Schools Citizenship Day

Through a series of intensive thematic (up to 5 per day) safeguarding workshops, young people are able to develop awareness and coping strategies in dealing with a wide range of contemporary vulnerabilities and risks. The subject matter for each day is selected by the institution and each Citizenship Day will have at least 1 theme that supports the school in meeting its Prevent Duty.

Who is it for?

Young people in secondary schools as part of their safeguarding curriculum under a Citizenship/PSHE programme or those young people in Further/Higher Education as part of their Personal Development.

What is it?

Through a series of intensive thematic (up to 5 per day) safeguarding workshops, young people are able to develop awareness and coping strategies in dealing with a wide range of contemporary vulnerabilities and risks. The subject matter for each day is selected by the institution and each Citizenship Day will have at least 1 theme that supports the school in meeting its Prevent Duty.

How long does it take?

The sessions are delivered over the course of one school day and are approximately 1.5 hours each, where participants are rotated in carousel style throughout the day. Teaching and learning staff will often take the opportunity to participate alongside students.

What it involves?

Up to 30 students per workshop are led by a facilitator through short intensive and interactive workshops designed to be impactful and thought provoking. Difficult issues such as sexual violence, extremism, mental health and substance misuse are explored from a resilience and desistance perspective.

Community led practitioners, most with personal life experience of the particular safeguarding strand being taught, engage learners in ‘safe space’ discussions on subjects that are often considered taboo within the school environment or amongst peers. All workshops are held under Chatham House rules.

Thematic Areas:

  • Online radicalisation and grooming
  • Far Right Extremism
  • Islamist ideology
  • Sexual violence
  • Gangs and serious youth violence
  • Substance misuse
  • Emotional wellbeing and Mental Health First Aid

What it achieves?

Over the course of 2 days, learners will have increased their understanding and awareness across the Big 5 Safeguarding themes:

  • Critical Thinking Skills – an ability to think critically and confidently about themselves and others as well as personal, social and political conflict and its consequences;
  • Self-Awareness – the ability to recognise how beliefs and values directly affect attitudes and behaviour; increased emotional intelligence and associated skills, with greater understanding of the effects of one’s own attitudes and behaviours on others, as well as confidence in belonging to multiple communities
  • Appreciation of Values – an ability to recognize how beliefs and values directly affect attitudes and behavior;