journey to the rights and freedoms we experience today.

Next steps (optional) If this assembly has inspired the students, or got them talking about rights or issues they are passionate about, what could they do to take action? They may want to speak to or join their school council, contact their local MP or start or join a campaign.

After the assembly you may want to put your new Magna Carta in a shared space for people to add to. If you have a school council you could pass it to them to begin a wider discussion about rights and freedoms in your school.

HOST THE ASSEMBLY IN SIX STEPS

Step 1 Set the scene: Tell the group you have with you something incredibly powerful. It has limited the power of kings; it has ensured that no one was above the law; it began a journey to the rights and freedoms we know today...

Step 2Present the Magna Carta: Unfold the copy of Magna Carta included in this resource. Ask– ‘does anyone recognise this document?’ Explain that this is a copy of Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter).

Step 3Outline the background to Magna Carta: Explain that over 800 years ago there was no Parliament, there was only the king who had all the power and made all the big decisions. A group of land owners, called the Barons, rebelled against the king because they didn’t like the way he was ruling and believed he was abusing his power. He was raising taxes to pay for his wars in France and those who refused him faced imprisonment, having their lands seized or even having their family taken hostage as punishment.

Step 4Introduce rights from Magna Carta: Explain that when King John put his seal on Magna Carta on 15 June at Runnymede he finally agreed to obey the laws of the land. This was the first time that a king ever limited their power in writing. It paved the way for a new approach to how England, and subsequently the United Kingdom, was governed. Magna Carta contained 63 clauses that guaranteed rights for the people, three of which are still in UK law today. The best known of these is that everyone has a right to trial by their equals, similar to a trial by jury today. If you would like to outline all three clauses, please see the background information on the back page of this pack.

Step 5Reflection: Show the reverse side of your Magna Carta to the group. Ask– ‘if you were making a new Magna Carta today, what rights and freedoms would you include?‘ To inspire the students you may want to remind the group of just how different our world is today – for example would they want to include rights reflecting the digital age? Remind them that there are also some similarities– would they still want trial by jury? What basic

Our Magna CartaIn the year 2015 we believe our rights and freedoms to be…

NOTES FOR OLDER GROUPS

You may want to go into more detail to explain the history of Magna Carta, using information included on the back page of this resource. For further background, visit: www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament

During the reflection time, you could open up your discussion to refer to how countries differ in terms of the rights and freedoms their citizens have.

In your conclusion you may want to go into further detail about Parliament today. Visit Parliament’s Education Service website to access learning materials on both the House of Commons and the House of Lords: www.parliament.uk/education

You could simplify some of the language or explain some terms used. For example you could say, ‘he made the Barons give him more money’ instead of ‘he raised taxes’, or use ‘rules’ instead of ‘laws’.

You may also want to make greater use of questions and answers, for example, ‘do you think that King John was being fair?’, ‘do you think Kings and Queens make the rules we follow today?’

You could have your copy of Magna Carta rolled up and tied up with a red ribbon for greater dramatic effect.

You can introduce the topic of Magna Carta by playing the Stories from Parliament Magna Carta video drama, which tells a simplified version of what led to the sealing of the charter in around six minutes. This comes with an accompanying video script which you may wish to use as a play script. Visit www.parliament.uk/education for this and other Magna Carta resources.

NOTES FOR YOUNGER GROUPS

FURTHER INFORMATION: MAGNA CARTA

How did Magna Carta come about?In 1199 King Richard the Lionheart died and his younger brother, King John, inherited England and most of western France.

In 1204, the King of France took Normandy and Anjou from John, leaving him with only England and Aquitaine, or Gascony, in southwest France. John wanted to regain these lost territories which his family had ruled for hundreds of years.

John spent years trying to recapture his lost lands and this cost enormous amounts of money, so he repeatedly raised taxes and seized lands that did not belong to him.

This brought John into conflict with the Barons, the leading men of the kingdom who owned vast amounts of land. The Barons also disliked John because, in order to ensure their obedience, he took their children and other relatives hostage. On one occasion he starved to death the wife and son of a Baron, William de Braose, in the dungeons of Windsor Castle.

Ultimately, John relied on the Barons’ money and armies and so, when the Barons demanded he adhere to the rights laid out in Magna Carta, he eventually had to agree. He put his seal on Magna Carta on 15 June at Runnymede, near Windsor. Magna Carta was repeatedly rejected, confirmed

and reissued over the following years and became well known across England, not just among the Barons, but also in the counties. The clauses were revised over time and new versions were issued. Today we do not have a written constitution, but three of the clauses are still in place through our laws. In addition the key overarching principle of Magna Carta remains– everyone, including the monarch, should obey the law of the land.

The three remaining clauses:• Anyone accused of a crime has the right to be tried by his

equals– this will seem the most relevant clause to manypeople as a fundamental right that confirms justice forevery citizen regardless of rank or status. This clause is stillinvoked when there are discussions about changing oradapting the justice system.

• Privileges given to the City of London and those of allother cities, boroughs, towns, and ports are guaranteedand cannot be changed by the monarch– this ensures thatcities and other communities have a say in how they arerun within the law of the land.

• The freedom of the Church of England to govern itselfis guaranteed for all time– this means that the monarchcannot interfere with the running of the church.However, since the Reformation the Monarch has beenthe Head of the Church of England.

FURTHER INFORMATION: MAGNA CARTA