This booklet offers ideas
for citizenship activities to promote pupil participation. The suggested activities
enable children to begin to develop the skills of participation and responsible
action that they will need as they prepare to play an active role as citizens.
The activities take place in the classroom, in the school or in the wider community
(or a mixture of these locations). Links
to specific units in the scheme are made where appropriate. Unit
1 'Taking part - developing skills of communication and participation' addresses
the development of skills needed to enable children to take an effective part
in active citizenship activities. The activities address various aspects of
knowledge, skills and understanding in the PSHE and citizenship framework for
key stages 1 and 2.
The activities may be linked
with timetabled PSHE and citizenship lessons, with citizenship developed through
other subjects or as cross-curricular activities. Some activities can be delivered
as off-timetable events, and others require the involvement and cooperation
of members of communities outside school. In all cases, children should have
opportunities to reflect on their involvement, and to identify what they have
learnt and how it can be applied. Page 25 of the Teacher's
guide contains a list of questions that children can use when reflecting
on their participation. These should be adapted according to the age and stage
of development of individuals, groups and classes of children. As they progress
through key stages 1 and 2, children should have opportunities to increase their
contributions to decision-making and to take more responsibility for the activities
in which they participate.
1 Developing a
citizenship portfolio
Keeping a citizenship portfolio
enables children to record their progress and achievements. The production of
a portfolio could start at any point during key stages 1 and 2. It is particularly
helpful for year 6 children to have a record of their citizenship activities
to take with them into key stage 3.
The portfolio could
be organised in sections, for example:
- home community;
- school community;
- local/national/global
community;
- personal targets;
- working with others;
and
- reflection and
reviews.
It is helpful if
children form small groups to support each other in developing a citizenship
portfolio. Each group is run by an adult - teachers, classroom assistants,
parents or other adults in the school community - to oversee and guide
children's progress. The citizenship portfolio can be given a higher profile
by, for example, children reading out extracts in assembly, presenting
what they have achieved at parents' evenings, or receiving an award at
the end of a project. Children could keep a class portfolio and record
achievements in a class newspaper for parents at the end of each term.
Reflection
diary
Schools could timetable
a reflective, quiet time during which children develop skills of reflection.
The quiet period could be brief, perhaps 10 minutes a week, and could
be accompanied by appropriate music to set the mood. Children record their
thoughts in a diary under headings such as 'What I have done well', 'What
I have not done so well', 'What I could have done differently'. As they
feel more confident, children could be encouraged to discuss their thoughts.
This project could be developed for younger children. For example, reception
or year 1 children could be given a booklet showing a smiley face or a
sad face to colour in to show their feelings; year 2 children could write
a simple sentence about how they feel. Photographs of children, or symbols
or statements developed using ICT with the support of an adult, are other
alternatives.
Leavers' book
All children leaving
the school contribute a page to a leavers' book. Personal details, such
as their name, photograph (digital or photocopied original), memories,
brief class history, where they are going on to, could be included. The
collated book is presented to each leaver at a special assembly.
2 Participating
in the life of the class and the organisation of the school
Children contribute
to decision-making in, and the running of, the class and the school. A
range of responsibilities can be developed for younger and older children
alike, allowing them to progress in the development of their skills and
accept more responsibility as they do so. Children need less support in
this participation as they get older.
For example:
- At the beginning
of the year, children discuss and agree on class rules to create a pleasant
classroom environment. The rules are displayed and can be added to or
amended as work in citizenship progresses.
- Groups of children
take responsibility for organising a debate for the class or whole school
on a child-centred topic, such as 'Should young children have a TV in
their bedroom?'. Members of the audience are given the opportunity to
ask questions and then to register votes in a variety of ways, for example
by passing through different doors on their way out, raising their hands,
using a secret ballot.
- The school monitor
system develops a range of monitoring responsibilities throughout the
school for younger and older children alike. These evolve from the classroom
through to whole-school areas, for example lunchtime office monitors,
visitor guides, lunchtime helpers, playground buddies. Monitoring systems
are most effective when children are involved in deciding what jobs
there are, what responsibilities each role includes, and how appointments
are made and reviewed.
