Funded by the CfBT Education Trust, the Effective Teaching and Learning through Active Citizenship project aims to investigate the effects Active Citizenship has on young people’s education and achievement, encouraging them to develop the skills needed to become involved in their communities.

The project started in September 2006 and runs until March 2008. 

The project monitors and supports developments in the teaching and learning of active citizenship in 12 secondary schools in the south and south-west of England.  It follows a class or group of Year 9 pupils who started their Citizenship classes in September 2006, and tracks their progress in active citizenship from the beginning of Year 9 to the mid-point of Year 10. 

CSV has supplied the schools with Log It! books for individual reflection and ‘Project Team Challenge’ to help small groups work together on an active citizenship project. 

There is also a web facility on ‘Yahoo Groups’ to enable those involved to network with one another.

During the spring term, short training courses were offered to whole classes or to smaller groups. By the end of the summer term schools were asked to submit group or whole class logs on a chosen project: themes ranged from fundraising for charity, to working with younger pupils, to preventing gun and knife crime in the community.

Evaluation data will be based on
• Student questionnaires completed at the start and at intervals in the project
• Teacher questionnaires completed at the start and at intervals in the project
• Group logs and reflections
• Records kept of visits and impressions by CSV staff.

An interim report will be available in September 2007, with a final report in the late spring of 2008.

For more information, please contact Peter Hayes on 020 7643 1312 or phayes@csv.org.uk.