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
Take a trip back in time to the 1760s at this spectacular Neo-classical mansion framed by historic parkland.
Designed for lavish entertaining and displaying an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture and original furnishings, Kedleston is a stunning example of the work of architect Robert Adam.
Visit us for Free to immerse yourself and your family in arts, history and culture. With a selection of permanent galleries and temporary exhibition spaces, along with a whole host of ongoing workshops and events, the Herbert offers a great day out. Our fantastic family offer was recognised when we won the Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award in 2010.
This early Tudor timber-framed wool merchant's house (circa 1500) provides a fascinating insight into local history.
Its strong medieval character is enhanced by the appearance of arcaded stalls opening onto the street on the ground floor (recreated by the National Trust during the building's restoration).
The charming ruins of a small monastery of Premonstratensian 'white canons', picturesquely set above a bend in the River Tees near Barnard Castle.
Remains include much of the 13th century church and a range of living quarters, with traces of their ingenious toilet drainage system.
This rare and atmospheric 17th-century house sits on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond. It is the creation of the tenacious Duchess of Lauderdale and her husband, the Duke, who together transformed Ham into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England.
No-one ever forgets their first sight of Oxburgh - a romantic, moated manor house.
Built by the Bedingfeld family in the 15th century, they have lived here ever since. Inside, the family's Catholic history is revealed, complete with a secret priest's hole which you can crawl inside.
The hill forts of Lambert's Castle and Coney's Castle are less than a mile apart so you can easily explore them both in a day. Each one has a different character, but both have a rich past.
Aydon Castle stands in a secluded woodland setting. Almost completely intact, it is one of the finest and most unaltered examples of a 13th century English manor house.
One of the largest and finest 13th-century tithe barns in the country, lying in the Worcestershire countryside.
If you're visiting Middle Littleton tithe barn make the most of your day by visiting nearby Croome Park, Lance 'Capability' Brown's first complete landscape garden or Hidcote Manor Garden, a celebrated 20th-century garden in the north Cotswolds.
The family home of Bess of Hardwick, one of the richest and most remarkable women of Elizabethan England, stands beside Hardwick New Hall which she had built later in the 1590s.
Though the Old Hall is now roofless, visitors can still ascend four floors to view surviving decorative plasterwork, as well as the kitchen and service rooms with our audio tour.
The impressive ruins of Henry II's 12th century keep, on the site of a Roman fort guarding the approach to strategic Stainmore Pass over the Pennines.
The ruins of a medieval palace (together with later additions) used by the Bishops and senior clergy of Winchester as they travelled through their diocese. Winchester was the richest diocese in England, and its properties were grandiose and extravagantly appointed.
Set in a handsome, grade II listed townhouse on Swaffham’s Georgian Market Place, Swaffham Museum has elegant rooms housing rich collections and 21st century displays with lots for all the family to enjoy.
Find out how Swaffham man Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen and see remarkable archaeological finds from the local Swaffham area too.
Formerly the Grange Museum of Community History, Brent Museum has a collection consisting of objects relating to the local Brent area and the communities who live there.
The remains of a large, wellbuilt Roman courtyard villa. The most important feature is a nearly complete mosaic tile floor, patterned in reds and browns. The remains are located in a peaceful rural landscape, within a loop of the River Evenlode, which flows gently past the site to the north and west.
The ruined hall and chamber of a fortified manor house of the powerful Percy family, dating mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries. Its undercroft is cut into a rocky outcrop.
The great 13th century circular shell-keep of Restormel still encloses the principal rooms of the castle in remarkably good condition. It stands on an earlier Norman mound surrounded by a deep dry ditch, atop a high spur beside the River Fowey. Twice visited by the Black Prince, it finally saw action during the Civil War in 1644. It commands fantastic views and is a favourite picnic spot.
The ruined church of an Augustinian abbey, reduced in size after fire and plague.
Creake Abbey probably had its origins in 1206 when Sir Robert and Lady Alice de Nerford established the small chapel of St Mary of the Meadows at Lingerescroft, bordering the tiny River Burn.
Substantial remains of a small 16th century gun tower protecting Old Grimsby harbour, vigorously defended during the Civil War.
The Block House formed part of a series of forts built on the islands during the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I, and followed the attempt to build a large artillery fort, known as Harry’s Walls, on St Mary’s.
A lovely and rare 14th-century circular dovecote with metre-thick walls, hundreds of nesting holes and original rotating ladder, nestled in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside.
A tall medieval octagonal tower, allegedly a lighthouse, built here in 1328 as penance for stealing church property from a wrecked ship. Affectionately known as the Pepperpot, it stands on one of the highest parts of the Isle of Wight. It is part of the Tennyson Heritage Coast, a series of linked cliff-top monuments. A later lighthouse can be seen nearby.
Beautifully constructed 14th-century barn made from local Cotswold stone. Dramatic aisled interior and unusual stone chimney cowling are notable.
The Fisherman's hospital is situated on the Market Square in Great Yarmouth.
The Corporation of Great Yarmouth founded the hospital in 1702. It was set up as Almshouses for 'decayed' fishermen: providing housing for twenty fishermen and their wives aged sixty and over who could no longer provide for themselves.
Clent Castle is a mock ruin castellated folly in the grounds of Clent Grove (now the Sunfield Special School and Children's Home).
It was built in the late 18th century by Thomas Liell and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.
Set on a headland high over the popular seaside town, Whitby Abbey is the perfect choice for a great value day trip in Yorkshire. It's easy to see how Bram Stoker was inspired by its gothic splendour when writing Dracula. This is one of the most atmospheric visitor attractions on the Yorkshire coast.
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.