A report from Ofsted claims that some schools in England are struggling to teach citizenship properly. From the BBC report…

“…in some secondary schools, pupils have “important gaps” in their knowledge. However, inspectors say lessons have improved since they were made compulsory seven years ago.

The article goes on to say that…

“Often citizenship shared a timetable slot with Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, but the time allowed was “too little to do justice to either subject”, inspectors say.”

Image – Writing Exams

However, on the positive side…

“Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert, said: “Citizenship is becoming a well established part of the school curriculum and this report highlights the ways in which schools are successfully promoting social responsibility, community involvement and political understanding.

“It is important that the good practice featured in the report is replicated more widely.”

How do you feel about the teaching of citizenship? Do your pupils have ‘important’ gaps in their knowledge? Is there too little time to do the subject justice?

Year Dot is a documentary which followed the paths of 15 young people over one year, as they pursue their goals across a range of subjects. Their stories give an insight into their respective fields: Business Management, English, Politics, Performing Arts and P.E, to name a few. They also document the journey taken in transforming a school time passion into a full-blown career.

Alongside these academic insights, the documentary provides an intimate portrayal of some difficult and relevant social subjects. The community engagement of these individuals is also inspiring, making the videos a valuable resource for opening up social issues in the classroom, and bringing curriculum subjects like PSHE and citizenship to life.

www.yeardot.co.uk/resources

The Year Dot site allows you to search for video resources and catch up clips linked to different areas of the curriculum.

Tony Crowley has created a number of career education publications which can be used by primary schools and younger secondary school pupils. They are freely downloadable and aim to support the government’s plans to bring certain aspects of careers education into primary schools.

The resources contain games, group activities, quizzes, questionnaires and worksheets. One of these documents is embedded below and the others can be downloaded here.

Carex have created a set of educational resources, called ‘Hands up for Hygiene’, which aim to teach children to understand the link between good hand hygiene and the prevention of the spread of germs.

www.carex.co.uk/hands-up-for-hygiene

The site has resources for pre-school, primary and secondary schools, as well as tips for helping children to think about hygiene at home. There are also songs to download and sing. You can even take advantage of a free service allowing schools to borrow a lightbox which can be used to inspect how clean little hands are!

November saw Anti-Bullying week throw the spotlight on cyber-bullying and the distress caused by the spread of malicious video content across the internet through social networks, video sharing websites, e-mail and mobiles.

The Department for Children, Schools & Families have created a set of videos with the aim of demonstrating how a seemingly harmless and funny internet clip can be something far more sinister, and can even make the viewer an unwitting accomplice in the cyber-bullying chain.

It was also announced last week that lessons in using the internet safely will be a compulsory part of the English primary curriculum from 2011. The lessons are one element of a new government strategy called “Click Clever, Click Safe”. The main messages in the lessons are ‘Zip It, Block It, Flag It’:

Find out more in this BBC article or by reading the DCSF report.

Young Brits at Art is our national arts awards competition for 11-19 year olds from all backgrounds and walks of life who live in England, Scotland and Wales. It has been launched by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

This academic year, they are asking young people to show us what the world would look like if we lived without prejudice. Watch this Youtube video to find out more.

Entries must be submitted by March 2010, so if you want to find out more about the competition, or you would like to enter, visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

A new website has been launched to help schools teach pupils about sustainable living and the key role that scientists and engineers will play in tackling the challenges of climate change.

The online resource, 3MWorldlyWise is designed to boost young interest in studying the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths from GCSE to A-level and on to university.

www.3mworldlywise.co.uk

This free website  contains lots of helpful tips for living a ‘greener’ life, along with resources for teachers, and is particularly aimed at students aged from 11-16 years old (although it could also be used by upper KS2 children, I’m sure).

The Teenage Cancer Trust have just launched an online resource for schools, which can be used for PSHE lessons and general assembly. It’s an interactive resource with lesson plans, discussion topics, video, and fits with syllabus guidelines. It touches on topics revolving around teenage cancer, looking at health, communication, relationships, bullying, and seeks to promote understanding and education about health issues.

The resource is available at www.teenagecancertrust.org/learningresource

Skoolio, created by James Ratcliffe, offers free Powerpoint presentations for use in the classroom. Many of them are linked to particular PSHE themes but there are also Powerpoint quizzes and brainteasers to use.

www.skoolio.co.uk

Lots of the presentations are aimed at secondary aged students, but many could be used in primary classrooms too.

The Blue Cross has volunteer speakers around the UK who are able to visit primary schools to talk to the children about responsible pet ownership, the needs of pets and how to be safe around dogs. These talks are free of charge.

www.bluecross.org.uk

To date, The Blue Cross have seen over 100,000 school children with this programme. If you are interested in finding out if there is a speaker in your area, please email education@bluecross.org.uk or visit www.bluecross.org.uk.