leading citizenship in schools

Leading citizenship in schools

Questions for school leadersarising from an Ofstedinvitation conference

Leading citizenship in schools| 2

Context

In May 2007 Ofsted, in partnership with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the National College for School Leadership, held a conference for secondary schools in which citizenship was judged to be good.

Ofsted invited school and citizenship leaders from 22 schools.

They discussed the leadership of citizenship and how their schools tackled obstacles to development.

The outcomes of the conference are the basis of this presentation, which is aimed at senior leaders and whole staff development.

This presentation is accompanied by notes that refer to Ofsted’s latest report on citizenship Towards Consensus? Citizenship in Secondary Schools (HMI 2666) published in September 2006.


Obstacles to overcome

Vision

Staffing

Teaching and learning

Students

Curriculum

Inclusion

What does the presentation cover?

It also provides examples of issues and actions.


What were the main obstacles that Ofsted identified?

Lack of a clear vision for and understanding of citizenship

Weak subject leadership and inappropriate staffing

Teachers ill-equipped for the challenge of teaching citizenship

Lack of assessment systems

Untapped potential of student voice

Lightweight and fragmented curricula

Pupils’ uncertain entitlement to citizenship


recognise that citizenship is a complex subject and needs well considered, whole-school planning

seek to establish its status and visibility in the curriculum

identify and promote examples of active citizenship in school and in the wider community

encourage discussion and debate, including challenges to the status quo

foster the characteristics of a democratic school.

Creating a vision for citizenship

To give citizenship a presence in the school, effective citizenship leaders:


Reflecting on these characteristics, is the vision for citizenship in your school all that you would want it to be?


ensure that citizenship has parity with other subjects and that the subject leader has professional status

make a commitment to training to build and nurture the potential in all staff

organise the curriculum to supportnon-specialist staff and to ensure consistency and quality of teaching

ensure that staff in all subjects understand the significance of citizenship for their teaching.

Making the most of staff expertise

To develop staff expertise in citizenship, effective school leaders:


develop staff expertise in citizenship promote consistently high quality teaching?

How have you taken steps in your school to:


recognise that citizenship requires teachers

to deal with difficult, sensitive and controversial issues and support them in doing so

help teachers develop their subject knowledge

ensure that structures exist, including assessment, to underpin students’ progression

use performance management to improve the quality of teaching and disseminate effective practice.

Promoting best practice in teaching

To raise the quality of teaching, effective school leaders:


How do you support effective teaching?


support student-led activities and active citizenship within and beyond the school

enable students to articulate their views through promoting the student voice

encourage the development of independent learning and reflection.

Nurturing active and informed students

To promote citizenship amongst students, effective school leaders:


In what ways does citizenshipempower students in your school?


allocate sufficient time to citizenship at in Key Stages 3 and 4

provide a core programme that meets statutory requirements

refine the citizenship programme to reflect local community issues, cultures and concerns

use opportunities to support citizenship across the curriculum

consider the role of accreditation in KeyStage 4

consider, as appropriate, the implications for post-16 citizenship education.

Maximising curriculum opportunities

To provide a curriculum that meets students’ needs, effective school leaders:


Does the curriculum in your school meet the needs of all students to educate them as young citizens?


ensure that programmes are tailored to meet the needs of all students

monitor students’ engagement in citizenship activities

give due attention to identity and diversity

ensure that every student has opportunities for active citizenship and participation.

Citizenship and inclusion

To ensure inclusion, effective school leaders:


How is your school inclusive?

Meeting the challenge


the citizenship curriculum at Denbigh High School

establishing democratic structures at Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

Alban Middle School’s response to an Ofsted survey

the limits of pupils’ voice at The Howard School

student-led activity at Durrington High School

democratising the school council at Sarah Bonnell School.

Slides 19–30 present six case studies:


The citizenship curriculum atDenbigh High School

Issue

Denbigh had opted for a tutor-based programme. Evaluation showed improvement, but provision continued to be uneven.

Denbigh decided to relocate citizenship within humanities and require all students to take humanities in Key Stage 4.


Actions and outcomes

Action by managers

Managers tackled resistance to change among some tutors and humanities teachers.

