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
The Colchester earthworks at Lexden and Bluebottle Grove are among the few surviving late Iron Age defences in Britain.
They defended the west side of pre-Roman Colchester, Camulodunum, which was occupied by the Iron Age Catuvellauni and their leader Cunobelin from about AD 10, and before that by the Trinovantes.
South and west of Beddgelert lies the wooded foothills and mellow farmland known as Eifionydd. The woodlands of the Vale of Maentwrog are internationally important for their wildlife and the coastline has been sculpted into sweeping sandy or shingle bays.
The well-marked remains of a 2nd-century fort with large granaries, probably built under Hadrian's rule to guard the Roman road from Brougham to Ravenglass and act as a supply base.
Covering three acres, the fort was probably built during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–38).
The Elizabethan House is probably one of the Yarmouth quayside houses Daniel Defoe described as looking like ‘little palaces’. This handsome 16th century home invites to you to look into the lives of the families who lived there from Tudor through to Victorian times.
The dramatic riverside ruins and extensive earthworks of a Welsh Border castle, its tall 13th century keep unusually set on the side of its mound.
Information panels tell the story of the castle and the nearby town.
History
Whether you want to explore this 840 acre country park with friends or family for a day enjoying the outdoors or want some peace and tranquility Bradgate Park is a must-visit. Take along a picnic, camera or your walking boots!
Bradgate Park was first enclosed as a deer park around 800 years ago.
Pevensey Castle is a great educational day out in East Sussex, encompassing rich history and fun things to do and see for adults and children. With a history stretching back over 16 centuries, Pevensey Castle chronicles more graphically than any other fortress the story of Britain's south coast defences.
This narrow 15th century stone bridge across Mill Beck carried an old packhorse route to nearby Furness Abbey.
Bow Bridge was built in the fifteenth century from the same plentiful supply of red sandstone and grey limestone as Furness Abbey, which dates back to the 1120s.
Discover Stratford upon Avon and its fascinating relationship with William Shakespeare. Join the award winning daily town walk! Informative, interesting and entertaining - Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun at 11am. Fri, Sat, Sun at 2pm.
On the seafront in Sheringham, a new museum has opened that tells the story of the town and its proud, brave and independent people.
The remains of a Norman castle which stands on the edge of the village of Bramber, on a high natural knoll overlooking the River Adur. Founded by William de Braose c. 1075.
Carlisle Castle includes an exhibition, a programme of guided tours, a picnic area, a unique gift shop and is in close proximity to Hadrian's Wall.
Opening in 1968, Sherborne Museum evolved from the town's Historical Society, which was its founding body. From the outset, it aimed to be an independent museum representing the history and life of Sherborne and its environs.
Wymondham Museum gives you a wide-ranging overview of life in the town through the centuries and there's plenty for children to do too.
Housed in the town’s Bridewell, or prison, you can visit a dungeon and a police cell and learn about the Bridewell’s link to prison reformer John Howard.
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Built by architect Inigo Jones under the patronage of James I, the ceiling was painted by Peter Paul Rubens.
The hall was built for the performance of ‘Masques’ and for grand ambassadorial receptions.
One of the most complete surviving friaries of Dominican 'black friars' in England, later converted into a Tudor house and cloth factory. Notable features include the church and the fine scissor-braced dormitory roof.
No. 1 Royal Crescent is a superb example of how Bath was developed in the 18th Century. It was built to the designs of John Wood the Younger in 1767 – 1774 as the first house in the Royal Crescent, a Bath stone crescent of thirty houses with a uniform Palladian design to the principal facade.
This beautiful 17th-century merchant's house is a hidden gem in London, a place of unique charm and ambience.
Lady Binning bought the house in 1936 and filled it with her highly decorative collections of porcelain, Georgian furniture and 17th-century needlework.
The Heritage Centre is the ideal place to come to find out about Bude and the surrounding area before setting out to explore the town, canal wharf, beaches and to take lovely cliff walks.
Poltimore House is a significant Devon landmark, historically and architecturally. The drawing shows it as it was c.1900. The speculative reconstructions at the bottom of this page show it as it might be, once restored and back to full use.
When walking into the celebrated Cathedral Close in Salisbury, visitors step back into a past world, and on entering Mompesson House, featured in the award-winning film Sense and Sensibility, the feeling of leaving the modern world behind is deepened.
Home of the exciting museum and exhibition dedicated to the 2 Tone record label and its bands The Specials, The Selecter, Madness,The Beat et al.
The Brangwyn Hall at the Guildhall, Swansea is renowned as a major concert hall and conference centre,
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.