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
Come and explore East Riddlesden Hall, home of 17th century cloth merchant James Murgatroyd. See the changes he made and discover why his work was never completed.
For generations, this estate was a hive of farming activity; producing enough milk, cheese and bread to adequately supply the household and its workers.
One of Europe's oldest timber-framed buildings, it has a cathedral-like interior and is linked to a local Cistercian abbey.
Inside the barn hosts an exhibition of local woodcarving, tools and a collection of agricultural carts.
What should you look for at the Pram Museum?
In a word, it's wheels! wheels! and wheels! Well . . . it's actually wheels and axles and the frame. It doesn't matter how cute the bears-and-bunnies print is if a wheel falls off in the middle of the street, or the frame collapses without warning with your 23-month-old in the stroller.
Did you know?
Dorneywood is traditionally the country residence of a senior member of the Government, usually a Secretary of State or Minister of the Crown. It was given to us by Lord Courtauld-Thomson and it is administered by the Dorneywood Trust.
Useful information
Dorneywood is open on selected summer dates.
Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, Kimbolton Castle was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester. It now houses Kimbolton School.
Come and witness the three lives of the bunker starting with its role as an RAF ROTOR Station, then a brief period as a civil defence centre through to its most recent life as a Regional Government HQ.
Wordsworth House and Garden, in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, is the birthplace and childhood home of romantic poet William and his sister Dorothy.
It is presented as it would have been when they lived here with their parents, three brothers and servants in the 1770s.
Houghton House today is the shell of a 17th century mansion commanding magnificent views, reputedly the inspiration for the ‘House Beautiful’ in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
Nestled in the heart of rural Warwickshire, surrounded by elegant lakes and fine landscape gardens sits Farnborough Hall. Made from the locally quarryed Horton honey-coloured stone, this country house shimmers in the sunlight.
Explore the history of medicine. Be terrified by our death masks and find out what an amputation looked like in the 19th century! Stop at the apothecary for a cholera remedy and have a go at our mystery object game.
The museum was opened in 1875 to house the Thackeray Collection of British Birds and other collections and has been located in its present site since 1895. It now houses over 15,000 specimens, donated from the nineteenth century onwards. Initially, the museum belonged to Eton College Natural History Society and was actively curated by boys.
Located on the site of a 17th century fort, Malone House was built in the 1820s for William Wallace Legge, a rich Belfast merchant who had inherited the surrounding land. A keen landscaper, he designed and planted most of the estate's grounds, which remain relatively unchanged today.
Undisturbed by cars, the island encompasses a small village with an inn and Victorian church, and the 13th-century Marisco Castle.
There's also a disused lighthouse to discover. Called the Old Light, it offers superb views over the north part of the island.
Chalice Well is one of Britain's most ancient wells, nestling in the Vale of Avalon between the famous Glastonbury Tor and Chalice Hill. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and orchards it is a living sanctuary in which the visitor can experience the quiet healing of this sacred place.
There's something for everyone at Parke, found on the outskirts of the small market town of Bovey Tracey, gateway to mystical Dartmoor. You can walk from the town (about one mile) or stop off as you drive to the open moor, where the next stop is the rugged crag of Haytor.
Sheltered valleys containing well developed 'boulder streams' of sarsen stones. Sarsen stones are of ecological interest for the lichens and mosses they support as well as geological importance.
The sites were purchased in 1908 following a public appeal and were our first countryside properties in Wiltshire. Prior to this, sarsen stones were removed to provide building materials.
Belvoir Castle stands high on a hill overlooking 16,000 acres of woodland and farmland. Visitors from all over the world are welcomed here to events in the park, weddings, our world famous pheasant and partridge Belvoir Shoot, tours of the Castle and its art collection and our recently renovated gardens. Whatever draws you to Belvoir will enable you to share the magic of this estate.
We welcome thousands of children from schools across the world to the Cathedral every year. Many hundreds visit during our annual schools’ festivals: Church Schools Festival, Infant Schools Festival, Secondary Schools Festival and Special Schools Festival and we offer schools’ tours and trails throughout the academic year.
The wild Pennine moorlands are of international importance for their populations of breeding birds and mosaic of habitats.
Ludshott Common covers 285 ha (705 acres) and is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Protection Area (SPA) because of its wildlife.
Muchelney Abbey, which lies two miles south of Langport, was once a landmark in the Somerset Levels and still has much to offer its visitors – history lovers in particular will enjoy this fascinating site but there is also plenty for families to do.
A short hop from central London by tube but a world apart. Stroll up the tree-lined drive, past the grazing Charolais cattle and you'd think you're in the country, not urban Hounslow.
Surrounded by gardens, park and farmland, Osterley is one of the last surviving country estates in London.
In Washford lies one of the undiscovered jewels of Somerset, providing an interesting day out for families and budding historians alike. The Cistercian abbey of Cleeve is a haven of peace and tranquillity, said to contain the finest cloister buildings in England.
Discover the story of the original Salisbury and take your students of any age for a day out to Old Sarum, two miles north of where the city stands now.
The mighty Iron Age hill fort was where the first cathedral once stood and the Romans, Normans and Saxons have all left their mark.
The monks are pleased to welcome school groups to their Abbey.
We have a long established Education Department (over 25 years!) with full-time education staff. This means that we can provide facilities and resources for all ages and ability levels covering a wide range of subject areas.
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.