Upper I researches Magna Carta

Historical focus at Assembly

Miss O’Connell, Form Teacher Upper I, has gathered some reports from the pupils in her class who last week led the Junior Assembly on Magna Carta. The Great Charter was signed by King John at Runnymede, near Windsor in 1215 and Upper I shared their findings in a great performance:

Fern Mortimer reported, ‘On Friday 15^th January Upper I performed their Class Assembly about the Magna Carta. It was an assembly about the beginning of Parliament and democracy in England in 1215.  The main characters in the assembly were King John and the barons. Upper I told the story of how the barons took action to make King John obey the law because they did not like the way that he was ruling the country. King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 which meant he was no longer above the law. It was a great assembly and everyone worked hard to learn their lines.’

Ireoluwa Sangosanya continued, ‘In the Assembly presentation we played different characters. I talked about the importance of the Magna Carta, which is: ‘that it put in writing for the first time the principle that the King was not above the law. In governing the country the King must stick to the law.”’

Zahra Smith observed, ’Everyone in our class had a piece to say about the Magna Carta. Some of us were given characters to represent, for example: King John, the Chamberlain, three angry barons and the Archbishop of Canterbury. We presented this in front of teachers and students and I enjoyed taking part in it!’

Some more information about the Magna Carta from Upper I:

‘The Magna Carta paved the way for trial by jury today, which means that people are tried by their peers in court and it also protected their civil rights’, Ireoluwa Sangasanya, Upper I

‘It meant that no man can  be imprisoned without being charged’, Pavneet Dhalliwal, Upper I

‘The Magna Carta, or Great Charter, stated that the King was not above the law. Kings had never before been asked to obey the law in this way’, Kyra Zorzy, Upper I

Alessia Bajenaru concluded, ‘We finished our assembly by saying how some of the rules in the Magna Carta are still followed today and then said a lovely prayer. Then Mrs Tippen made a speech and people from the audience clapped!’