Citizenship

Pupils will either follow the full course of study over two years or will follow the short course of study in Year 11. This specification meets the requirements of the Key Stage 4 Citizenship Programme of Study. It actively engages students in their community, enabling them to partake fully in citizenship activities. It helps develop students’ understanding of the issues surrounding citizenship in the 21st century.

Key Subject Aims

The Edexcel G.C.S.E. course aims to enable students to:

• Engage with topical citizenship issues and contribute to debates on challenges facing society involving a wide range of political, social and ethical ideas, issues and problems in different contexts (local to global).
• Develop and apply understanding of key citizenship concepts (justice, democracy, rights and responsibilities, identities and diversity) to deepen their understanding of society and how communities change over time.
• Use an enquiring, critical approach to distinguish facts, opinion and bias, build arguments and make informed judgements.
• Develop the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to take action with others, in order to address citizenship issues in their communities.

Structure of the Short Course

The short-course (3CS01) is composed of two units of study:

• Unit 1: Citizenship Today (Written Examination – 1 hour/40% of total marks) - Students study three themes (Rights and Responsibilities; Power, Politics and the Media; and The Global Community). In the examination there will be three structured questions, each one based on source/stimulus material from each of the three themes.
• Unit 2: Participating in Society (Controlled Assessment/60% of total marks) - A generic task provided by Edexcel. Students choose from one issue from nine range and content areas. The activity and response form will be provided by Edexcel at the start of the autumn term. Students are assessed, under controlled conditions, through a single internally-assess, externally-moderated assessment consisting of one structure task.

Structure of the Full Course

The long-course (2CS01) is composed of four units of study:

• Unit 1: Citizenship Today (Written Exam – 1 hour/20% of total marks) - Unit 1 topics are organised into three themes (Rights and Responsibilities; Power, Politics and the Media; and The Global Community). In the examination there will be three structured questions, each one based on source/stimulus material from a different theme.
• Unit 2: Participating in Society (Controlled Assessment/30% of total marks) - A generic task provided by Edexcel. Students choose from one issue from nine range and content areas. The activity and response form will be provided by Edexcel at the start of Students are assessed, under controlled conditions, through a single internally-assess, externally-moderated assessment consisting of one structure task.
• Unit 3: Citizenship in Context (Written Exam – 1 hour 15 min/20% of total marks) - This Unit enables students to develop their understanding of the themes of Unit 1. Based primarily on sources of information, they focus of this unit is to develop knowledge and understanding of the key concepts through any one specific context to be chosen from the three set contexts (Option A: Environmental change and sustainable development; Option B: Changing communities – social and cultural identities; Option C: Influencing and changing decision in society and government).
• Unit 4: Citizenship Campaign (Controlled Assessment/30% of total marks) - A generic campaign task provided by Edexcel. Students choose from one issue from nine range and content areas. The activity and response form will be provided by Edexcel at the start of the autumn term. Students are assessed, under controlled conditions, through a single internally-assess, externally-moderated assessment consisting of one structure task.

Course Resources

Course resources can be found on Moodle. Click here to be taken straight to the Course Page.

Department Staff

Head of Department

• Mrs S Gilbert

Useful Links

• Communities
  • http://www.globalgang.org.uk
• Children’s Rights
  • http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation/documents/childrens-statement
  • http://www.unicef.org/voy
• The Police
  • http://www.police.uk
  • http://www.police-law.co.uk
• Human Rights
  • http://www.un.org/en/
  • http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
  • http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/index.htm
• Consumer Rights
  • http://www.oft.gov.uk/