Citizenship at key stage 3    (Year 7-9)

• Pupils undertake a physical survey of the school grounds. They construct a map indicating the location of features such as trees, benches, footpaths and courts and pitches for games, noting their condition.
• Ask pupils to observe and record how the school grounds are currently used at different times of the day, eg before school starts, at break and lunchtime, for lessons and activities, after school. Help pupils use techniques such as fixed-point photography, video and mapping to gather and record this information.
• Discuss with the pupils ways of establishing the needs of different groups that use the site, eg teachers taking lessons outdoors, students and community groups using the site after school hours. Pupils agree methods for collecting and analysing this information, eg questionnaires, charts and diagrams.

• Challenge pupils to think about the differing needs of other people who use the grounds, eg people of a different age, sex or cultural background or with more or less limited mobility. Ask them to present these ideas, eg through video, extended writing, presentation.
• Ask pupils to analyse the information they have gathered. Challenge them to consider the benefits of their work and how the project could enhance the quality of life for them, their school and the wider community. Help pupils to present their thoughts and ideas through discussion, debate and/or written work.
• Ask pupils to consider what different methods could be used to make decisions about what should and should not be included in a list of developments for the school grounds, eg who will be involved in managing the project; how decisions will be taken and by whom. Agree systems to shape this decision-making. Help pupils to use these systems to make judgements about developments proposed for the grounds.

• Discuss with the pupils whether the physical features of the school grounds or the ways they are used offer opportunities for differing cultures and ethnic identities to be celebrated, eg designing and creating a mural that celebrates diverse cultures; recreating an environment from another country; creating a spiritual or a peace garden. What kinds of improvements might provide solutions to the needs of users pupils have identified in earlier work?
• Encourage pupils to consider and discuss the long-term sustainability of the project. What involvement will be needed to maintain it? Who will be involved in the future? How should this be planned for and monitored?
• Ask pupils to create a plan showing where different activities might take place within the grounds.
• Encourage pupils to invite local community and voluntary groups and individuals to discuss their work and indicate how it could link into the project, eg wildlife groups to help create habitats.
• Pupils use a range of sources to investigate alternative solutions to the needs of users they have identified, eg manufacturers' and suppliers' websites, magazines and newspapers, videos and images from local and national organisations.

• Encourage pupils to think about how they can participate in changing the management and appearance of their school grounds, eg changing the way the site is used at break and lunchtime, planting trees to form a shelter, painting a mural, constructing a feature such as a pergola. This could involve help from local or national organisations and experts.
• Help pupils to investigate and calculate the cost of different aspects of the project and compare these with the budget. Ask them to research sources of funding for school grounds projects, including finding out if grants are available from the local authority or other organisations. They could seek funding, plan and organise fund-raising events or activities (school or community based) and take advice on where to deposit the money raised to get the best rate of interest.
• Following the planning process and later when the project is completed, ask pupils to reflect on their individual and group contributions to the school grounds project. They consider what went well and what could have been done better. They think of ways the social, cultural and environmental impact of the project could be monitored. They identify ways of making future projects more effective and improving their own contribution.