South East network reviews

Access keys Skip navigation

Review of: No more excuses regional event - How everyone can deliver post-16 citizenship

Available from: Event report on Post-16 Citizenship website

Reviewed by: Vicki Braunton, Aylesbury High School

Review: Despite being held at a busy time at the end of the academic year this was a very successful event. There were around 30 delegates, many of whom were completely new to post-16 citizenship. The event was very well planned and this was confirmed by the positive comments received after the event. Many of the delegates have expressed an interest in attending regional network meetings. Delegates felt that the range of activities was stimulating and informative. Numbers were swapped and arrangements made for further meetings to discuss ways of working together in the future. 

Rating: 5/5

Review of: "Getting the show on the road - skills for planning and running citizenship events" resource.

Available from: Learning and Skills Network

Reviewed by: Vicki Braunton, Aylesbury High School

Review:For the past 6 months I have been working with a group of young people from different schools and colleges in Aylesbury planning a community conference entitled “Making Changes in Aylesbury”. I used the “Getting the show on the road – skills for planning and running citizenship events” resource extensively whilst organising this. It is a really easy to use guide which shows staff and young people how to go about organising a conference. The booklet is divided into chapters such as “What type of citizenship event shall we run?” and “planning skills”.  It includes printable activities for deciding what your conference will be about, how to organise, who to invite and much more. The young people found these resources helped them to plan their activities and the running order of the event. Invaluable!

Rating: 5/5

Review of: "Developing Citizens" edited by Tony Breslin and Barry Dufour

Available from: Can be ordered through Bookpoint Ltd., 130 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4 SB, Tel. 01235 827720. Published by Hodder Murray, ISBN 0-340-92682-1 

Reviewed by: Brenda Dean

Review:Small in size but perfectly formed, this little A5-sized book is a mighty contribution to citizenship education.  Subtitled “a Comprehensive introduction to Effective Citizenship Education in the Secondary School”, it does full justice to its aims, with contributions from many highly qualified and talented members of the teaching profession.  It covers the history and philosophy of citizenship education, how to teach citizenship through the arts and humanities, social and business sciences, technology, science and mathematics, cross-curricular approaches, leadership and management and, finally, how to build the citizenship-rich school.  This is not a book to be read cover-to-cover.  It is, rather, as Professor Sir Bernard Crick has described it “a unique compendium of information and ideas that teachers will find of great help …this book will also tell members of the public what it is all about”.  So, when you are short of ideas and need some inspiration, or you want to explain or justify citizenship education to your senior managers or to anyone else for that matter, dip into this and you are certain to find the solutions you need.  Incidentally, it has also got an extensive and extremely useful list of citizenship organisations and websites.

Rating: 5/5

Review of: “Making Sense of Citizenship” edited by Ted Huddleston and David Kerr

Available from: Published by Hodder Murray, ISBN 0-340-92681-3

Reviewed by: Brenda Dean

Review: Written by the Citizenship Foundation in association with ACT, Citized, the DfES, LSDA and Ofsted, and published in 2006, this is a CPD handbook for anyone involved in the teaching or management of citizenship.  Although it focuses on secondary schools, it also covers post-16 citizenship in all settings. It is written in a style that is simple and accessible, and it has a wealth of illustrations and case studies, many of which came from the LSDA Post-16 Citizenship Development Project.  It offers advice on teaching and learning strategies, assessment, recording and reporting, management, planning and review and training and staff development, with clearly laid-out pages including sections on key issues and improving practice.  It is not something to be read cover to cover, but to be dipped into when you need help with a specific aspect of teaching or management.  Its authors hope that its use will promote a culture of reflection and discussion aimed at improving practice and raising the standard of provision.

Rating: 4/5

Review of: "One World: A race and culture activity pack for youth workers", published by Unicef

Available from: Youth Work Press, 17 – 23 Albion Street, Leicester, LE1 6GD

Reviewed by: Mehtab Hashmi Culling

Review:This is a fabulous little pack with a variety of activities including agree-disagree, match the meaning, role play, exploring images, creating posters, a quiz and what if it happened to you?  I have used these activities when working with young people or training staff, and young people could also use them in peer mentoring.  They provide a starting point or route into more serious discussion, and, although the activities focus on training for global awareness, they can be adapted to suit a range of topics such as intolerance, racism and discrimination.

Rating: 5/5

Review of: How the young citizens passport can be used to aid delivery of the OCR entry level certificate in citizenship studies

Available from: www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk

Reviewed by: Glen Harvey

Review: The Citizenship Foundation’s Young Citizens Passport, now in its eleventh edition, is a useful pocket sized handbook that covers an extensive range of citizenship topics and issues such as family, leisure, law, government, rights and responsibilities and the European Union. Students on the Aylesbury College citizenship course, who are studying the OCR Entry Level Certificate in Citizenship Studies, use the passport in their core studies as an essential learning resource.

The passport at only £4.99 is pact full of easy to read references and answers to almost any question a young person may have about being a citizen in the UK. In unit 1 – Rights, Responsibilities and Law, of the OCR qualification, learners have to research three rights, three responsibilities and three laws which relate to them as individuals. The section on law, government and human rights, page 125 of the young citizens passport, describes, in detail the meaning of law, how laws are made and the connection between our current laws and the human rights act of 1998.

Tutors at Aylesbury College who are delivering citizenship at entry level, have been using the young citizens passport since the course began four years ago. Both staff and students agree that it is a valuable tool which can be used within and outside of the classroom.

Rating: 5/5