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

Working coastguard lookout with a marvellous miscellany of maritime exhibits

One of England’s smallest museums, Mundesley Maritime Museum is packed with exhibits, including  lifesaving paraphernalia, ships wheels, and navigation lights. 

Prints and other information illustrate over 200 years of the town’s maritime history taking in lifeboats, shipwrecks, fishing, railways and the tragic story of the Mundesley Minefield.

Well preserved Ironworks with furnaces, casting house, dressed cottages & company shop

Captivated by the Coal House series? You’re not alone! The BBC television series, filmed on site, has attracted thousands of new visitors to witness how difficult life was for working families at Blaenavon Ironworks’ Stack Square cottages.

Picturesque watermill with working waterwheel

A delightful piece of late Elizabethan playfulness. Built for banquets and converted into a mill in the 19th century.

The Royal London has a museum which is located in the crypt of a 19th-century church. It reopened in 2002 after extensive refurbishment and is open to the public free of charge.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum is housed in two towers of Caernarfon Castle. In it you will discover the history of over 300 years of service by Wales’s oldest infantry.

Towering cliffs, coves and a wooded valley within Exmoor National Park

The Heddon Valley set in the West Exmoor coast was the favourite landscape of the Romantic Poets.

Beautiful wooded valley with 19th-century Gibson Mill at its heart

A beauty spot of the South Pennines with more than 160 hectares (400 acres) of unspoilt woodland.

As well as being the home of the northern hairy wood ant, there are tumbling streams, glorious waterfalls and stacks of millstone grit, all crisscrossed by more than 15 miles (24km) of footpaths.

Famous for our red squirrels, wildlife and Scouting

Brownsea Island is dramatically located in Poole Harbour, with spectacular views across to the Purbeck Hills.

Rising from the east shore of Loch Lomond to a height of 974m (3,193ft), Ben Lomond offers exhilarating walking and spectacular views across Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park.

If you are visiting nearby Stourhead then why not walk half a mile or so to see one of the great follies of the UK.

Home of the Wild Ennerdale project with 30 miles of traffic-free paths

Lying on the north western edge of the Lake District National Park, Ennerdale is home to some of England’s most vibrant natural environments and one of the longest running wild land restoration projects in the UK.

A museum set in a remarkable building that holds an extensive collection that covers the many aspects of life and social history in Bishop’s Castle and the surrounding area. Free to visit. Restricted opening times as run by volunteers.

Valleys of many delights

The valleys descend from the highest and wildest mountains all the way to the beautiful sandy beaches on Cumbria’s peaceful western coast. The landscape provides everything from grandeur and beauty to tranquillity and remoteness.

Where Charles Darwin Lived and Worked

With its unique place in the history of science, Down House, the home of Victorian scientist Charles Darwin (1809–82), is one of the major visitor attractions in the South East. Down House was Darwin's home from 1842 until his death 40 years later.

Adventures in the Wild!

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. We pay meticulous attention to the details, making sure our pastoral care is second to none, our activities are both exciting and educational, and the whole experience of working with 

The Florence Nightingale Museum is located at St Thomas's Hospital.

With so much to see and do, a trip to Belsay is one of the best value family days out in north-east England. Explore the medieval castle, the Grecian inspired Hall and acres of impressive gardens.

His place of birth, home, influence and inspiration

Welcome to Shrewsbury – the birthplace of Charles Robert Darwin: naturalist, explorer and true Salopian.

Neolithic and Iron Age site rich in wildlife, offering sweeping views of surrounding countryside

Discover an unusually designed Iron Age hill fort, containing a smaller central, possibly Neolithic, enclosure. Enjoy the exceptional views from the ramparts over Salisbury Plain, Old Sarum and Salisbury Cathedral. The ramparts also act as a refuge for unusual plants.

A magnificent Tudor merchant’s house

This beautiful building has been home to merchants and mayors through the ages. A museum since 1900, its stunning Tudor and Stuart interiors now house rich furnishings and textiles that give a real feel for the day to day life of its wealthy former owners. 

A charming small museum with collections of agricultural and domestic tools from Lynton and Exmoor. Also maritime, railway, and natural history. Unique pictures of the Lynmouth Flood, and a Victorian dolls' house. 

Housed in Lynton's oldest surviving domestic dwelling, it even includes its own ghost!

Natural History

This remarkable small museum is home to many diverse collections of items made from straw including marquetry, embroidery, straw stars, Swiss straw lace and dyed straw marquetry. 

There are also examples of other crafts such as quilling, tatting and beadwork. Owner, Ella Carstairs, will be happy to give you demonstrations of straw marquetry and quilling.

An ancient hill fort with views over the Otter Valley

An impressive Iron Age hill fort, Dumpdon sits on one of the largest and most striking hills in the beautiful Otter Valley.

The climb is well worth the effort, offering fantastic views of the surrounding area. Explore these impressive defensive earthworks before visiting the mysterious small beech forest behind.

Set a mere four miles from Stonehenge, Netheravon Dovecote is a charming yet practical building - and an excellent example of an early 18th century dovecote. It still retains most of its original 700 chalk nesting boxes.

The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity, and first public art gallery, and celebrates the ways in which artists of all disciplines have helped improve children’s lives for over 270 years.

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