STUDENTS LEARN HOW TO BE GOOD CITIZENS

New citizenship pilot project launched through unique partnership between South East England Regional Assembly and George Abbot School

GUILDFORD, SURREY: 25 JUNE 2003 WILL BE A SCHOOL DAY WITH A DIFFERENCE for 300 Year 10 students of George Abbot School in Guildford.

The students will take a day out of the regular school timetable to participate in a Citizenship Day, organised by the school as a pilot project in partnership with the South East England Regional Assembly. If successful, the pilot could be rolled out as a teaching template for citizenship in schools across Surrey and the South East.

The project began a year ago when the Regional Assembly approached George Abbot School to explore opportunities for linking up to help the school deliver the new citizenship element of the curriculum for 14-15 year olds.

Paul Bevan, Chief Executive of the Regional Assembly says: "The aim of the Citizenship Day project is to raise awareness of the various levels of governance - local and regional, as well as national and European - with a youth audience and to assist the school in delivering the mandatory element of the curriculum to Year 10 students. We are very pleased with the unique and productive partnership we have formed with George Abbot School."

To ensure the project is interesting and fun for the students as well as being informative, Citizenship Day will be launched with a personal appearance from two actors from teen soap Hollyoaks, whose opening speech will encourage the students to take citizenship seriously.

The students will then take part in six group activities including a town planning debate, an exercise on European issues, budgeting and marketing activities, a business board game and an activity based on global trade issues. These activities have been specially created for the project by teaching staff at the school, with professional design and production funded by the Regional Assembly.

Head teacher of George Abbot School, Danny Moloney says: "The theme of our special Citizenship Day is 'Citizenship - Think about It'. In conjunction with the Regional Assembly, we have developed Citizenship Day as an exciting and meaningful way of encouraging young people to think about important issues, that affect their, and other people's, lives. We hope that this day will be the start of a long and successful partnership and that the materials we have developed will be of use to other schools."

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007