Citizenship

Citizenship is a key life skill. It is a significant component established in all post-compulsory education and training for young adults. It is a compulsory subject taught to all students once a week through the Citizenship Department here in Shaftesbury.

Whole school: 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. 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 Citizenship is hands-on with an Active Involvement in planning; delivering and evaluating a project. Students have worked, for example, with young people from Yewstock School on the Mencap Peer Mentoring Transactive Project, and have planned fundraising events for school and charities.

Theme One: Human Rights

• communities and identities
• roles, rights and responsibilities
• criminal and civil justice

Theme Two: Power, Politics & the Media

• power and politics
• the media

Theme Three: The Global Media

• global business
• environmental issues
• the UK’s place in the world

The Department in 2009:

Mrs. J. Linsley; Mr. C. Jackson, Miss N. Andrews, Miss E Aitkins