The Team
|
| Head of Citizenship |
Mrs J Linsley |
| Teacher of Citizenship |
Mr C Jackson |
| Teacher of Citizenship |
Mrs N Williams |
| Teacher of Citizenship |
Mrs A Day |
| Teacher of Citizenship |
Miss V Little |
| Teacher of Citizenship |
Mrs S Rampton |
Rationale for Citizenship
Education for Citizenship equips young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to play an effective role in public life. Citizenship encourages them to take an interest in topical and controversial issues and to engage in discussion and debate. Students learn about their rights, responsibilities, duties and freedoms and about laws, justice and democracy. They learn to take part in decision-making and different forms of action. They play an active role in the life of their schools, neighbourhoods, communities and wider society as active and global citizens.
Citizenship encourages respect for different national, religious and ethnic identities. It equips students to engage critically with and explore diverse ideas, beliefs, cultures and identities and the values we share as citizens in the UK. Students begin to understand how society has changed and is changing in the UK, Europe and the wider world.
Citizenship addresses issues relating to social justice, human rights, community cohesion and global interdependence, and encourages students to challenge injustice, inequalities and discrimination. It helps young people to develop their critical skills, consider a wide range of political, social, ethical and moral problems, and explore opinions and ideas other than their own. They evaluate information, make informed judgements and reflect on the consequences of their actions now and in the future. They learn to argue a case on behalf of others as well as themselves and speak out on issues of concern.
Citizenship equips students with the knowledge and skills needed for effective and democratic participation. It helps students to become informed, critical, active citizens who have the confidence and conviction to work collaboratively, take action and try to make a difference in their communities and the wider world. The key purpose of citizenship education is therefore to build student’s sense of political agency.
Rights Respecting Schools 
The Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos. A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children’s rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between teachers / adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils. The initiative unifies a range of educational priorities in all UK jurisdictions; the global dimension, SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning), community cohesion and sustainable development.
Children’s rights are central to all aspects of UNICEF’s work, including education, and we use the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a framework for our activities.
The CRC is a comprehensive human rights treaty that enshrines specific children’s rights in international law. These rights define universal principles and standards for the status and treatment of children worldwide. Teaching children and young people about the CRC means that they can find out about the legal and human rights and responsibilities that underpin society. By learning about the Convention, children and young people in the UK can discover that:
- They have rights
- They should be informed about their rights
- They should be helped to exercise their rights
- They should be able to enforce their rights
- There should be a community of interest to advocate young people’s rights
These tenets of the CRC are true for children and young people worldwide, making the Convention an excellent starting point for understanding global citizenship.
It is a compulsory subject taught to all students once a fortnight through KS3 to KS4. Citizenship can also be tracked across all curriculum subject areas, with all staff involved in delivery through curricular, cross curricular and extra-curricular activities and opportunities for our students.
At Key Stage 3 Citizenship complements the work done in primary school. Students begin a spiral curriculum that reaches through KS3 & 4. This often touches on the same topic areas but in greater depth and detail where information becomes relevant to their age and stage in life as a Citizen both in our school, in the community, nationally and globally. Some PSHE is also delivered in these sessions with added off-timetable events such as Operation Blitz (Year 9) or Grip (Year 7), in partnership with the Safe Schools and Community Action Teams.
Students will be developing skills of enquiry, communication, participation and responsible citizenship. We aim for them to become interested and informed citizens. This is achieved through creating links between students’ learning in the classroom and what takes place across the school, in the community and the wider world. Citizenship education gives people the knowledge they need to play a full and active part in Society.
The course helps students understand:-
- How society works
- How individuals and groups have the power to make things better for other people
- How to make our voices heard to change things that we do not like.
At Key Stage 3:
Year 7: What is a Citizen? Beliefs, Respecting Privacy, Anti-Bullying, Creating a Campaign, Holding an Election
Year 8: The Rights of young people; Young people across the globe, Refugees, Public Services, Environmental Pressure groups, British Identity
Year 9: Criminal Justice: Parliament, Local Government, Global Politics, Resolving Conflict & War situations, Prisoners of Conscience
At Key Stage 4
Year 10: What Kind of Citizen are you ?, The Media, Money, Money, Money, Modern Relationships, Identity, Health & Recreation, The Government Cabinet, Consumer Society, Think Global – Act Local Equality, The UK & The Rest of the World, Future Citizens
Year 11: ‘Teaching Tolerance’ work focused on ‘Identity and diversity: Living together in the UK’, through which students aged 11–16 are enabled to explore the diverse identities of people living in the UK and the ways in which these identities are affected by change – social, political, economic and cultural. Through the resource “Teaching Tolerance Programme” at KS4 they also explore and discuss what divides and unifies communities and the interconnections between groups. We also address community cohesion by providing learning opportunities in Citizenship which:
- Emphasise the importance of young people’s voice in their own learning community and involving them in decision-making processes
- Foster a sense of belonging to a community which values diversity
- Provide opportunities to deal with sensitive and controversial issues in an open way
- Involve members of the local community in the citizenship programme where possible and appropriate