citizen schools pathway: the big picture

What this programme is all about...

Citizen Schools Pathway 2009-2010: an applied development programme for schools Forum: http://forum.citizenschools.org.uk

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SESSION A B C D E F G H I THE BIG PICTURE

YOU – the Citizen Schools Team

Student Groups

PLAN A LEARNING EXPERIENCE OVER THE YEAR FOR…

SESSION A B C D E F G H I THE BIG PICTURE: SUMMARY

Training 1 – Big

picture

Training 2 – principles

Training 3 – plans

6 weeks curriculum time

Sharing event

Negotiation Action (6 weeks)Action training

Celebration

Reflection & Future

Part 3

Part 2Part 1Part 1Part 1

Part 4 Part 5Part 5Part 5

Part 6

If you just learn one slide, make it this one!...

PUZZLE PIECE 1

The year ahead (in more detail than you could ever wish for!)...

A) Essential Information• Citizen Schools teams will learn and do 3 things during this

piece of the puzzle:– THE BIG PICTURE FOR THE YEAR AHEAD– THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND EDUCATING ACTIVE CITIZENS– PLAN LEARNING EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS FOR THE REST OF THE

YEAR

• The dates involved are:

South London Schools East London Schools West London Schools

7th September, 5-7.30pm 10th September, 5-7.30pm 8th September, 5-7.30pm

19th September, 10am-4pm 26th September, 10am-4pm 6th October, 4.30-7pm

5th October, 5-7.30pm 8th October, 5-7.30pm 10th October, 10.00-4pm

B) What Citizen Schools leaders will do…

• In the first session (today!) schools will learn the big picture for the year ahead and work out their aims. Have a look at your materials for today to see what exactly is coming up during the rest of today!

• In the second (Saturday) session, participants will learn the principles of community organising and citizenship education that will help them achieve their aims

• In the third session schools will complete their plans for the rest of the year.

• Teams will probably need to meet together outside of trainings to make sure they’ve got everything covered.

C) What students will do…

• Students are not involved with this part.• (but 2-3 young people are involved as Citizen

Schools Leaders!)

D) What each school ends up with

• Each Citizen School team should be clear on:– What will happen over the year– The principles underlying what they will do– What will be taught to students during the year &

how…

• How will schools work together?• Who will plan the lessons?• What will happen during the training

sessions?• What are the events for?• How will schools communicate what they are

doing to a wider audience?

E) What every Citizen Schools team needs to think about…

PUZZLE PIECE 2

A) Essential Information

• This part is the 6-hour (minimum) series of lessons which take place in curriculum time, in the second half of Autumn Term 2009.

• The second half of the Autumn term starts on Monday 2nd November.

• The aim is for students to ‘listen’ to their communities by doing some research, and then ‘create’ an idea to help improve one aspect of community life

B) What Citizen School Leaders will do…

• Leaders plan the 6-hour project together: it shouldn’t be planned by teachers working alone.

• Each school team can achieve this however they like – though Citizen Schools will help with ideas for lesson activities, based on the principles established in Piece 1 of the Pathway. School teams will also be encouraged to share and learn from each other.

C) What Students Will Do…1. Connect to and ‘listen’ to their community about how it could be improved – e.g. by surveying students at a local primary school, or doing interviews at a parents evening

2. Come up with ideas to make a real difference to the issues that are most important.


• 3 student-led‘ideas’ to improve aspects of their community.

• The ideas must make a real difference, be student-led, be realistic (be accomplished in 6 weeks), cost under £1000, and be sustainable.

• How can students be motivated to get involved?• How can students be motivated to ‘listen’ to their

community?• Will students work as whole classes together, or in small

groups?• How will we make sure it isn’t just an elite group of

students who end up working on the ideas?• Even when ideas are chosen, how can the majority of

students be made to feel they are part of the project?


PUZZLE PIECE 3

A) Essential Information• The third part is a day-long event where participating

schools from the region come together with their ideas

• During the event, schools will present their ideas and try to persuade other schools to support them. Students will mix up, debate the ideas and as individual schools decide on 3 ideas they will take action on over the next term. This will involve working with other schools on at least one idea.


Monday 14th December Thursday 17th December Wednesday 16th December

B) What Citizen Schools teams will do…

• Organise how 3 ideas get selected to be presented at the event, plus get students to attend the event.

• In training session B (the Saturday session) a team of people to organise the event will be created. This will involve a representative from each school.

