Citizenship education work has led one primary school from debating in the local council chamber to visiting Parliament and Downing Street, and on to starring in new photographic resources for primary citizenship.

Pupils from Stonehill School in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, have learned in class about vandalism and antisocial behaviour, using role-play to act out appropriate behaviour. Their teachers have encouraged them to discuss ideas, using a formal structure to debate issues.

Last spring, Year 6 begged to be allowed to conduct a whole-school election. Five different parties, including the Homer Simpson Party and the Flying Pigs Party, wrote election manifestos, designed posters and explained the election to younger pupils.

For one day, posters could be placed anywhere in the school: the outside of the head’s door proved the most popular location. Year 6 organised polling cards, voting booths and a secret ballot, and even postal votes where necessary. Year 6 wrote and asked a Hertfordshire County Councillor to visit Stonehill School. He explained his work as a councillor and as a school governor.

At his suggestion, Year 6 visited the North Hertfordshire District Council chamber, to conduct their own debate chaired by the chairman of the council. Groups of pupils had prepared for the occasion, assigning roles as a leisure company with plans to build a leisure park on green-belt land near to the school, local residents for and against the scheme and the children’s farm currently occupying the site. In the council chamber, the pupils argued in role. The chair formally called on speakers, and pupils addressed each other as “councillor”. All the pupils spoke, voting by a show of hands at the end.

Next they enlisted the help of local MP Oliver Heald. They invited him to a citizenship assembly, where he watched the role-plays, smiling at candidates who vowed they would keep all their promises to the electorate. Later, he invited Year 6 to visit Parliament.

By the time the visit to Parliament took place, in November 2000, Year 6 had transferred to secondary school, but were maintaining contact with pupils at Stonehill, as part of a primarysecondary transfer project. The new Year 6 invited these Year 7s to come along, and the three secondary schools in Letchworth released them for the day. A coach was hired. Its journey down Whitehall was slightly delayed by a demonstration in support of asylum seekers, another opportunity for citizenship education.

Oliver Heald welcomed the Stonehill party to Parliament and spoke to each small group before they toured the Lords and Commons. Later, the pupils walked to Downing Street, where permission had been obtained to enter the gates. For the school record, pupils were duly photographed on the steps of Number 10, just in case one day a former Stonehill pupil has another reason to be there. Finally, courtesy of Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, a joint presentation by Stonehill, Grange, Lordship Farm and Norton St Nicholas CE schools featured the visit to Parliament, the earlier debates and role-plays. The schools’ pupils filled a big local hall. Grange school organised a debate; Lordship Farm presented the history of the world’s first garden city, Letchworth; and Norton St Nicholas pupils told of their work-shadowing experiences. Pupils’ raps on the theme of work-shadowing formed a popular finale.

* Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation provided support for in-service training for teachers from Stonehill and other primary schools in the town, to enable them to take part in the Institute for Citizenship’s Junior Citizenship Project. The work of Stonehill, Radburn and St Thomas More RC schools features in the Primary Citizenship Teacher’s Resource Books and Photograph Packs for Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6, developed by the Institute for Citizenship, tel: 020 7486 4777. E-mail: info@citizen.org.uk Web: www.citizen.org.uk These are also published by Nelson Thornes, tel: 01242 267280 Stephanie Turner is a consultant in citizenship and environmental education and was formerly education manager, Institute for Citizenship.E-mail: st36@tutor.open.ac.uk