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Coastal Academy Trust

Citizenship & Global Politics

CURRICULUM INTENT STATEMENT

Globally Diverse Ambitious for the Future Inquisitive Learners

We explicitly teach our students to...

  • have a secure understanding of democracy and to understand the importance of, and how to vote.

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

  • see the impact they can have on society through student voting and debate

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

Citizenship students have the opportunity to...

  • Meet local political figures (such as Roger Gale MP).

  • Visit parliament and immerse themselves in current politics.

  • Understand how to vote through parliament week and in school student voting therefore understanding how to make change.

  • Take part in an active citizenship campaign.

  • Explore careers in politics.

Our Intent for Citizenship students is…

  • 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.

  • 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

  • To generate debate through debate club and in lessons

 

Citizenship & Politics Learning Journey

Citizenship & Global 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. 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.

 

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.

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.

GCSE Citizenship Specification

 

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.  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 taught 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.

IB Global Politics Specification