• This team will be responsible for: – Deciding and booking a venue– Deciding how the event will run

C) What students will do…

1) Attend the event and present their 3 ideas (they will probably be in 3 groups) to all the other schools, persuading them how good their ideas are…

2) Mix up with students from the other schools to debate and discuss all the ideas.

3) Come back together in their schools and decide which 3 ideas they want to make happen at their school…

D) What schools will end up with• 3 ‘ideas’ they will take action on during the next

term• These ideas might be the 3 ideas they went to

the event with.• The ideas might have changed a bit after

discussing them with other schools, or they might have decided to use another school’s idea

• For one idea, schools need to work together with at least one other school

• Who should be invited to the event?• How many people from each school should

attend?• Who should host the event?• How should schools’ present their ideas?• How should students from different schools be

mixed up?• How should decisions be made on the day?• How should outcomes be fed back in schools?


PUZZLE PIECE 4

A) Essential Information• This is the part where schools get ‘backing’ for their

ideas from power players from their borough or London – e.g. money, staff, advertising…

• Half of a training session will be dedicated to planning this part

• This work culminates in a ‘negotiation’ event, happening in the evening of…

• During the event, students will negotiate with ‘power players’ to win backing for their ideas.


Monday 11th January Thursday 14th January Tuesday 12th January

B) What Citizen Schools teams will do• Help train up teams of students to negotiate support for

their idea, and help get power players to attend the negotiation event

• In training session B (the Saturday session) a team of people to organise the Negotiation section will be created. This will involve a representative from each school.

• This team will be responsible for: – Helping students negotiate with power players to get them to

the negotiation event– Deciding how the event will run

C) What students will do

1) Find out which power players could help support their idea, and invite them to the negotiation event 2) ‘Pitch’ their idea to them, and

try to persuade them to support it

3) Seal the deal! Confirm support for their idea…


• Each school has support (e.g. money, staff, advertising, training) for its 3 ideas from power players, to help turn them into a reality

• Who has the power to support your school’s ideas?

• How can they be persuaded to come to the negotiation event?

• Who should do the negotiation, and how?• How can students be involved all the way

through?• How can schools work together on the

negotiation – so they multiply their power?


PUZZLE PIECE 5

A) Essential Information• This is the part where teams of people (led by students)

from each school take action to make each idea become a reality.

• There are 3 things involved:– First, a training so students can self-lead the projects…

– Second, where the students make the project happen (they have about 6 weeks to do it)

– Third, a celebration event, where people from all the schools share what they have achieved.


Wednesday 10th February Friday 12th February Monday 8th February


Friday 30th April Monday 26th April Thursday 29th April

B) What Citizen Schools teams will do

• Plan how this part will work in their school, starting with the first training session in January.

• Help plan and deliver the training to help students lead the 6 weeks of action

• Support students’ action during the 6 weeks – using lots of outside help

• Help to organise the celebration event

C) What students will do1) Have special training in how to self-lead teams and take action

2) At the training, students will plan their 6 weeks of action based on their idea

3) The next step is for students to take the action, using the support they have already negotiated (in a previous piece of the puzzle)

4) Celebrate! Students from all schools come together to showcase and broadcast their work and achievements

D) What each school will end up with

• 3 teams led by students who have, in 6 weeks, turned their idea into a reality

• 3 real-life case studies of community cohesion and active citizenship in action

• What training do students need in order to self-lead teams?

• When can these students do their action?• How can they keep the rest of their year group

involved?• How can teams’ work be broadcast to a wider

audience?• Who can support their work?• Who needs to attend/be invited to the celebration

event?


PUZZLE PIECE 6

A) Essential Information

• This is the part where our Citizen Schools teams reflect on everything they have learned through the year.

• The teams will then organise and create a ‘vision’ and plan for their school as a citizen school in the future

• This will be based on the Citizenship Foundation’s ‘Citizenship Manifesto’ programme

B) What Citizen Schools teams will do• This part will be begun during the training sessions

on…

• In this session teams will plan their strategy for creating their own ‘pathway’.

• Teams will lead the process of consulting on where to go next with Citizenship Education and Community Cohesion, evaluating what they have done this year, and plannig for the future.


Monday 17th May Thursday 20th May Tuesday 18th May

C) What students will do

• Like the first piece of this puzzle, the wider student body isn’t initially involved, except through the 2-3 students who are Citizen Schools leaders, who will help make the plan

• Students will probably be asked to contribute to the planning process, though.

D) What each school will end up with

• A vision which guides their work, and a plan for their future work as a citizen school.

• Who needs to be involved in creating the ‘vision’ for a citizen school?

• How can other subjects and areas of the school become part of it?

• How can the links built up during this year be kept and developed further?
