Citizenship at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 1-6)

• Remind the children of the agreed ground rules for discussion. In circle time, help them to identify things they have in common and differences between them by saying, "Come into the circle and join hands if you ..." (eg have long hair, wear glasses, have lived in this [city/town/village] all your life, can speak Bengali, have family in another country). Finish by saying, "Come into the circle if you are in [year 1] and shout 'We are!' ". The children learn that all these different factors help make up their individual identities. They draw a badge or coat of arms to illustrate their identity.
• In pairs, the children discuss the things they have in common and the differences between them. They consider the characteristics all humans share, eg they need water, food and shelter in order to stay alive. They make a list of these, and then list some of the differences between people, eg what they look like, the language(s) they speak, their interests/hobbies. Each pair joins with another pair to share their findings. Every member of the group identifies, with the help of the others, something that is special about them because it is unique to the group. In a 'round', each child says in turn, "I am special because ..." (eg I can speak Chinese, my cousins live in Australia, I was born in Scotland). A variation on this could be for the children's partners to report back, saying, "[Name of partner] is special because ...".
• Each child draws a self-portrait with a speech bubble saying something about them. Then the children draw a similar portrait of a friend or the person sitting next to them. Ask them to describe what is the same and what is different about the two drawings.
• The children sit in a circle. Ask them to make 'silent statements', saying, "Cross the circle if you ..." (eg are wearing short socks, have a pet, feel hurt if someone makes fun of you or your family, would help a classmate who was unhappy). In pairs, the children discuss what they would do if someone made fun of them or their family. They identify and list things that make them feel sad at school, eg being teased or called names, being left out of a game at playtime. With the class, identify and establish those things that are morally wrong and why they are wrong, eg it is wrong to tease someone because of their race or if they have a disability, because we are all special members of our class and must not hurt each other's feelings. The class lists things they could do to make someone else happy, eg sharing something, talking to someone in the class who feels lonely, including everyone in games at playtime. The children make a class chart - using pictures and/or words - of their list.

• As part of a circle time session, ask the children to come up with words that describe the things they like and dislike about school, eg happy, sad, quiet, noisy, fun, boring.
• The children investigate the ways in which their school is part of a wider community. In pairs or small groups, they talk about what the school is like and what they like and dislike about it. Then ask them to imagine that they are writing a letter/e-mail to describe their school community to someone in another country. What would they say? Encourage the children to think about the school's location, the different members of the community (including teachers, pupils, lunchtime/playtime supervisors and other staff), the uniform, activities and lessons, rules, the food, links with the local community, etc. This could be done as part of a school-linking project. Then, reflecting on the discussions in the previous section, the class make a list of the other communities and groups to which they belong, eg class, school, family, the suburb/town/village where the school is located, clubs, religious communities. It is important that the children begin to recognise that there are some communities to which we all belong and some that only certain people are members of.
• Ask the children to draw a picture of a home (their own or a home from a story they know). They stick their picture onto a larger sheet of paper, and write some words, including their feelings about the word 'home', around the border. The children then compile the pictures to make a whole-class display, collage or montage. In groups or as a class, they discuss the similarities and differences between the different homes and the words used. They consider what they like and dislike about their homes. What words did they use? What would they like to change about their homes?
• Invite other children or family/community members from different regional, cultural, ethnic or religious backgrounds to speak to the class. They may also be able to help arrange visits to places of worship, eg churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, temples, or other important sites.

• In groups, the children identify on maps different places they have visited, been on holiday to, lived in, or where they have relatives. They discuss what they think the similarities and differences are between living in those places and living in their own locality. Encourage them to talk about their experiences of visiting other places.
• Use stories to introduce places that contrast with the school's locality. The children work in small groups to explore the lives and relationships of the characters in the stories/pictures. They devise questions for an enquiry, eg What is it like in the place where the story is set? How is it the same as/different from where we live? What would it be like to live there?
• Ask the children to try and put themselves in the place of some of the characters, considering how they might react if they were in the story. They could do this by: writing word bubbles for what characters might be saying; role-playing a discussion between two characters; drawing themselves on a post-it note and putting it on a favourite illustration, then describing what it would feel like to be 'in' that picture; collecting material for a story sack of artefacts and images, eg from travel magazines, photo packs, about the places in the story.
• Help the children to discuss the similarities and differences between their own locality and places in the stories through the use of prompt statements, eg "Some of the things I can see that I use and do in my everyday life are ...".

• The children investigate their links with other places. Using their clothes/toys/a basket of food from the supermarket, they devise and answer questions for an enquiry, eg Where did the items in the basket come from? Where were my clothes/toys made? What does it say on the labels/packaging? Where did the raw materials for the goods come from? What is it like in the place where the toys/clothes were made/food was grown? Show the children images of people and places in the countries identified.
• A class chart, 'Our connections', is constructed, with string or ribbons linking the location of the school with the countries identified through the labels, packaging, etc. Older children could discuss the reasons for importing food and clothing from other countries, the ways in which people in those countries depend on their trade with the UK, and how the UK depends on products and resources from other countries. The class produce artwork or poetry on the theme 'we are interdependent' or 'our global community'.
• In groups, the children review what they have learnt by showing the badges/coats of arms they made at the beginning of the unit, evaluating the class chart about ways of making others happy (are they putting their suggestions into practice?), looking again at the montage of their homes and the chart 'Our connections', and sharing their artwork and poetry about interdependence. They each choose what they think is the most important thing they have learnt, and report it to the class.