Lent is the period of six weeks leading up to Easter, the most important festival in the Christian calendar. It starts on Ash Wednesday and climaxes during Easter Week. It lasts a total of 40 days, not including Sundays.

Lent started in the 4th Century: it was introduced to encourage a return to self-discipline. At that time, baptisms normally took place on Easter Day and members of the church would join those preparing for baptism by fasting for several weeks beforehand.

Gradually Christians began to associate the fast with the 40 day period when Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray in preparation for his ministry. During this time he was tempted several times by Satan, but was able to resist.

The day before Lent starts is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day. Traditionally, Christians gave up meat, fat, eggs and dairy products for Lent. This was the last chance to use up some of these foods before Lent began. Today people often give up chocolate or alcohol.

Festivities take place in many cities all over the world, including Mardi Gras in New Orleans (USA), Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Venice (Italy). People dress up, wear masks, parade and dance in the streets.

On Ash Wednesday many churches hold services during which Christians are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality. The ashes come from burning the palm crosses from Palm Sunday of the previous year.

Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, ending in Holy Week.

Why was Jesus led into the desert to be tempted, after his baptism?
He needed to have time alone with God to prepare for the task that lay before him: his ministry and eventual crucifixion. During this time he would be given the strength to overcome any temptation.

What are the origins of the words 'Shrove Tuesday' and 'Lent'?
Shrove Tuesday comes from the word to shrive which means to confess one's sins. Lent comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word lencten, meaning Spring.

RE at Key Stages 1 and 2 (Year 2)
Unit 2C: Celebrations (Generic). Section 3: How is Shrove Tuesday celebrated in different parts of the world?
Show video extracts/CD-ROMs/webistes/books which show how Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in different parts of the world. Discuss similarities and differences and suggest reasons for them. Ask the class to think about the festival through the eyes of a young child. Have a class celebration to participate in a festival, focusing on cultural diversity. You could make pancakes with the class. The Pancake recipe may help with this activity.

RE at Key Stages 1 and 2 (Year 5)
Unit 5D: How do the beliefs of Christians influence their actions? Section 6: What could this mean in practice?

Discuss how to apply a moral principle to a 'real-life' situation, by asking groups of children to role play different scenarios (e.g. using another person's belongings without permission - you could give them a choice of 4 or 5) once without reference to Jesus' teaching, and then taking the teachings into consideration. Ask the class what difference it makes if they apply the teachings of Jesus. The Dilemmas worksheet may help with this activity.

RE at Key Stage 3 (Year 7)
Unit 7C: Religious figure (Generic). Section 2: Important moments in Jesus' life
Ask students to think and talk about times in their own lives when they have been tested, either physically, mentally or even emotionally. Ask them to consider what effects these tests had on them, both positive and negative. Explain the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. The Jesus in the Desert worksheet may help with this activity. Students could then create a cartoon or picture book version of the story to explain it to younger students, or could produce a written explanation of how Jesus might have been affected by his time in the desert.

Full details of all QCA schemes of work can be found online at:
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes3/subjects/
Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

BBC Food - Pancake Day
Learn about the traditions surrounding Pancake Day and try out a range of delicious international pancake recipes.

BBC Religion and Ethics - Christianity
Background information on Lent.

Parenting - Multi Faith Celebrations
This handy guide gives tips on preparing yourself for children's curiosity about religions.

Radio 1's One Life Guide to Christianity.
A brief guide to Christianity.

the RE site
A comprehensive collection of RE news, links and resources for students of all ages. Includes an interactive festivals calendar, links to virtual tours of places of worship and AV/IT resources catalogue.

The Culham Institute
RE curriculum and training resources with a strong emphasis on the use of multimedia and ICT. The site contains a wide range of assemblies for primary and secondary groups focusing on people, festivals and other important themes and days.

the RE directory
A directory of RE contacts, including LEAs, faith communities and suppliers of resources.

SPCK - The Assemblies Website
Constantly updated, this site provides instant-access assemblies for primary and secondary schools on a wide range of secular and religious topics, including festivals of world religions.

The Parrotfish Company
A catalogue of multicultural educational resources and religious artefacts from around the world.

Turning the Pages
The British Library's award-winning online collection of ancient texts. Students can 'turn the pages' of a range of texts from different cultures, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Diamond Sutra, Sultan Baybars' Qur'an and the Hebrew Golden Haggadah.

Words Alive! - Special Books
An interactive guide to the six world religions from the British Library with video, images and information. Explore each 'display case' to discover more about each religion.

Britkid
A site about race, racism and life - as seen through the eyes of the Britkids. You can hang out with a Britkid or go into town to learn about religion, food, culture and the triumphs, trials and tribulations of life as a teenager in multicultural Britain.

Portsmouth EMAS
The Portsmouth Ethnic Minority Achievement Service offer a range of excellent multicultural online resources, including religious festival activities, literacy resources and interactive number lines in a wide range of languages.

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.