Vision
Our Students at KS4 have the option to choose Citizenship Studies at GCSE. The specification encourages and educates students to become thoughtful and active citizens who engage intellectually and enthusiastically with the world around them.
We want students to think critically about the world they live in and learn about the responsibilities they have in society and how they can actively participate in the structure that they have access to.
Citizenship broadens their knowledge about the society they live in as well as acts a comparison to other societies which may be different to that of the UK.
Students gain knowledge of democracy, government and the law while also developing the ability to create reasoned, well balanced arguments. Communication skills are increasingly sought after by employers and citizenship enhances writing and speaking styles.
Intent
The citizenship curriculum and lessons aim to provide students with knowledge about the society in which they live and how they can actively participate in the structures throughout society by giving them knowledge about their rights and responsibility. We intend to cultivate a passion for the key areas such as the law, the justice system, politics and active citizenship so that students can grasp the foundation knowledge for interests which may lead them into their A Level subjects such as Sociology, Law and Government and Politics.
One of the core themes throughout the topics they learn is about creating active participants in society who are knowledgeable about politics and the law but know how they can create change and effectively participate in society for example helping their community, pressure the government to create change or communicate with their local council or MP.
Implementation
We use case studies to make the citizenship curriculum relevant to students’ lives today. This also serves as a way to teach students examples and evidence they can use in their assessments and develop their application skills. It is important that students learn a variety of viewpoints so that they can develop their own. Lesson design ensures engagement and that students actively participate in their learning.
We aim to have opportunities outside the classroom, for example to explore parts of the justice system such as the courtroom or parts of the political system like the House of Commons. We also aim to run programmes like Mock Trial so students can experience a court trial and actually play the roles of individuals in the courtroom.
Impact
We hope this ambitious and broad delivery will encourage students to become active participants in the society in which we live, as they will have knowledge about the systems and structures they can use and therefore be confident to do so, making them active participants of the wider world as adults.