My Life is a free interactive resource produced by The Children’s Society which aims to help children aged 7 to 11 develop the skills they need for a healthy, happy childhood.

www.mylife4schools.org.uk

The content is separated into different units, covering friends, family, learning, beliefs and keeping healthy. There are links to the National Curriculum, Every Child Matters and SEAL.

The resource has information for:

• Teachers – with online activities, case studies, activity sheets and teachers’ notes.
• Children – including animations and online storybooks.
• Parents – showing what the activities are about and how to get information and support.

Go Givers is a free site for primary and middle school children (aged 5 to 14). It contains a wide range of free, engaging, and interactive citizenship-rich cross-curricular resources.

www.gogivers.org

There are areas for teachers, parents and children. The teachers’ section has free lesson plans and downloadable resources, which all aim to develop a sense of personal responsibility and concern for the world that we live in.

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?

Your Justice, Your World is a Citizenship education resource to give primary and secondary students a balanced overview of the criminal, civil, family and administrative justice system.

The resource offers a virtual world experience through the lives of residents of a typical town. The activities are highly interactive and engaging with easy-to-read storylines and instructions. All are suitable for Interactive Whiteboard use. A voiceover, glossary and comprehensive teachers’ notes have been provided for use with mixed ability groups.

Your Justice, Your World has been mapped closely to the latest PSHE and Citizenship education curricula.

At Key Stage 2 the activities fulfil key processes such as developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of abilities; preparing to play an active role as citizens; developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people. They also support the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda and provide many links to Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL).

At Key Stage 3 and 4 the topics cover concepts of democracy and justice, rights and responsibilities, and identities and diversity. The activities also target key processes such as critical thinking and enquiry; advocacy and representation; taking informed and responsible action. Additionally, there are multiple links with Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS), Functional Skills, and Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL).

A Welsh version, Eich Cyfiawnder, Eich Byd is also available.