Citizenship

Citizenship is all about teaching the students how they fit into the world around them and how it affects them and how in turn they can affect it and bring about change.

Students are given the information, evidence and viewpoints to help them form their own opinions on the current state of the world and its people and how current affairs came to be and what we can expect to happen in the future. The aim of Citizenship is to inspire our students to actively participate in their local, national and global communities and equip them to understand, live and work in an ever expanding global society.

At Key Stage 4, students will follow the AQA syllabus in year 10 and 11. This is split into the 4 main Citizenship topics.

Paper 1

- Active Citizenship

- Politics and Participation

Paper 2

- Life in Modern Britain

- Rights and Responsibilities

Each paper is 1 hour and 45 minutes and are worth 80 marks each and each contribute 50% of the overall grade. Each of the main topics is worth 40 marks on the relevant papers.

Paper 1 focuses on how people can make a difference in society, looking at our government and different forms of democracy, where political power resides in the UK, how others govern themselves and the power of citizens to bring about change. The active citizenship section is made up of two student led investigations and incorporates research techniques, data gathering, planning and carrying out actions and evaluation of their impact on wider society. This is completed via one classroom based action and a local or national action of the students choosing where they will need to collect primary data from the public.

Paper 2 focuses on how people are currently living and participating in Modern Britain. It covers values of British Society, what is meant by identity, the role of the media and the press, how other countries govern themselves compared to the United Kingdom, rights and responsibilities of individual citizens and organisations within the UK, the Law and Human Rights.

Citizenship is all about the people and society of the United Kingdom and believes that the best way to see some of these aspects is to go out into the world. At Key Stage 4, Citizenship offers trips to the Houses of Parliament as well as the Royal Courts of Justice. We also aim to include talks and visits to and from more local organisations that impact our society.