- Children take
group responsibility for developing and maintaining a display in a prominent
place such as the school entrance.
- Individual children
demonstrate their talents to the class or to the school through an assembly.
This can take the form of music or dance performances, for example,
or presentation of certificates, medals or other awards.
- 'Themes for the
week' could be introduced, such as 'good manners week', 'lunchtime behaviour
week', 'playground week', 'listening week', 'say something nice to someone
week', to highlight specific issues. Older children introduce the themes
in assemblies and take responsibility for supporting younger children
in maintaining the theme.
- Children contribute
through group discussions and class and school councils to policy development
and review. This includes looking at behaviour, anti-bullying, and equal
opportunities policies and practice. PSHE and citizenship policies are
particularly significant in this context, and it is important that content
and approaches are relevant to children's needs and interests. This
approach is particularly effective when children contribute to the school
self-evaluation process and school development plan.
- Older children
run clubs for younger children, for example sports, art, drama or music
clubs, or a school newspaper. They produce a proposal sheet which clearly
shows what the club is intended to achieve, who the club is for, who
runs it, how many children are involved, where and when it will take
place, etc. An adult must be present during club activities, but the
project enables children to develop responsibility and self-esteem and
to take the initiative.
Pupil councils
Pupil councils -
class, year and school - provide an effective way of engaging children
in the life
and organisation of the school. They must be underpinned by work in class,
so that all children benefit from the resulting knowledge, skills and
understanding, not just a selected few.
Class councils provide
an opportunity for all children to take part in consultation and decision-making
activities, during which they learn about the democratic process and see
the effect of their involvement. Class councils address class, year-group
or whole-school issues. The council can commission action teams to involve
more children in the class.
So that children play an
active part in the decision-making processes in class, at school and outside
school, a range of teaching and learning approaches should be adopted to encourage
the development of skills of enquiry, communication, participation and responsible
action. Unit 1 'Taking part - developing
skills of communication and participation' addresses this issue across key
stages 1 and 2. Circle time techniques can be used with even the youngest children
to discuss issues and make decisions and, in particular, to develop communication
skills and to encourage listening and taking turns to speak. Regular circle
time sessions help to develop skills of democratic participation.
Appendix 5 of the Teacher's
guide describes circle time and other approaches to teaching and learning.
3 Working with
peers
Children work with
their peers, children from other schools and members of the wider community
on activities that offer support and opportunities for mutual learning
and joint working. Children need time to reflect on their experiences
and to feed back on ways in which they might like to improve the system.
Examples of working with peers include:
- Age of transfer
project - buddying. This work supports children who change schools, and
provides opportunities for older children to develop as peer mentors or buddies.
Towards the end of the summer term, children in year 3 compile a 'passport',
with a photograph and information about themselves, such as their name, age
and interests. The passport is given to their year 2 buddy partner. Time is
set aside for the buddy to show their partner around the school. During the
first term of transfer, time is also dedicated for short regular meetings
between buddies and their buddy partners, for example a few minutes at the
end of assembly. Guidance such as a question prompt sheet could be given to
those children with less-developed social skills. Buddies are given ideas
for games to play with their younger partners at break times. Writing letters
could be developed as part of work in literacy, and a buddies' letterbox could
be established to allow buddies to communicate with each other. A similar
project could be developed, as appropriate, for children who are new to the
school, and for those transferring to secondary schools.
- Peer support.
Older children undertake shared reading, mathematics trails or other
curriculum activities with younger children. The activity helps the
older children to improve their knowledge, skills and understanding,
as well as to develop communication skills and encourage empathy between
children of different ages.
- Playground
monitors. Children, teachers and other playground supervisors develop
and agree on rules for the playground and display them in a suitable
place. Older children help to direct younger children as to acceptable
behaviour in the playground.
