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Coastal Academy Trust

Citizenship & Global Politics

CURRICULUM INTENT STATEMENT

Globally Diverse Ambitious for the Future Inquisitive Learners

Our Intent for Citizenship students is…

  • To create open-minded, inclusive and respectful individuals who value equality, democracy and diversity under the teachings of British Values. 

  • To encourage principled and caring citizens who are globally and politically  minded and see what impact they can have on society. 

  • Are inquiring and independent thinkers modelled in the KS4 and KS5 active campaigns and IA units 

  • Take opportunities to learn and participate outside of the classroom by engaging in local politics, democratic values and active campaigning 

  • To make use of cultural Capital and discuss, engage and educate students in current affairs / case studies  and political opportunities such as visiting parliament and tackling apathy

Citizenship students

  • Should function as an autonomous and politically aware citizens

  • Should uphold British values showing tolerance and respect within a diverse and multicultural society  

  • Should advocate for human rights and adhere to our responsibilities as citizens 

  • Should be able to understand how their country operates and the ways in which change can occur within democracy

  • Should develop an understanding of the voting systems and how their vote influences and shapes the world they live in

  • Should understand the ways in which taxation affects social services and the resources they will come to use in the future. 

  • Should know the boundaries of the law and if their rights were to be at risk in the future and how to challenge this.

Our Intent for Citizenship students is…

 

  • To empower students to actively participate in society and act as agents for change 

  • To create an interest in current affairs and to help them to understand their role and responsibility in society 

  • To inspire students to take an active role in their community and to take ownership of any change they want to instil 

  • To encourage further study of British politics and its history at higher education 

  • To have an understanding and interest in Global politics and how relationships between countries develops and changes over time 

  •  to be contentious thinkers who are educated about world issues and the dynamics of power across the world and how this has an impact on people on a global scale. We aim to make students prepared for the future by analysing and predicting how changes in international policies and political systems can have an impact on future generations.

 

Citizenship & Politics Learning Journey

 

Key Stage 3

In Key Stage 3 we use relevant and engaging news events and current affairs to drive discussions about citizenship themes. We link these with political case studies of the past and the present in order for them to engage with their future. We encourage students' natural inquisitiveness through inquiry questions about events they know about or are familiar with, such as Suffragettes / North Korea/ Human Rights in Ukraine / Brexit / Immigration as a local issue We encourage students to understand their role in society and how they are able to bring about change within society, through the explicit teaching of pressure groups and methods that are used. We aim to provide pupils with a toolkit to be able to exercise their voice by giving supportive techniques for constructing viewpoints and using evidence to support their views. They are also taught about Human Rights, which enables them to understand not only their rights, but their responsibilities within society.They learn who holds people to account in British society and the power that they have. We focus on making sure that students have a basic understanding of British culture, law and how our government works so that they are able to make informed and responsible choices in contributing to their community.


Key Stage 4

In Key Stage 4 students have the opportunity to study GCSE Citizenship. GCSE Citizenship teaches students about life in Modern Britain, Rights & Responsibilities and Politics and Participation are ever evolving units which allow us to apply relevant news stories, case studies and events  i.e. Brexit / Grenfell / Ukraine / North Korea, so students are encouraged through this to continually keep up to date with current events. They are taught to make comparisons of changing rights over time, to develop an understanding that while something may be the case now it may not be the same in a number of years eg Gay Marriage.

In lessons we aim to make it a safe space where students feel comfortable to share their ideas and opinions on important issues. Discussion of controversial and political topics allows them to develop discussion and debate skills for the future. It also allows them to be familiar with the demand that they will face in adulthood such as voting, contributing to the tax or justice system in various ways and how they can activate change in their local, national or even global community. We will challenge pupils by exposing them to new ideas, writers or articles that they otherwise would not be.

Opportunities within our subjects to organise trips to museums, parliament or international trips etc helps the school build the students’ cultural capital. Debate club is run, which the students love, and also exposes them to lots of controversial topics outside of the curriculum. We enable students to follow on from key stage 3 and actually create their own Active Citizenship campaign.They are encouraged to come up with a campaign that is important to them and their community. Students learn and apply the idea of British Values and Human Rights within contemporary themes and they learn how to hold others to account such as their local MP. GCSE students learn how to be responsible for change through political engagement and voting for political parties and how belonging to a Trade Union can ensure they are being a responsible employee, and how being mindful of human rights law aiding them to also be responsible employers.

 

Key Stage 5

In Key Stage 5 students are able to choose to study IB Global Politics as one of their subjects within the IBCP.  The IB courses directly address Theory of Knowledge and explicitly discuss the benefits of being lifelong learners in Global Politics. All case studies used in IB Global Politics have to be contemporary which means within the student’s lifetime. They are therefore encouraged to keep up to date with current events and these are discussed in seminar sessions and pre-reading on current affairs is often set as homework tasks to enable the students to independently access different sources of knowledge. Students are encouraged through the use of the IB to be responsible citizens who promote the ethics of academic honesty. Through Global Politics units, they are taught  to be a contentious thinker who is educated about world issues, the dynamics of power across the world and how this has an impact on people on a global scale. We aim to make students ambitious for the future by analysing and predicting how changes in international policies and political systems can have an impact on future generations. Encouraging students to understand their role in society by linking how contemporary events affect them at varying levels of analysis, we examine how a local event can have an impact at national and then global level, and the ways in which citizens are responsible for responding to world events such as humanitarian aid, refugee influx and adapting political policies.