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Aims and objectives return
to the summary page The aims and objectives
The main beneficiaries The initiative Children sat at large round tables and each table had a mix of children from several schools. To set the day in context, each group was presented with an artefact from the Tower. For each artefact, the group had to consider what they thought it was and what association it had with the Tower. The artefacts included money (the Tower is a former mint), Beefeaters hat (the Beefeater guards looked after the prisoners) and a crown (for obvious reasons!) The day then moved on to exploring citizenship and asking children what they considered a good citizen to be. Groups were given 20 'good citizen' cards, which defined what a good citizen would or wouldn't do. The groups were asked to divide these into three groups: those they thought were important for being a good citizen, those not so important and those they didn't have strong feelings about or were unsure of. This provided the opportunity to discuss a range of issues associated with good citizenship, e.g. helping neighbours, drug taking, recycling waste, graffiti and involvement in pressure groups. Eventually the groups were asked to eliminate the cards to three they considered the most important for good citizenship. The exercise provided individuals with the opportunity to voice their different opinions, to practise making a persuasive case and try to encourage others to support it and ultimately to accept group or majority decision making. "I think helping an old person is more important than not taking drugs. The drugs one is just an object but the old person is a real person." A second exercise involved a series of scenarios with possible reactions/actions that could be taken. This activity expanded the idea of citizenship to include countrywide and global issues. Children had first to decide which choice they would make on their own, then agree on an action in pairs and then arrive at a whole group decision. This again provided the opportunity to share ideas and views, make a persuasive case and arrive at a group decision through consensus or majority decision making. The afternoon session was devoted to examining the political party structure of the UK and exploring central issues that parties campaign on, e.g. education, health, transport, defence etc. A local Councillor and a member of the Greater London Assembly talked to the children about their roles within the democratic process. Each group was then asked to choose three issues to plan policies for to put to the 'electorate'. Each group was also asked to form a party, deciding on a name, a logo and choosing 'ministers' for the departments that they would refer to in their manifestos. Each party presented their manifestos to the other parties and the remaining children were asked to award scores for name and logo, quality of presentation and policy ideas. Each individual was asked to write down the name of the party that they had awarded the highest score to. The votes were added together and the winning party was announced at the end of the day. "To make sure you have the best possible health treatment we will give free health check-ups at the start of school, in the middle of school when children are about to become teenagers and when you're old." (The Thunder Eagles) "We believe all criminals should be punished for their crime. But we want the criminals to have spare money in their pockets so they don't have to steal from others. Half a prisoner's sentence would go as normal. The other half of the sentence would be used to train them for a job so they are able to have their own money." (The Community Party) "We in the Community Party will close down all the private schools and turn them into state schools…We believe that all pupils should attend a local secondary school [because] pupils are mixed with people from different backgrounds [helping them] to get along with different people later in life." "[in our hospitals] we will try not to use medicines tested on animals" (FABB Party) "A third of the money that will go towards schools will go for improving school dinners." (For A Better Britain - FABB - Party) Assessment opportunities "I have learnt that a good citizen looks after the environment, respects others and wont put any lives in danger." "When I listen to other people's arguments I can change my mind." Cross curricular links Lindsay Shepherd
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