Citizenship at key stage 3    (Year 7-9)

• Ask pupils if they have voted for something (this could include voting in a debate or school elections). Discuss other occasions when people vote, eg survivor TV programmes, to accept members of a club, political office, shareholder meetings, talent competitions, TV debates, online opinion polls. Why do we vote? Ask pupils to consider why we vote. Are there alternatives for making decisions in the examples discussed? Consider the advantages and disadvantages of the different ways of making decisions. These could include direct democracy, representative democracy, dictatorship or oligarchy. Use school-based examples, eg uniform, homework timetables, to illustrate the various ways to reach decisions.
• Ask pupils to list the different ways in which people vote. This could include: telephone voting for radio, TV or newspaper polls, postal votes, polling stations and a secret ballot, a show of hands at a meeting and internet polls. What makes some methods more suitable for certain purposes? For example, would you use an expensive secret ballot with polling stations and an electoral roll to vote for a talent show winner? Or a telephone poll to elect an MP? Consider numbers involved, cost, speed, importance, accuracy, access, security, double counting and confidentiality.

• Explain to the pupils that voting on specific government decisions, known as a referendum, is rare in the UK. Citizens usually vote for a representative who takes decisions on their behalf. Ask pupils to list the various levels of government that citizens can vote for, eg that elected representatives form government at local, national (including devolved government) and European level.
• Pupils investigate different electoral systems and ways to organise the voting, eg first past the post, and the national list - these may be easiest to contrast. Explain the systems and ask pupils to think about the advantages and disadvantages of each. Is one fairer than the other or are there positive and negative points in any system? What makes an election 'fair'?

• Encourage pupils to analyse political publicity campaigns to build on their media skills. Focus on how political parties try to influence the public, eg through campaigning (highlighting their own strengths and their opponents' weaknesses). Draw comparisons between local and national media approaches. Look at the publicity material and the party political broadcasts. Are they effective? Are any particular examples likely to be more successful than others? Why do main political parties spend so much on advertising? How do smaller political parties compete?
• Alternatively, pupils could stage mock elections, as political candidates masterminding their own campaigns. Give pupils information about the ingredients of a modern campaign to get them started, eg nomination, policies (manifesto), speeches (hustings), press releases, rebuttal of opponents' messages. This activity also develops teamwork skills as it requires careful planning and coordination between team members.

• Ask pupils why they participated in certain elections. Why do they think it is important to vote? Consider the importance of having a say, being counted and participating in a decision. If less than half the class bothers to vote, how representative is the winning candidate? How might it affect the way the representative is seen or their ability to do the job?
• What if people do not vote? Compare figures for voter turnout over time for local, national and European elections. Pupils could also analyse figures for referenda. Why do they think that people are less likely to vote in local and EU elections than general elections? What might this suggest about people's feelings towards local and EU government? Ask pupils to prepare a survey to collect information from adults about their participation in different types of election. What reasons do people give for whether or not they participate in elections?
• If the voting age was lowered tomorrow, for example to 16 or 14, would pupils vote in an election? Ask them to list reasons for and against voting at local, national and EU level.

• Pupils brainstorm key ideas and words about Parliament. They draw a flow diagram to link them together and investigate further using a range of sources of information including ICT. They create posters/documents to show findings, eg MPs, ministries, Houses of Parliament.
• Pupils investigate the work of MPs or ministers, eg by following media coverage, using Hansard, and produce a record or case study of their findings. They find out how MPs divide their time between Parliament and constituency work. They could contact their local MP to talk about their varied responsibilities, eg tasks, pay, hours, skills, knowledge.
• Groups of pupils could investigate how Parliament works and what happens during a parliamentary session by researching aspects of the parliamentary process, eg Monarchy, House of Commons, House of Lords, MPs, the main political parties, Prime Minister, official opposition, the Cabinet, ministers. A similar research activity could be carried out to compare the parliamentary systems of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
• Pupils could investigate how these relate to local government. What powers do they have, eg can they raise taxes? Pupils share their findings.
• Pupils could produce a brochure, photomontage, poster of 'The young person's guide to Parliament' or prepare a guide to parliamentary government in the UK. They could visit the House of Commons, watch an online TV debate or run a mock parliamentary session on a real issue that affects them. They could also write a Hansard-style report on proceedings.

• Pupils use the internet to find answers to the following types of question:
  • What does central government do?
  • How does central government work?
  • Who works for central government?
  • What do government departments do?
  • Where does central government get its money, who decides, how are taxes raised, and how much does it get?
  • How is the money spent?, eg by government departments. Who decides this, and how?
  • What is the relationship between government at a local and national level?
• Using ICT wherever possible, pupils could present their findings in a leaflet targeting younger pupils or parents and share these with the class.