Give your pupils the chance to lead real change.
Make a Difference Challenge is a ready‑to-teach social action project delivered in one term. It helps your school take an early, confident step towards meeting the new statutory Citizenship expectations coming into force by 2028. For £150 per school, you get everything you need to run a meaningful, pupil‑led community project with minimal preparation and maximum impact for one or more classes, from KS1-2.
Register now to secure your place on the Make a Difference Challenge 2026-2027
NEW: Regional Kick Start Days
(Keep an eye on this space. More information about Kick Start Day events for the 2026-27 academic year will be shared here soon.)
Kick Start Days are back and running throughout the 2026/2027 Academic Year!
Kick Start Days are engaging, fully facilitated in-person events that introduce pupils and teachers to the power of child-led social action. Through interactive activities in bespoke venues across the country, pupils explore their local community, identify issues that matter to them and develop realistic ideas to make a positive difference.
Working collaboratively, pupils build confidence in sharing their views, strengthen their understanding of active citizenship and develop practical action plans that can be taken forward within school and the wider community. The experience places pupil voice at its heart, helping young people recognize that their ideas can create meaningful change.
No advance preparation is required with the day fully facilitated. Following the event, staff leave with ready-to-use resources and approaches that support Citizenship education, enrich Personal Development provision and demonstrate meaningful opportunities for pupil participation and leadership across the school community.
- Dates: Kick Start Days in Autumn, Spring and Summer Terms (more details to come)
- Age groups: Any KS1-2 , but Year 5 and 6s may particularly benefit!
- Schools: State and academy primary schools
- Cost: Only £50 in addition to the Make a Difference Challenge fee
Register now to Kick Start your Make a Difference Challenge this academic year.
Get Citizenship ready ahead of 2028.
Bolster your SMSC provision, personal development and develop confident and empathetic young citizens, the Make a Difference Challenge has been externally evaluated, demonstrating how transformational it can be for children who take part. It has been shown to develop:
- Skills including empathy, teamwork, oracy and mediating differences
- ‘Grit’, resilience and motivation to act when they see something going wrong
- Confidence for secondary school
- Awareness of voluntary groups and organisations in their local community
Real impact: After you take your pupils through the guided lessons on how to research and select their social, environmental or economic issue of choice, they work to deliver it in your community. This ranges from clothing swaps to cleaning up a community space, to campaigns for cleaner air! See our case studies here.
Why act now?
Citizenship will be statutory in primary schools by 2028. Start building expertise now with a proven, low-friction model that fits easily into your school provision.
Secure your place: Make a Difference Challenge 2026-2027
What’s Included & How It Works
Everything you need for a full social action project:
- Detailed lesson plans and PowerPoints
- Ready-to-use classroom resources
- Templates for research, planning and community outreach
- A digital scrapbook to evidence learning and impact
- Certificates for pupils and the school
- Optional 30‑minute consultancy call with the Young Citizens team
- Light‑touch support throughout the term
Structure (6–8 weeks):
- Phase 1 – Spark Change: explore local issues and vote on a project
- Phase 2 – Plan It, Do It: research, plan and deliver meaningful social action
- Phase 3 – Shout About It: capture impact and celebrate achievements
Delivery: Designed for one lesson per week in the summer term (ideal post‑SATs for Year 6, flexible for Years 4–6). Fully teacher‑led; no specialist training required.
How Your School Will Benefit
For pupils:
- Communication and oracy skills
- Empathy, teamwork and resilience
- Real‑world problem‑solving and agency
- Stronger connection with community organisations
For schools:
- Early, credible first step toward preparing for 2028 Citizenship requirements
- Evidence for Ofsted in Personal Development and SMSC
- Low‑friction, high‑impact project that fits easily into the summer term
- A repeatable structure you can scale in future years
- Access to regional or in‑school celebration options showcasing pupil impact
What Happens After You Sign Up
Immediate next steps:
- Instant access to the online social action toolkit
- All lesson plans and resources
- Instructions to set up your digital scrapbook
- Link to book your optional 30‑minute consultancy call
- Support emails leading up to delivery and celebration opportunities
Your class can begin as soon as you’re ready.
How can I take part in a Kick Start Day?
Throughout the year, Young Citizens hosts Kick Start Days in cities and regions across the country. New dates and locations are released regularly, providing schools with opportunities to take part in a collaborative, inspiring social action experience close to home.
Who can attend: KS2 classes (10 – 30 pupils) accompanied by their class teacher (Recommended for Year 5 – but speak to us if you’d like to bring another year group)
Cost: £50 in addition to the Make a Difference Campaign fee of £150
Joining the Kick Start Day has been designed as the perfect launch for participating in Make A Difference Challenge, Young Citizens’ flagship primary social action programme which gives pupils the opportunity to investigate a local issue they care about and take meaningful, community rooted action.
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