Citizenship Studies is concerned with the kind of society we live in and want to influence and develop. It covers, too, the role of the public and private organisations in the process. School courses help prepare students to become active citizens. The best of them promote students’ personal and social development, and make them more self-confident and responsible, in the classroom and beyond.
All external examination courses emphasise developing awareness of the role of citizens in a variety of contexts.
Just about any educational visit will contribute to the students’ exploration of new experiences and new ideas about being a ‘citizen’, but venues and activities that bring students into contact with other communities, other social contexts and other attitudes will be particularly exciting. Many museums and venues specialise in giving hands-on experiences of what some aspects of life in earlier centuries was actually like. These tend to be attractive to primary school groups.
Secondary groups often visit civic centres and attend local council meetings. Both primary and secondary groups will be welcome at churches, chapels, synagogues, mosques and temple, some of which offer programmes of talks and exhibitions. In cities this is relatively easy to arrange but even in rural communities priests and lay church people are prepared to help schools.
The Citizenship Foundation would be an excellent starting point. It claims to help 80% of secondary schools to nurture citizenship, and sets out to inspire young people to contribute to society. The Association for Citizenship Teaching also provides advice and teaching resources, while the National Centre for Citizenship and the Law delivers law and justice education at national heritage sites.
Main organisations:
Association for Citizenship Teaching
National Centre for Citizenship and the Law (NCCL)
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green
National Trust Museum of Childhood, Sudbury, Derbyshire
A most unusual living museum, where amongst other things you can watch troopers working with horses in the original 18th century stables through a huge glass partition.
Through a large glazed partition you can see troopers working with horses in the original 18th century stables.
Explore London's connections with the rest of the world through an epic 2,000-year story of trade, expansion and immigration.
Choose from our wide range of plain bisque shapes to paint and create your own pottery masterpiece to be treasured.
This charming well-house, built about 1500, stands over an ancient spring, believed to cure whooping cough.
Built by the Augustinian canons of nearby St Germans priory, it houses the remains of an immersion pool for cure-seekers.
White Castle is the best preserved of the Three Castles, namely, White, Skenfrith and Grosmont. The heart of this castle is surrounded by powerful round towers.
The Three Castles are usually grouped together because for a large part of their history they were part of a block of territory under the control of a single lord, Hubert de Burgh.
Coldharbour Mill, built in 1799 as the first Spinning Mill in the South West, preserves a collection of Victorian Spinning Frames for the Worsted process & Hattersley Looms, still in use to produce Knitting Yarns, Tartan Cloth and Stair Runners.
Fairytale Georgian castle in magical surroundings, with Deer Park, Lake and Arboretum, Children's Adventure Playground and Assault Course, Knight's Maze and Burma Bridge Tree Top Walkway.
Inside this family home you'll find richly decorated Gothic interiors, Fine Art, Armour and much more.
Time really does stand still at Brodsworth Hall, one of the most unusual visitor attractions in South Yorkshire.
The ruins of a substantial early medieval moated manor house, built in local flint: a rare surviving example of a grand 12th century manor house, and a typical example of an East Anglian 'great house'.
The Priory Theatre is a community-run theatre in Kenilworth, Warwickshire producing our own in-house shows. From drama to comedy, crime thrillers, musicals and pantomimes, there's something for everyone to enjoy.
Life at Crich Tramway Village is rich and varied and is illustrated by the wide range of events and special occasions we hold throughout the year.
Our recreations of the 1940s and Edwardian Era all add their own unique atmosphere to Crich Tramway Village, as you are transported back in time.
Crownhill Fort was built in 1872 as the centrepiece of Plymouth's North Eastern Defences. Designed to protect the Dockyard from a landward invasion, advances in artillery soon made the Fort obsolete.
Now owned by The Landmark Trust, the Fort is home to 15 small businesses, a holiday apartment, event spaces and an Education Centre.
Step back in time in and uncover a way of life from 100 years ago. Discover cottages, farms, schools and shops as you wander through the beautiful parkland of the Folk Museum chatting to costumed visitor guides demonstrating traditional crafts.
See how people lived through time - what they wore, the toys they played with and how they managed their household chores. Find out about the history of the house, the landscaping of its estate and enjoy the beautiful Picture Room. Free entry.
Our exhibitions include Dolls, Art, Victorian School Room, Costume and Bristol at School.
The Jodrell Bank Observatory is part of the University of Manchester's School of Physics and Astronomy. It is dominated by the monumental Lovell Telescope, the first large fully steerable radio telescope in the world - which still operates as the 3rd largest on the planet.
Go Ape Trent Park is open Thursday – Sunday in November.
An Adventure just 10 minutes walk from Cockfosters tube station (Piccadilly Line).
The Old Skating Rink Gallery has permanent displays and changing exhibitions of decorative arts and crafts from South Asia, from the collection of the SADACC Trust.
M33 is one of only three British First World War warships to survive and funding is being sought to open her to the public for the first time.
An ideal way to teach skiing and boarding to beginners, or challenge pros. Our revolving slopes mean you can do turn after turn, forgetting the hassle of lift queues, crowds and bad weather. Suitable for 5 year olds upwards, all equipment and instruction included in the cost
Housed on three floors in a 19th century granary building in the centre of Okehampton, the museum tells the story of how people have lived, worked and played on and around Dartmoor through the centuries. It shows how the moors have shaped their lives just as their work has shaped the moorland.
An inspiring, surprising, family-friendly, free attraction in South London’s Forest Hill.
Visit HMS Alliance, newly restored after a £7m refit and ready for patrol! Assault all of your sense by walking on board HMS Alliance, the only remaining WW2 era British ocean-going submarine.
One of the finest local history collections in Hampshire, exploring 100 million years of history Displays include prehistoric tools, Roman pottery reconstruction, Saxon burials, the Battle of Alton 1643, the notorious tale of Sweet Fanny Adams and Hop picking and brewing.
Jane Austen Trail at the Curtis Museum
Discover the geology, archaeology and history of the Peak District through seven time zones, experience the Wonders of the Peak Time Tunnel and step into a Victorian scientists study in the Buxton Museum.
Education sessions in the museum
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.