Citizenship

Citizenship

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:

Citizenship Foundation 

Association for Citizenship Teaching

National Centre for Citizenship and the Law (NCCL)

PSHE Association

Democratic Life

Hansard Society

Inclusion: NASEN

Thought of visiting?

The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green

National Trust Museum of Childhood, Sudbury, Derbyshire

Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh

The London Museum

The National Archives, Kew

Houses of Parliament

Welsh Assembly

Scottish Parliament

Northern Ireland Assembly

Venues for this Curriculum

Castle Fraser is an atmospheric baronial castle dating back to the 15th century and was the ancestral home of the Fraser family. School trips can be arranged over the phone at any time of the year. If the tour is arranged out of season there will be a small fee to cover the cost of staff.

Ordinary house, extraordinary home

Step back in time to the 1920s and discover how a grocer's family lived in a Midlands market town through their furnishings and household objects.

The Bachelor's Club was one of the historic places which poet Robert Burns and his pals would while away the hours chewing over the topics of the day.

A visit to this authentically restored house, now converted into a museum chronicling the formative years of one of Scotland's greatest literary talents, is a must for any Burns enthusiast.

Ancient naked figure sculpted into the chalk hillside above Cerne Abbas

Standing at 180ft tall, this is Britain's largest chalk hill figure. It is also our most controversial.

Many theories surround the giant's identity. Is it an ancient symbol of spirituality? The Greco-Roman hero Hercules? Or a mockery of Oliver Cromwell? Local folklore has long held it to be an aid to fertility.

The British Library is a treasure trove of the written word, housing just about every famous manuscript you can think of.

Here you can find:

  • The Gutenburg Bible

  • Caxton's Chaucer

  • Shakespeare's Quartos

  • Magna Carta

  • Lindisfarne Gospels

  • Captain Scott's Diary

Long an important historic centre, today Hemyock Castle offers a warm welcome for Visitors, Schools, and Groups.

The privately owned site is a scheduled Ancient Monument, opened to the public on Bank Holiday Mondays (2 to 5 pm) between Easter and September. Schools and groups are welcome to arrange special visits.

14th-century tower built to assert the authority of the Abbot of Furness Abbey

The 14th-century tower known as Dalton Castle was formerly the manorial courthouse of Furness Abbey. Here the abbott exercised his right to hold manorial courts and administer justice within the lordship of Furness, as authorised by the abbey's foundation charter of 1127.

Magnificent late Victorian country house with gardens and wooded estate

Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home.

This winter take a stroll around the extensive gardens and enjoy the year-round colour. There are beautiful herbaceous borders, a fabulous formal parterre and colourful higher gardens. 

Inextricably linked with the most powerful and ambitious men and women of the medieval period, the castle's history reads like a medieval who's who, full of murder, marriages of convenience, double crossing and devious alliances.

Be charmed by a stylish royal residence with a foothold in history.

From the King's Gallery, designed by Wiliam Kent, to George II's state apartments to the Queen's state apartments, once used by Mary II for relaxation opulence abounds at Kensington Palace.

The Palace was also home to Queen Victoria and, of course, Princess Diana.

Whether you are looking for a trip down memory lane, a chance to learn something new, a peaceful stroll through nature or a nice cup of tea and a cake, Hartlebury Castle has it all. Hosting exciting events throughout the year a great day out for all the family.

Tudor hunting lodge to fashionable home, set in a spectacular estate

Newark Park stands proud on top of the Cotswold escarpment, looking down into the Ozleworth valley to the Mendips beyond. This remote corner of south Gloucestershire is a secret and unspoilt place, with barely a sign of modern life visible in any direction. A place of architectural intrigue, quaint gardens and sprawling parkland there is much to see and do at Newark.

Enjoy a walk along the tranquil Dart Estuary

A beautiful area with stunning views over the River Dart estuary and Start Bay.

In spring and summer the coastal paths are ablaze with colour from wild flowers. Walk up to Gallants Bower to discover the Royalist Civil War fort and keep an eye out for the greater spotted woodpecker.

Gallants Bower

This beautifully conserved dwelling and byre in Glen Lochay, near Killin, offers a unique insight into rural life in 19th-century and early 20th century Scotland.

There are 5 jointed and pegged cruck couples, two of which can be viewed easily in the byre end of the house.

Discover 300 years of Scottish history through this magnificent and carefully conserved neo-Palladian villa. Newhailes is famed for having some of the finest rococo interiors in Scotland.

Learning Officer and Ranger Service available. Your visit duration and content can be tailored to individual school's needs.

Glittering Elizabethan mansion

Montacute is a masterpiece of Elizabethan Renaissance architecture and design. With its towering walls of glass, glow of ham stone, and its surrounding gardens it is a place of beauty and wonder.

Bovey Castle is history, excitement, glamour, adventure and the perfect retreat. 

Where else can you wear your Hunter wellies at 8am, golf spikes at 3pm and Manolo Blahniks for dinner? But while we offer our guests luxury and indulgence, this isn't a stuffy hotel where you can’t sit on the furniture or let your kids enjoy themselves.

Get your hands inky at this living museum of a thriving printing firm in the Borders, whose premises were more or less unchanged for over a century.

Try your hand at being a printer's apprentice to learn the almost forgotten art of letterpress printing and typesetting.

Schools are welcomed and visits are very much tailored to suit the needs and requirements of the school.

Spanning nine acres of land on its rocky plateau high above the Northumberland coastline, Bamburgh is one of the largest inhabited castles in the country.

The Natural History Museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology.

An ancient castle and comfortable country home with dramatic vistas and subtropical gardens

Dramatically sited on a wooded hill, a castle has existed here since at least Norman times, with an impressive medieval gatehouse and ruined tower giving a reminder of its turbulent history.

The castle that you see today became a lavish country home during the 19th century for the Luttrell family, who lived here for 600 years.

This restored historic 18th-century cottage near Glasgow vividly recreates the living and working conditions of a typical handloom weaver. See how a traditional tartan was made 200 years ago, completely by hand using original equipment in a unique setting.

This is where the Shakespeare story began.

Shakespeare's Birthplace has been welcoming visitors for over 250 years. This is the house where William Shakespeare was born, grew up and played. He ate meals in the hall and he slept and dreamt in these rooms. Shakespeare also spent the first five years of married life in this house with his new wife, Anne Hathaway.

Beautiful Georgian town house

Built in 1753, Lawrence House is leased to Launceston Town Council and used as a local museum and civic centre.

The museum is spread over three floors with exhibits that focus predominantly on local history including Launceston's intriguing association with Australia.

Atmospheric house, featuring 485-hectare (1,200-acre) country park and formal walled garden

Widely acclaimed as one of Britain's finest historic houses, Erddig is a fascinating yet unpretentious early 18th-century country house reflecting the upstairs downstairs life of a gentry family over 250 years.

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