This leaflet provides information about citizenship at key stages 1 and 2. It describes how the QCA/DfES schemes of work for citizenship can support your school's provision, by building on what you are already doing.
What is citizenship?
"In our school, citizenship is central to all that we do. All our children contribute to decision-making and organisation, taking more responsibility as they get older. Citizenship is more than a part of our curriculum, it is a way of life for the whole school community."
Dame Mavis Grant, Headteacher, Canning School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 aims to give children the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy and independent lives, and to become informed, active and responsible citizens. Citizenship helps children develop as members of schools, neighbourhoods and wider communities. It is concerned with issues of right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, fairness, rules and laws, power and authority, equality and diversity, communities and identities, democracy, conflict and cooperation. As children grow and develop, citizenship helps them to think and talk about issues relating to these concepts as they encounter them in their own lives and in the lives of others (including as depicted in the media).
Citizenship is part of the non-statutory framework for PSHE and citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 that came into effect in August 2000, alongside the revised national curriculum. The framework provides schools with a basis on which to plan and develop a curriculum that:
- enables you to build on what you are already doing in a flexible and innovative way;
- is relevant to pupils, connecting with their interests and experiences;
- encourages pupils to investigate and think critically about issues of current interest, using problem-solving, reasoning and evaluation skills;
- relates to pupils' abilities and backgrounds; and
- provides pupils with opportunities to discuss and address real-life issues, and to see that they can participate in activities that make a difference in their schools and the wider community.
The non-statutory guidelines for PSHE and citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 are published in the National Curriculum. Handbook for primary teachers (QCA/99/457), and are also available on the National Curriculum website. Citizenship becomes a national curriculum subject at key stages 3 and 4 from August 2002.
How can citizenship help my school?
Citizenship:
- involves pupils positively, encouraging them to participate in school and community life;
- links schools with their neighbours and community partners;
- supports inclusion and promotes positive behaviour, equal opportunities, respect and responsibility;
- provides a focus for celebrating and publicising school activities;
- contributes to the achievement of the Healthy School Award.
What do we need to do to provide citizenship, as part of the framework for PSHE and citizenship?
- Ensure that staff appointed to lead the development of PSHE and citizenship provision have sufficient seniority to coordinate a whole-school approach.
- Involve staff, governors, pupils and parents in decision-making about needs, priorities and provision.
- Plan provision to meet pupils' needs, and ensure that it relates to other whole-school priorities.
- If you have not yet done so, audit current provision in order to build on what you do already. Decide which aspects of citizenship to address through separately timetabled discrete provision (such as circle time) and which to address through other subjects and/or off-timetable events.
- Ensure that pupils can participate in the life and decision-making of the school and wider community as an explicit part of citizenship provision.
- Identify other agencies and partners who contribute to pupils' personal and social development.
- Link with local and national priorities, for example through contact with Community Safety Partnerships, Drug Action Teams and Education Action Zones.
- Meet regularly with the PSHE and/or citizenship coordinator and key staff to ensure that progress is being made with the support of the senior management team (SMT).
How does the key stage 1 and 2 scheme of work for citizenship help?
The key stage 1 and 2 scheme of work for citizenship provides guidance to help your school develop citizenship provision that reflects the needs of pupils and other whole-school priorities. It is intended to be used in conjunction with other materials you already have for citizenship. It enables you to use the flexibility offered by the framework for PSHE and citizenship, the national curriculum and the wider curriculum as a whole. The scheme is made up of:
- a Teacher's guide, with practical ideas about whole-school planning, approaches to and provision for citizenship, as well as suggested opportunities for teaching citizenship through other subjects. Schools need to decide which opportunities to develop as explicit citizenship provision, and which will remain as implicit support for citizenship;
- exemplar teaching units, with learning objectives based on the citizenship strand of the PSHE and citizenship framework, suggested teaching activities to meet those objectives and defined outcomes of pupils' learning. The units illustrate how the citizenship strand can be translated into medium-term plans, and how the other aspects of the framework can be addressed. They are designed to be adapted by schools to fit in with their provision and build on what they are already doing; and
- a booklet of ideas about active citizenship, aimed at involving pupils in a range of participative activities in school and the wider community.
