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

• Give the children a range of resources so that they can explore, in groups, what the local place is like and what some significant features of its location are, eg copies of old and new maps; photographs, pictures and documents from the local studies centre or local newspaper archives; internet resources. Ask questions to prompt them, eg What is the place like? Why did it develop where it did? What features can you identify that contributed to the location (major route, port, ford or bridge across a river, raw materials, military garrison, etc)? Ask the children to list some features that help to identify the place today, eg famous football team, a key industry, a landmark or historic event, a railway station, scenic countryside, a well-known river or building.
• Where is the place? Ask the children to locate the place on maps at a range of scales. Then ask them to locate the place in the context of the region, county, country, Europe, the world. Talk about scale. The children could mark on a base map the key physical and human features of the locality, eg woodland, parks, rivers, railway, major roads, post office, the school. Ask them where the local council chamber is located (the council may be in a different place from where the children live) and to mark it on their map.
• What can old documents tell us about the place, eg Are there any charters conferring market, borough, or city status? If so, when and by whom was this conferred? Does the local council have a coat of arms? What do the symbols on it mean, and what is the motto? Do any important local people have a coat of arms? The children could draw a coat of arms for their own families, representing their interests, employment and leisure activities.
• Extension activity: Use a range of historical sources to find out more about the locality in the past and present, eg discuss what a charter is, what it might look like, what it might contain and who might have signed one; look at original or facsimile charters and discuss the purpose and use of seals; write charters conferring rights on the children at the school and seal them with wax.
• Ask the children to explore what their community is like today and how it has changed over time. They could compare old maps with current maps and study photographic and newspaper archives. Ask the children to work in pairs to devise questions for interviews with older people in the school and community. They could practise asking questions before their meeting, eg Did they go to school in the area? Where? What was it like? What job did they do? What did they do in their spare time? How did they travel about? What is the biggest change in the community from when they were young? What would they like to change today?
• After the interviews, ask the children to reflect on what they have learnt about where they live, eg What do they like? What do they dislike? What would they like to change? Discuss what the community may look like in the future - in 5, 10, 25, 50 years' time. What would they want for their community, what could they do to bring about positive change, and who might help them? Introduce the role of the local elected councillors and council.

• How are we represented in local government? Ask the children to look up 'electorate' in the dictionary and to discuss, in pairs, what they think it means. The pairs share their findings with the class.
• Ask the children who their local councillors are and who their local MP is. Tell the class about them and how they represent people, their different roles locally and nationally, and that everyone who is eligible can vote for who they think should represent them. From their knowledge and what they have investigated, the children make a class list of what they think local councillors do and what services the council provides. Introduce the idea of council tax as a way to pay for services. The children could research how the council tax is spent on the community's behalf.
• As a visitor exercise, invite a local parish or ward councillor to the school to answer children's questions about what councillors do and how the council is organised and managed, how they make decisions, and how young people can be involved.
• Discuss the role of the mayor, eg in ceremonies, the regalia and symbols of office. Is the local mayor elected? Refer to a story or a children's TV programme in which a mayor has a role. Ask the children to use local newspapers and other media to find out about the frequency of council meetings and about any decisions the council has made recently. Compare how the local council discusses issues and makes decisions with how this is done at school, eg by the class or school council. How are young people involved in the local council's decision-making?

• Before the visit, identify a topical local issue or concern - where possible, draw on the children's investigations in the first activity into what their community is like. Research the issue as a class. In circle time, class council or school council, the children offer different opinions, discuss the arguments and prepare a motion for a debate.
• The children prepare arguments for and against the motion. As a rehearsal for the visit to the council chamber, they present their arguments to other classes and then vote on the motion, either by a show of hands or a secret ballot. Declare the result.
• Invite a local councillor or the mayor to chair the debate in the council chamber. Where possible, the children should make use of the councillors' public address and electronic voting systems. If possible, record the event with digital cameras or a camcorder.

• After the debate in the last activity, the children should have the opportunity to ask questions and tour the council house, visiting the mayor's parlour.
• On their return to school, the children should have the opportunity to reflect on what they learnt, how they performed and how they felt. They relate their experience and discuss ideas in circle time, the class council or the school council. Encourage them to think about how they can continue to contribute ideas to their school and local community, eg by presenting individual written work or a class newspaper or report to the year group, the whole school or parents; by making a display in the classroom, elsewhere in the school or at the council chamber; by creating their own local councillor manifesto, with a slogan and key policies, to persuade other children to vote for them, followed by a mock election. This work could be linked with the work of the class council or school council.