Goal 4 - campaigning for the importance of children and young people having opportunities to learn what it takes to be an active citizen Our 2027 ambition: There will be a national consensus on the vital need for every young person to be able to learn and practice being active, engaged, and motivated citizens. Expand We will: Campaign on the importance of learning about citizenship at school Advocate for active citizenship, supported by high-quality citizenship education, making the case for the correct policy framework and adequate levels of funding Work in partnership with others, including the Democratic Life coalition which we helped Establish and our close friends at the subject association, the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT), and other organisations which promote a rounded approach to education Show how citizenship education can support social cohesion, especially in schools with significant numbers of students from different cultural backgrounds; and can help improve social mobility and reduce the risks of extremism Highlight the contribution of citizenship education to the wider curriculum, in helping improve attainment, enhance whole-school culture, and prepare young people for adult life and work Work to protect citizenship within the national curriculum, encouraging schools to provide citizenship as a subject and through other parts of the curriculum Demonstrate the youngest pupils can contribute to their communities through informed social action.
Goal 3 - working with intermediaries – upskilling teachers and involving professionals Our 2027 ambition: 10,000 intermediaries each year take part in our programmes to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence, or volunteer to work on one of our programmes for children and young people. Expand Over the next decade, we will: Expand our work to put lawyers into schools Introduce other experts into the classroom to bring key citizenship issues to life, including: Economists and those in finance, who can help young people understand how the economy functions Politicians and others involved in the political process, including those in higher education – who can help bring politics alive for young people Trade unionists, who have expertise on rights at work and negotiating, who can help young people develop these skills Media specialists – in both traditional and digital channels Expand training opportunities for teachers
Goal 2 - providing authentic experiences of being an active citizen Our 2027 ambition: 200,000 children and young people will be taking part in our practical citizenship experiences each year. Expand Among many other initiatives we will: Extend the reach of our Mock Trials, where young people take on the various roles of barristers, clerks, witnesses, jurors – with the support of legal professionals – in real court rooms Develop our social action programmes where pupils decide together which issues they care most about and want to take action on – whether that’s local, national, or global Give young people a voice in deciding the priorities for the Brexit negotiations Create more opportunities for young people to engage in democratic politics – even if they are not yet old enough to vote Help young people prepare for work life, when secure long-term jobs are declining, by developing negotiation and teamwork skills Enable young people to experience and express views on economic policies Partner with other organisations, including the National Citizens Service (NCS) to create more opportunities for young people to be active citizens – in whatever form that takes.
Goal 1 - providing interactive, topical and relevant citizenship learning opportunities Our 2027 ambition: More than half of UK schools will be using our programmes and materials each year. Expand We will: Reach out to all schools – primary and secondary - to help them give all their pupils the opportunity of high-quality learning about citizenship. We’re particularly concerned with those at the margins of society and have fewest citizenship opportunities. We’ll therefore give particular support to areas of greater deprivation and where social mobility is restricted Be a first-port-of-call for teachers looking for materials which support citizenship Help schools assess how well they are doing in preparing young people for the future, and make suggestions for improvements Be the leading provider of public legal education for UK schools Provide effective, challenging and stimulating ways to develop understanding of the media and of global politics, and economic literacy Bring democratic politics to life by offering schools a range of lesson plans. We’ll seek both grant funding and contributions from schools to help pay for this work – demonstrating to schools how it is good value for money to access high-quality citizenship programmes that pupils need.