- Playground
'buddy stops' and 'buddy monitors'. Children can go to a designated
and signposted area of the playground - a 'buddy stop' - if they want
to change activities or play groups, or if they are encountering problems
in the playground. At the 'buddy stop', they are guided by a playground
supervisor and/or by older children acting as 'buddy monitors'. Children
designated as 'buddy monitors' are responsible for those children who
are experiencing playground difficulties and for running the 'buddy
stop'. A 'friendship bench' is an alternative idea. 'Buddy monitors'
should be introduced to the school in assembly and should wear a badge
or other distinguishing symbol.
- Other playground
responsibilities and games. Children learn and develop safe playground
activities in PE. Historical themes could be explored, such as Roman knucklebone
games, Victorian hand games, or games from other countries and cultures (see
Toys from around the Commonwealth, available from the Commonwealth
Institute). Other activities could include:
- small and
friendly playground games, run by pupils;
- demonstrations
and displays in assembly or class;
- making videos
showing activities such as hand games or skipping; and
- games invented
by pupils.
Children should be encouraged
to invent and develop their own games. Older children could organise younger
children's games during playtime. Children's fads and crazes could be discussed
and, where appropriate, embraced and developed. Monitors help with playground
organisation, but care should be taken to ensure that monitors have opportunities
for play themselves. Health and safety issues could be investigated. A playground
activities book could be developed across the age range as part of the school's
work in literacy. This could be shared with other schools through e-mail.
Ideas from the other schools may extend the range of activities and games.
Unit 6 'Developing our school
grounds' includes suggestions for teaching and learning activities that
use playtime as a focus.
- Peer mediation.
A whole-school training programme that includes learning about different
values and about conflict resolution provides opportunities to resolve
relationship and playtime problems with appropriate support. A group
of children, nominated and elected by their peers, takes part in a training
programme to develop their skills of peer mediation. The training programme
is carried out with adult supervision, and children refer issues to
an adult when appropriate, for example when bullying is involved.
4 A school or
group event
These could include:
- Fundraising.
Each class finds out about or is introduced to an appropriate range
of charities. They debate and vote for the charity they would like to
support. As a class, children discuss ideas for fundraising, agree and
share out responsibilities and work towards running and delivering a
fundraising activity. This kind of activity must be timetabled so that
the fundraising can be spread throughout the year and integrated with
the school calendar. The pupil council may be involved.
- Health, sports
or arts activity days. Older children become involved in planning,
organising and running health, sports or arts activity days. Activities
could include: healthy living days, organised in conjunction with pupils
from the local secondary school; sports days or mini-Olympics events,
where children help organise teams, act as umpires and referees, and
record and present results; and arts festivals, with local artists,
storytellers or dancers.
- A school trip
or visit. Children take responsibility for different aspects of
organising a school trip or visit. Younger children are supported by
adults or by older children (including those from secondary schools)
in carrying out their responsibilities. Older children make telephone
calls and write, fax or e-mail to confirm arrangements and produce checklists
of equipment, etc. Adults need to check that arrangements are being
organised correctly.
- A mock election or
polling day. Mock elections or pupil council elections could be organised
as a whole-day event, or spread over a longer period of time, with the final
election held as a whole-school event. Materials to support the organisation
of elections are available on the Institute for Citizenship website and the
Yvote website. Events could also
be organised around real local or national elections. For example, if the
school is used as a polling station, children could be involved in organising
the hall and could investigate what happens when people vote.
5 Education for
sustainable development
Many aspects of education
for sustainable development link with work in citizenship. Unit
6 'Developing our school grounds' details how children could take part in
activities that improve the facilities and environment in their school grounds.
Other activities include:
- Local environmental
issues. Classes discuss and research environmental and sustainability
issues. A half-day of the school calendar is allocated to tackling a local
environmental clean-up. This could involve a whole-school clear-up of the
local common, woodland, park or school grounds. As with all outdoor activities,
health and safety rules must be observed and children must be taught specific
safety rules regarding the discovery of potentially dangerous objects such
as syringes. This project could develop into ways of improving the environment,
such as preventing graffiti. QCA's education
for sustainable development website, the Environmental Campaigns website
and the Eco Schools website all
provide helpful information (see www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes).