They used teaching and learning points to support changes and create a humanities faculty.

Outcomes

Feedback from students and staff showed the positive impact of changes.

The new curriculum provides coherence and ease of planning; monitoring of provision; and tracking of learners’ experiences.

Monitoring shows high quality teaching of citizenship.

Ofsted inspected citizenship in a subject survey and judged it to be outstanding.


Establishing democratic structures at Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

Issue

The school wanted to give status to citizenship and maximise the involvement of staff, students and parents.


Action by managers

Senior management gave an assistant headteacher responsibility for citizenship.

The citizenship coordinator developed a citizenship policy through a consultation process involving staff, students, parents and governors. The policy is reviewed every two years.

The citizenship programme is planned through evaluation and consultation, and informed by a continuing partnership with students.

Outcomes

Pupils’ motivation, confidence and self-esteem have increased.

The programme encourages pupils to get involved in democratic processes.

Students feel they are viewed as partners and they understand the reasons behind decisions.

Students feel proud that they have influenced decisions and made a difference.



Alban Middle School’s response to an Ofsted citizenship survey

Issue

An Ofsted citizenship survey identified positive features and areas for improvement.


Action by managers

The school devised a three-point action plan for citizenship with detailed success criteria and milestones to:

identify key ‘carrier’ subjects for aspects of the citizenship programme

establish a liaison group with the upper school develop assessment arrangements.

Outcomes

More comprehensive curriculum planning resulted, giving better attention to the strands of citizenship.

An assessment system included students’ records with self-assessment.



Student-led activity atDurrington High School

Issue

Students were concerned about school travel arrangements and wished to take action to improve things.


Action by managers

School leaders invited students from Years 8–10 to join a school-based working group to contribute to the county travel plan.

Outcomes

Students met fortnightly to discuss roles, issues and strategies.

They conducted detailed surveys of parents and students on travel-related issues and trouble spots on journeys to school.

Their booklet of findings included recommendations for encouraging road safety, reducing car use and pollution, and improving cycle facilities.

They received local and national awards for their achievements in active citizenship.

Participants evaluated the project, noting particularly their increased confidence and the development of their ICT and public-speaking skills.



The limits of the pupils’ voice atThe Howard School

Issue

The pupils had discussed a wide range of issues. In addition to previous policies they had written, they proposed a staff dress code.

Staff responses varied from ‘I am in full agreement with the school council – staff should set an example in dress’ to ‘I find this both outrageous and insulting’.


Action by managers

School leaders decided that this was a worthwhile debate and sought views from staff and pupils.

Outcomes

The issue was discussed and voted on. The staff voted 3:1 that pupils had the right to comment.

The principle was established that pupils could recommend anything relevant to school life and expect a reasoned response.



Democratising the school council at Sarah Bonnell School

Issue

Managers wished to involve all students in active citizenship through the school council.


Action by managers

A training day was provided for all staff on active citizenship aimed to enable students to participate in free and open dialogue and discussion.

In consultation with students, managers established policies and procedures to make representation systematic and democratic.

Outcomes

All pupils discuss issues of concern in tutor time.

A forum, involving student council representatives from each year group, formalises items for discussion.

The school council meets regularly. Its formal rules include rotating the chairing. The headteacher attends.

The school council gives feedback in assembly to complete the cycle.



Useful references

Towards Consensus? Citizenship in secondary schools, (HMI 2666), Ofsted, 2006; available from www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/2666.

An evaluation of the post-16 citizenship pilot, 2004/05: a report from Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (HMI 2440), Ofsted, 2005; available from www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/2440.

The new National Curriculum for citizenship: www.qca.org.uk/curriculum

The school self-evaluation tool for citizenship education, Department for Education and Skills, 2004; available from www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/top/top_5/downloads/sub/10.

T Huddlestone and D Kerr, Making sense of citizenship: a CPD handbook (ISBN 9780340926819), Hodder Education, 2006.

The Association for Citizenship Teaching: www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk.

CitiZed is a TDA-funded organisation for providers of teacher education in citizenship: www.citized.info.

leading citizenship in schools

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