ACT and Oak National Academy launch 44 new Citizenship lessons

We are pleased to launch 44 additional Citizenship lessons via the Oak National Academy.

The new key stage 3 and 4 lessons are organised as sequences:

Key stage 3

• What is crime? – 6 lessons that include reason behind criminal behaviour, the role of the police and how communites can prevent crime
• How can citizens bring about change? – 6 lesson that explore the roles of citizens in democracy, social movements and groups, and the role of changemakers
• How to manage our money well? – 6 lessons including saving, borrowing, budgeting and consumer rights
• How can young people play an active role in democracy? – 6 lessons that help pupils engage in local democracy, their school and wider community and postive citizenship action.

Key stage 4/GCSE 

• How can we make a difference in society? Active Citizenship project 6 lessons designed to support GCSE active citizenship projects that break down the requirements into steps
• How does the UK play a meaningful role in the international community? 6 lessons that include UN, the Commonwealth, WTO, changing relations in Europe and global humanitarian issues
• Where does power reside in the UK? 6 lessons that explore the differences between local and national government, devolution, structure of government, elections, and the role of civil society
• GCSE retrieval practice 2 lessons providing examples from topics designed to help embed knowledge and check pupil understanding.

No pupil should miss out on their right to citizenship education in this academic year, with the help of new lessons ACT is developing for the Oak National Academy. A team of twelve ACT Citizenship teachers from schools across the country are leading the expansion of citizenship video lessons to provide a full year of citizenship teaching content.

Oak National Academy is the online classroom and activities club set up to help teachers and parents support their pupils and children during the Covid-19 pandemic. ACT have designed the citizenship curriculum for the new academic year which will include a full year of lessons for years 7-12. Schools can review the new curriculum now to help plan provision.

The new lessons have been designed to meet both national curriculum and GCSE Citizenship Studies requirements are available through ACT and the Oak website. Each contains a downloadable version which teachers can use and adapt to suit their requirements.

‘We have thought carefully about the citizenship curriculum, so that each teaching unit is well sequenced and lessons build essential citizenship knowledge and skills over time. This exciting development brings some of the best citizenship teaching ideas to thousands of children across the country. The new curriculum is based on the ACT principles of effective citizenship teaching and a secondary scheme of work we have been developing. We hope this both exemplifies effective citizenship teaching and ensures no child misses out on their right to a high quality citizenship education at school. This is an important partnership between ACT and Oak and we are delighted to have a leading role in the next phase of the project’ Liz Moorse, ACT Chief Executive.

Lesson include key national curriculum and GCSE topics

What rights are we entitled to? Why do we have laws?’ What is democracy? Is Government action led by the UK economy? How are laws made?

These can be found on the Oak website and on our resources page.

Matt Hood, Principal at Oak National Academy, said:

“We’re thrilled to be launching new Citizenship lessons at Oak National Academy for Key Stages 3 and 4. My husband trained as a citizenship teacher so I’m fully aware of how valuable these lessons are in providing young people with essential knowledge to thrive in society. The module includes lessons on democracy, how laws are created and how the economy works. Helping the younger generation understand how to be responsible and engaged as citizens is so important as we face this global Covid- 19 crisis, together.”

Meet our ACT Citizenship Teachers at Oak

Steven Humphrys:

“It is a great opportunity to work with Oak National Academy to support teachers with their delivery of Key Stage 3 and 4 Citizenship. Each year group is being offered a series of lessons which explore key concepts and debates within Citizenship, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to develop their understanding of how society operates, at a time when knowledge of the world is paramount!”

Daryl Henson:

“Working with Oak National Academy has allowed Citizenship education the platform it deserves to reach every school in the UK. From Year 7-Year 10, the curriculum intent and lesson design allows every pupil to pick up a range of skills and knowledge that will allow their curiosity to flourish and gain a passion for Citizenship.”

Jane Haynes:

”I am excited about the potential Oak offers to enlarge the appeal of Citizenship studies and appreciate the opportunity to be involved with another team of dedicated educators aiming to enthuse young people about learning.”