Citizenship

CURRICULUM INTENT

The Citizenship Department aims to enable students to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for their own lives and communities, by giving them the opportunity to develop an understanding of and take their place in society.  Citizenship is designed to enhance leadership and teamwork skills whilst simultaneously offering enriching and inspiring opportunities for our students.

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Citizenship as a subject has never been more relevant for our young people. They are a generation that want to understand how the world is run and play active roles within society.  They want to be part of the positive changes taking place around them and they want to be heard and use their voice for positive action.  This subject is important for developing a strong moral code in students. The knowledge gained in Citizenship links them to the outside world. This opens up path ways and job careers that foster their love of and passions for: British Values, the workings of the justice systems, political systems and democratic systems of government.

At KS3, students are introduced to Citizenship by following the National Curriculum guidelines, which are designed to help students become an active and influential citizen in society. Students follow units of work that: investigate the UK’s membership to multiple world organisations, discover the different rules, responsibilities and laws that we adhere to, and build a strong knowledge base for the democratic system in place in the UK.

At KS4, students follow the Edexcel GCSE Citizenship Studies course. This is structured to enhance the student’s base knowledge from KS3 and put their knowledge into practice by investigating, exploring and drawing their own conclusions on the current situations taking place within the UK and throughout the wider world. Students cover five units at GCSE level; Living together in the UK, Democracy at work in the UK, How the Law works, Power and Influence and Taking Citizenship Action (a group-based project task, designed for students to take action on an issue facing the UK).

All Citizenship lessons are designed to encourage students to develop strong communication and public speaking skills whilst building on their ability to think critically, investigate, examine and evaluate opinions. To ensure the development of these skill levels is maximised in Citizenship, we make use of interactive role and scenario play, group work, debating of documentaries and current affair case studies from the world media and News. The teaching styles, delivery and resources we use in Citizenship are differentiated to support the needs of each student in the classroom. We work with multiple departments to implement common strategies to maximise consistency across the written elements of Citizenship.

In order to apply real life experiences and scenarios to the Citizenship course, we aim to offer many enrichment opportunities that link directly to the content taught. Students will be offered the opportunity to attend the Houses of Parliament, spend time in a charity head office, help in the local community food banks and visit an elderly day centre. Students are also offered the opportunity to visit the United Nations headquarters in New York, as part of the GCSE course. Because part of the Citizenship content is based around the ‘Citizen’s role within the Community’, we invite guest speakers from the community to speak/run workshops with the students.  Examples of guest speakers are members of our local Police force, the local Member of Parliament, Young Offender Officers, and Managers of local charities.  All of these helps foster a strong community spirit and interest in Citizenship based employment.

A Sunbury Manor Citizenship student will leave the school with the ability to express their viewpoints whilst being able to critically evaluate and balance different perspectives. Gaining a Citizenship education highlights that our students do not just exist in society but also take an active interest in their community, country and wider world.  Citizenship knowledge is paramount in transitioning to the next stages of their lives.

The Citizenship Department is made up of two full-time teaching members of staff and is located at the back of the school in a great location for outdoor debating and group action tasks.  Each classroom is well equipped for effective learning. The Citizenship teachers regularly use the ICT suites allowing students to carry out their investigative research tasks. The ICT suites assists the students in their learning, offering opportunities to add case studies to each learning experience. 

Please click on the expandable sections below for more details including the curriculum overview and specification.