- Garden project.
A gardening project links work in citizenship, science and geography
and brings children into contact with the environment in a practical
way. It reinforces learning about the growing cycle and the food chain
and develops children's sense of responsibility to the local environment.
Keeping a photographic record of children's work in the garden as it
changes throughout the year is valuable. Each class or year group has
responsibility for a small area of the school grounds. The class undertakes
activities in small groups during break times on a rotation system.
Children discuss and decide what they will grow and what is to be done
with the produce. Where there is little space, or as a smaller-scale
alternative, children could plant hanging baskets, containers or window
boxes. The children see the development of the school grounds throughout
their school life, during which time other issues relating to rights
and responsibilities may arise, such as vandalism. Links could also
be made with history, for example through the development of a Victorian
herb garden or an investigation into different varieties of crops and
plants and where they originated. The local allotment society may be
able to support children and teachers with these activities. Details
of progress could be published in a school newspaper or special news
sheet, or on the school website.
- Planting trees
or shrubs. Each class could plant a tree or a shrub when they join
the school, at a leavers' ceremony or in remembrance of someone. This
could be done during assembly or as part of harvest festival, and a
local gardener could be invited to talk to the children.
- Recycling projects.
Recycling of paper, glass, aluminium cans or other waste could be organised
through the local council. This will help develop children's understanding
of why recycling is a responsible way of using limited resources and
contribute towards education for sustainable development. Children organise
classroom collection. Assemblies are good platforms for talks by recycling
agencies, and many give out awards and certificates. Children could
organise the use of compost bins for recycling lunchtime waste food.
Case studies and activities
that promote citizenship and education for sustainable development are also
available at www.nc.uk.net/esd.
6 Wider community
activities
These could include:
- Parent and
child evenings. Children are involved in organising parent and child
evenings. The sessions are used to discuss and explore different issues,
for example environmental issues, crime prevention, substance use and
misuse, healthy eating, or planning community events. Different members
of the community could be invited to help lead sessions. Children share
what they have learnt or prepare displays of relevant materials for
the event. These activities provide an effective format for developing
mutual understanding and communication in the wider community.
- School links
with community and business. The school could organise a community/business
week or a mini-enterprise activity. Education Business Link Organisations
provide support for such activities. Members of the local council or
those who work in local government could also be invited to contribute.
Members of the school and wider community are invited to come to the
school to talk about their community involvement, interests, religious
beliefs or businesses.
- Community
newspaper. Children contribute to an existing publication or work
with community partners to develop a new one. As well as writing articles,
they could help to decide on content and advertising of local businesses.
- People who
help us. Focused activities or focus days explore the role of the
emergency services or public services. These could involve visits outside
school or visitors coming to the school. They could involve parents
or members of the school community. Unit
4 'People who help us - the local police' explores the role of the
police, but could be adapted to focus on other services.
- Working with
the local council on local priorities. There are many opportunities
for children to get involved in local government policy-making through
local strategic partnerships. It may be possible to arrange visits to
council chambers or visits to the school from local councillors as children
explore local issues, democracy, and how they could contribute to decision-making.
Unit 10 'Local democracy
for young citizens' suggests teaching and learning activities to
support this.
- Local youth
councils. Children send representatives to local youth forums. Members
of the local youth council could be invited to the school to talk to
younger children about local issues in assemblies or through the class
or school council.
- Intergenerational
activities. Children invite older people, including those who are
retired, to share experiences and skills and discuss local, national
and global issues. Children also interact with older people through
visits and through shared participation in celebrations and events such
as Christmas productions, harvest festivals, carol singing and Remembrance
Day. These activities, involving shared planning and organisation between
children and older people, offer opportunities for a reciprocal learning
experience.
7 Links with other
schools
These could include:
- Joint primary
and secondary school projects. Pupils from local secondary schools
work with younger children on special projects, for example developing
and running conferences on citizenship issues, organising shared school
events or celebrations, as mentors, or providing reading support. Unit
12 'Moving on' includes other ideas for primary/secondary transfer.
