Agenda item

The meeting considered a report of Sioned-Mair Richards and Delia Watts, Scrutiny Advisers on the outcome of a scrutiny review of Citizenship Education in Rotherham.  The group had comprised of members from the Democratic and Resources and Lifelong Learning Opportunities Scrutiny Panels, together with representatives from the Rotherham Youth Cabinet.

Councillor Pickering thanked everyone who had been involved in the Review and outlined the content of the Executive Summary and summary of findings and explained how the work could be developed and rolled out into the next century.

Citizenship looked at how a student could be prepared for the role and responsibilities of adulthood and how life as an adult worked.  It involved understanding the part that they and others play in their community and the responsibilities that they would have in adulthood. The three strands of Citizenship education are Social and moral responsibility, community involvement and political literacy.

The aim of the review was to seek out good practice in the teaching of citizenship in Rotherham schools and to identify how this could best be disseminated.

Members of the review had been invited into schools and had attended lessons in order to observe the ethos and to understand how children can benefit from the Citizenship in Education.

All Rotherham schools had had an opportunity to contribute to the Review in one form or another and the work had progressed well.  In instances where the initiative is interpreted it works well and pupils are able to see the benefits of it.

One of the recommendations of the review was that the Council, in collaboration with the LEA Advisory Team and Library Service, compile an information resource for use in the delivery of citizenship education.  This should include an explanation of local governance in Rotherham, how it is structured and the key players.  Each school should be issued with the resource which should include the names and web page addresses of the councillors who represent the area in which the school is situated.

It may be that a smaller review is necessary on the democratic dimension in terms of the role of Councillors and training will be undertaken.

The information had been considered at the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel and was to be submitted to the Youth Cabinet.  At the conclusion of this process, a report would be submitted to The Cabinet.

Members of the Scrutiny Panel raised the following issues:-

-                       How were the Secondary Schools chosen for inclusion in the review? Were there any plans to allocate a budget to young people?

                  All of Rotherham’s schools had the opportunity to contribute to the     review through the completion of a questionnaire.  Some schools give their school councils responsibility for a small part of the budget, such as                   for playground equipment.

                  Is Citizenship always taught as a separate subject or can it be included in       another curriculum area? To what level could Citizenship be studied?

                  The meeting was informed of the overlap between PSHE and Citizenship,        particularly when taught in primary schools.  In secondary schools,        Citizenshio is taught in its own right as part of the National curriculum                   and can be studied up to GCSE level.  

                  The meeting was referred to Appendix F of the report on the    Programme of Study for Key Stages 3 and 4. Citizenship is clearly    growing in importance in terms of those dictating curriculum matters       and underpins a whole area of attitudes about young people being active          and responsible citizens.  The teaching of Citizenship is assessed as part         of OFSTED inspections.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Councillor Pickering be thanked for the presentation and the work of the Review Group.

(2)  That the review report’s recommendations be endorsed.

(3)  To note that a further update report will be submitted in six months’ time to the appropriate Scrutiny Panels.