What other information do we need?
| Information on... |
Where to find it |
Notes |
| Approaches to teaching and learning |
Key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide pages 20-21 and Appendix 5 |
Teaching approaches should be active. It is not enough for pupils to learn about citizenship issues; they need to engage with and take part in them. The involvement of pupils in the life and decision-making of the school is a fundamental part of citizenship. |
| National Literacy Strategy and National Numeracy Strategy |
Key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide pages 15-16 |
The Teacher's guide provides information about the contribution of citizenship to the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy. |
| Teaching sensitive and controversial issues |
Key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide page 56 |
The Teacher's guide suggests strategies for handling sensitive and controversial issues, and dealing with issues of confidentiality, such as personal disclosure. A summary of the section of the 1996 Education Act that addresses political and controversial issues is also provided. |
| Assessing progress in citizenship |
Key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide pages 22-25 |
There is a general requirement for schools to keep records on every child, including information on their academic achievements, other skills and abilities and progress in school. Schools need to decide how to report on progress in PSHE and citizenship, and whether to include details as a separate subject paragraph. The arrangements for assessing and reporting at key stage 1 and key stage 2 are published each year by QCA . |
| Recognising achievement |
Key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide page 25 |
Consider how to recognise the achievements of all children, and whether school-based, local or national certificates and awards in citizenship might contribute. |
| Ofsted inspection |
Booklet Inspecting subjects 3-11, published by Ofsted in 2000 |
Inspectors will seek evidence of the implementation of the framework for PSHE and citizenship at key stages 1 and 2. This will be reported on in accordance with the Framework for inspection and the Handbook for inspecting primary and nursery schools under sections 2 and 4, and as indicated in Inspecting subjects 3-11. Primary school inspectors are not required to produce a separate subject report for PSHE and citizenship. |
| Funding for citizenship |
www.dfes.gov.uk/standardsfund |
Funding is available to schools from the Standards fund to support the implementation of citizenship. |
| Resources and useful contacts |
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk |
Organisations involved with citizenship that provide information or resources to support schools are referred to in the teaching units and on the external links page of the scheme of work website. Useful contacts are listed at the back of the Teacher's guide. |
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www.nc.uk.net |
The National Curriculum online website contains useful online resources linked to specific aspects of the PSHE and citizenship framework. |
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How do we plan a whole-school approach to citizenship?
The following questions are taken from the key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide, and help with whole-school planning.
1. What are the needs and priorities of the children in this school?
- What are the particular characteristics of our school community (including geographical context, diversity, inclusion, equal opportunities)?
- How do these affect all our children's needs, concerns and interests (including their personal and social development)?
- Who has been consulted about children's needs and priorities? - Children? Parents? School staff? Governors? The wider community?
- How can the flexibility of the PSHE and citizenship framework help the school to meet children's needs, for example by varying the depth and focus of different aspects according to the school's particular requirements?
2. What are children already learning about citizenship?
- How do we build on what children have learnt during the foundation stage?
- What aspects of the framework are already addressed through:
- discrete citizenship and/or PSHE and citizenship programmes, circle time activities, etc?
- other subjects?
- off-timetable events and specialist days such as health weeks, environmental projects and residential experiences?
- children's active participation in the life of the school, for example through class and school councils, links with other schools, involvement in community initiatives?
Note: Individual children will also learn about citizenship through their involvement with out-of-school activities such as Cubs or Brownies, organisations such as faith groups, community sports and other community-based and voluntary organisations. They may be encouraged to reflect on and talk about what they have learnt through these activities.
3. What already works well and meets our priorities?
- What do children and staff think works well? How do they think it could be improved? What are the views of parents and governors?
- Does it meet the identified needs and priorities? Are there any gaps?
- Are all children's needs reflected in the school's aims and ethos? In policies such as behaviour and equal opportunities?
4. How can we build on what we are already doing?
- Can we:
- make explicit some of the implicit opportunities for citizenship in other subjects?
- develop discrete modules or individual sessions to complement other aspects of the school's provision?
- develop more opportunities for children to participate in school and community life?
- increase children's involvement in off-timetable events and extra-curricular activities by involving them in helping to organise and run the events?
- extend opportunities in assemblies?
5. What do we need to change or add?
- What timetabling and staffing issues are created?
- How will training needs be identified and met?
- How will children have opportunities to reflect on what they have learnt and put it into practice?
- How will we develop assessment, recording and reporting of PSHE and citizenship?
- What monitoring, review and evaluation systems do we have to help us to coordinate provision?
6. Who can help?
- Those involved in other local and national initiatives such as the local Healthy School programme (information from the LA or National Healthy School Standard website*), community strategy or Agenda 21 (information from the LA), and outside agencies and organisations, for example the police, local council, health promotion service, and local and national voluntary organisations.
*see Appendix 8 of the key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's guide
For printed copies, please contact: QCA Publications, PO Box 99, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2SN (tel: 01787 884444; fax 01787 312950)
Order ref: QCA/02/877
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