- School linking.
This enables schools to build partnerships with other schools in this
country or abroad. Links are often based on sharing information through
penfriends, by e-mail and through websites. School linking provides
a mechanism for sharing ideas and experiences on a range of citizenship
issues and topical events. Links could be developed at a number of levels
and could involve a whole class, year or school. Sometimes it is possible
to arrange exchange visits or to share events or celebrations. These
occasions should be non-competitive and will help to develop cooperation
in the community. The British Council's Education and Training Group
provides guidelines on setting up school-linking projects and has information
on grants available to schools. Unit
17 'School linking' in the key stage 3 scheme of work for citizenship
provides learning activities to support this and may be adapted for
use in key stages 1 and 2.
8 Contributing
to local and national government priorities
There are opportunities
for children to contribute to the achievement of local targets as part
of national government priorities, for example through Health or Education
Action Zones, crime and disorder strategies, health improvement programmes,
drug prevention priorities. In the context of Local Agenda 21, children
contribute to work on local plans for improving sustainable development.
Local strategic
partnerships and community strategies
There is a statutory
requirement for local authorities in England and Wales to prepare community
strategies to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being
of each area and its inhabitants, and to contribute to the achievement
of sustainable development in the UK (Local Government Act 2000). This
is to be achieved through the establishment of local strategic partnerships,
which will involve local people, including young people, in decision-making
about local needs and priorities, and in any resulting activities and
initiatives. Contact your local authority for details.
This in turn provides a
useful context for schools to engage children in real local decision-making.
All children could participate in discussing relevant local issues in small
groups, which feed back their thoughts and ideas to the whole class; class decisions
could then be used to form a whole-school response to the issues. The community
strategy itself may provide further opportunities for project work through which
children can have an impact on the future of their area.
Unit
9 'Respect for property' and unit
10 'Local democracy for young citizens' illustrate some examples of
how children could be involved in contributing to local priorities.
Useful contacts for information or support in developing pupil participation
Further lists of useful
organisations are included in Appendix 8 of the key stages 1 and 2 Teacher's
guide.
British Council Education
and Training Group
The British Council
10 Spring Gardens
London SW1A 2BN
Tel: 020 7930 8466
Community Service
Volunteers (CSV) Education for Citizenship
237 Pentonville Road
London N1 9NJ
Tel: 020 7278 6601
Education Business
Links Organisations
www.dfes.gov.uk/ebnet/index.cfm
National Healthy
School Standard
Health Development Agency
Holborn Gate
330 High Holborn
London WC1V 7BA
Tel: 020 7061 3072
Primary Action
Crime Concern
Beaver House
147-150 Victoria Road
Swindon
Wiltshire SN1 3UY
Tel: 01793 863500
School Councils UK
57 Etchingham Park Road
Finchley
London N3 2EB
Tel: 020 8349 2459
| Curriculum and Standards |
| Audience
|
|
Teachers
of citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, ITT departments |
| Circulation
list |
|
LEAs,
educational libraries, teacher centres and subject specialists
|
| Type
|
|
Guidelines
|
| Description
|
|
This
optional scheme of work shows how the citizenship aspects of the non-statutory
framework for PSHE and citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 can be translated
into practical plans |
| Cross
ref |
|
The
National Curriculum for England
Lists of useful publications and websites in the Teacher's
guide |
| Action
required |
|
The
use of these materials is optional |
| Timing
|
|
The
non-statutory framework for PSHE and citizenship at key stages 1 and
2 came into effect in August 2000 |
| Contact
|
|
See
below |
For more information,
contact:
Customer Services, QCA, 83 Piccadilly, London W1J 8QA (tel: 020 7509 5556)
www.qca.org.uk
For hard copies,
contact:
QCA Publications, PO Box 99, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2SN (tel: 01787 884444;
fax: 01787 312950)
Price and order
ref: £25 QCA/02/877
ISBN 1 85838 493 1
|
