Citizenship at key stage 3    (Year 7-9)

• Create a wall display - put up a map of the world, and ask pupils to stick on it pictures of friends and family they have living in different countries and/or places they have visited. Which country would they like to link with, and why? (Note that 60 per cent of British citizens have a relative living in another Commonwealth country.)
• Ask the class how they would like to agree which school link they should go with.

• Using a photo pack, either of the UK or of another country, discuss the images and how they might not tell the whole story. If pupils were going to design a photo pack to illustrate life in the UK, what images would they include? What impression would be given?
• Introduce the partner school. In groups, pupils should discuss what they already know about the country/place the school is in, and how they might find out more. What would they like to know? What similarities might there be between the two countries/places? How are they connected, eg imports, history, religion, language?
• Ask pupils to think about ways of communicating with the pupils at the partner school. What would be the best way? What does the other school think? How will pupils go about asking for information? Is there anything the partner school would like to know in return?
• In groups, pupils could write a letter/e-mail or record a message on a given topic, eg 'A week at our school'. Discuss the image pupils are presenting, and the impression the partner pupils might get from the letters/e-mails/recordings, as well as any impressions they might already have formed. Ask pupils to decide what else they could send, eg picture maps of their routes to school, descriptions of their favourite places, or of their hopes and dreams for the future.

• Once replies have been received from the partner school ask pupils to read the replies and write down any answers to the class's questions, and any questions asked by the partner pupils. They could select and sort the information in a variety of ways, eg create a display/book detailing similarities and differences between the schools/pupils; collate new words and definitions to make a dictionary. Pupils think up new questions to ask in the next set of letters.
• Do a before-and-after exercise with pupils to reflect on their perceptions and what they knew before they started the work with the partner school and what they think and know now. Look at values and attitudes as well as facts.
• Discuss with the class and the partner school what the focus of the next phase of contact should be.

• Hold a brainstorming session on what is meant by the term 'community'. Consider a range of communities: class, school, local, regional, national, European, Commonwealth, global and religious. How does the class community connect to the partner school's community? Do any of the class's actions impact on them, or vice versa?
• Ask pupils how they would present an accurate image of their community. Discuss the different methods they could use to do this, and then present the information to the partner school.

• Once the next communication has been received from the partner school, pupils should analyse the similarities and differences between their community and the partner school's, and present their findings. What can the two schools learn from each other?
• In the light of what pupils have learnt about the partner school's community, as well as their own, ask them to think about an ideal community. What would its underlying principles and values be? What could they do to improve things within their own community?

• While pupils are waiting for letters from their partners, ask them to conduct surveys in the school and the local community on impressions of the partner country. What do people know about this country? How did they get this information/form their impressions? Consider both positive and negative things that could be said about the partner country, and discuss ways to present a balance of views. Teachers could also consider arranging a link celebration day/global day to share the experience of school linking with the school and the wider community.