Citizenship education equips children with the skills necessary to play an active part in society and act as socially and morally responsible citizens. Margaret Collins has used her considerable experience to create another fantastic age appropriate practical resource for children aged 4-9 that widens the concept of citizenship so that it incorporates global issues. The book explores six topics: Basic needs, Environmental issues, Fairness, Exploring various cultures, Democracy, and Global issues. Each section has an introductory page and ideas for resources, followed by activities on the same topic differentiated for younger and older primary pupils. Clear guidelines are provided for discussion and activities which could take place in Circle Time. At the end of each section there is a story for children to consider accompanied by developmental activities and activity sheets, as well as a page of reflections related to the global challenges we all face. This exciting resource will act as a starting point for stimulating teachers and encouraging children to widen their learning.
Teachers will be able to use these activities to set further challenges, to help explore current situations and to help with understanding present concerns. Margaret Collins is a former headteacher of infant and first schools. She is now Senior Visiting Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Southampton. She researches children's perceptions of health education topics, writes teaching materials for children, books and articles on PSHE.
