Citizenship at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 3-6)

• In groups, the children choose and play a board game. After 10-15 minutes, ask them to stop playing and discuss the rules of the game. Why are rules needed? What would happen if there were no rules? It is important to point out that rules ensure fairness, eg when playing a game.
• In their groups, the children list rules that they follow in different situations at home, eg watching TV, at bedtime, doing chores. They discuss and compare these. What other kinds of rules do they follow, eg at school, playing sport, in law? Why are these rules and laws needed, eg to protect us from harm, to help us live together in our communities, to help us distinguish between right and wrong, to ensure fairness? Who makes rules and laws? Are the rules fair to everyone? What happens when rules are broken? The groups share their discussion with the class and think about what they would do if they wanted a rule to be changed. Consider the agreed ground rules for discussion and how children are involved in making and changing class or school rules. Point out that when everyone has a say, this is democracy, and that children can take part in democracy by having their say in school.

• Working in pairs, the children list three rules that they have to follow: in the classroom, in school, at home. For each rule, they talk about and write down their answers to the following questions:
• Why do we need the rule?
• Is the rule fair?
• Who makes the rule?
• What happens when the rule is broken?
• Would we like to change the rule?

Each pair feeds back to the class about one of their chosen rules.

• As a class, the children reflect on how rules are made for the classroom, playground or school, eg ground rules for discussion, rules for use of the classroom, rules for use of play equipment. Drawing on their work in the previous activity, ask them to suggest any rule that they think could be improved or to propose a new rule and discuss how this would affect individuals and the class or school. Record suggestions on the board. Refer to the role of the class council or school council and how they are involved in decision-making. Ask the children to vote (using a secret ballot) for the rule that they think should be taken to the school council for consideration. Explain that this is an example of democracy, where each person's view is important and can make a difference.
• The children look up 'democracy' in a dictionary and write down in their own words what it means. As a class, discuss and agree a definition. Using local newspapers, ask the children to find examples of democracy, eg in decision-making.

• Give the children some background information about Parliament, drawing comparisons with decision-making in the class or school. This could cover the following points:
• every area in the country sends a representative to Parliament (a Member of Parliament or MP)
• MPs belong to a political party
• before an election, each political party publishes what they stand for in a manifesto
• an election is held about every five years for the people to vote for the party they want in government
• the leader of the party that wins an election becomes the Prime Minister
• changing the law is an important part of the work of Parliament
• changes are debated and discussed in Parliament before being agreed, as they are in class or school councils
• Using scenarios or stories, explore a law that affects children, eg legal ages at which children can open a National Savings account (7), own a pet (12), vote in an election (18). Through class discussion, explore why the law is needed. What might happen without the law? Is it fair to everyone?
• Hold a simple parliamentary-style debate, focusing on a legal issue of interest to children or relating to the laws explored in the previous activity. Invite your local MP or a councillor to the debate. The children could prepare questions, eg about the work of Parliament in changing the law. If no one is available, it may be possible to send questions by letter or e-mail.
• Extension activity: The children could find out more about the Houses of Parliament, perhaps using the Explore Parliament website, and look up the name of their MP. Show them a video clip of a parliamentary debate or Prime Minister's Question Time, and ask them to describe what they saw.

• Ask the children to think of rules or laws that they know have been broken in school or in the wider community, eg misusing the play equipment at playtime, playing football in the quiet area, causing damage to a bus shelter, shoplifting. Local or national newspapers could be used as stimulus material. The children discuss what happened, whether there were any victims, whether it was dangerous, the effect on others. They then work in groups to present a law-breaking or rule-breaking scenario to the rest of the class, through a storyboard or drama, or as a TV news-style report. Why was the rule broken or the crime committed?
• The children reflect on some of the daily choices they make and what influences them, eg wanting to be like their friends. They identify positive and negative influences and discuss when an influence becomes a pressure. Make them aware of possible pressure from peers to behave in unacceptable ways. Ask them to talk about peer pressure and to identify ways of resisting temptation. How can they help to deter others from behaving in an unacceptable way?
• Reflect on how we can all take responsible action to help prevent crimes, eg through Neighbourhood Watch, by taking care of our possessions, by not joining in with risky behaviour that could lead to a crime, by forming a Primary Action Group.
• Working in groups, the children create a poster that communicates what they have learnt about rules, laws, democracy and Parliament. The poster could focus on a particular issue or could be a campaign to change a rule or a law that affects children. Display the posters in the classroom or around the school.