Frequently Asked Questions

What is ‘Citizen Schools’ and how is it connected to London Citizens?

The Citizen Schools Alliance is the network of schools, universities and other educational institutions who are members of London Citizens and who hold a collective belief in community organising as a way to transform both schooling and local communities. We involve teachers, parents and students in doing this – using existing space in citizenship lessons, school councils, parents’ forums and other similar areas, or create spaces for action based on schools’ needs.

Who are London Citizens?

London Citizens is an alliance of community organisations – schools, universities, faith groups and community groups – in London. Since our founding in East London we are now 150 diverse organisations strong, including over 40 schools, 30 of whom are secondary schools. We work to strengthen our members, building their capacity to fight for their individual and mutual interests – our professional community organisers and schools team train them to organise, take action, negotiate and ultimately secure support from politicians and businesses to effect positive change.

What’s the vision driving London Citizens’ Citizen Schools?

Our vision is schools as community hubs, empowering students, parents and staff to be active citizens with the confidence, skills and knowledge to play an effective part in public life – both locally, London—wide and globally. We want to encourage communities to take responsibility for the education of their children, and support schools in taking responsibility for their communities.

What are some examples of work London Citizens has done with schools?

London Citizens organises in schools based on individual schools’ needs. In Central Foundation Girls’ School (Tower Hamlets) we worked with their parents’ forum to increase parent involvement from 3 to 60 parents. In Halstow and St Alfege with St Peter’s primary schools (Greenwich) we have developed tailored leadership training programmes for parents and staff, with participants using their new skills to secure new road safety measures around their schools after mounting a lollipop lady campaign. St Marks’ School (Hounslow) wanted to get involved in a specific London Citizens campaign – Citizens for Sanctuary – and our organisers are supporting students and staff in their investigation into a local detention centre. In 18 secondary schools across London, the Citizen Schools Pathway has enabled young people to drive local research and actions to make their local areas better, involving whole year groups of students in mapping, connecting and listening to their communities, creating ideas to solve the problems identified, and in taking action to turn their ideas into a reality. Examples include graffiti walls (Kingsbury High School, Brent), improvements to a local footbridge (Drayton Manor High School, Ealing), improving lighting (George Green’s School, Tower Hamlets), creating a young carer’s project (The Charter School, Southwark), improving a local bus stop for students and visitors (Ravens Wood School, Bromley), and renovating a school Astroturf to create a community sports facility (Prendergast Ladywell Fields College, Lewisham). Significantly, the Pathway is working to enable teams of staff, governors, senior leaders, parents and students to work together to facilitate and organise this change. This local-level action is complemented by schools who want to participate in London-wide action, or questioning the four central candidates for the Mayor of London at London Citizens’ Mayoral Accountability Assembly in 2008.

What do other people say about your work with Schools?

Sir Keith Ajegbo, former head teacher at Deptford Green School, and author of the 2007 Ajegbo review into Citizenship education, says: "I wholeheartedly support the Citizen Schools programme - a great way for schools to connect to their communities and bring learning alive through Citizenship education. It's a targeted, strategic approach to build leadership, focus and momentum around educating active, responsible citizens, community cohesion, student voice, community engagement and inclusion." "The programme brings together schools across London to enliven teaching and learning in citizenship and across the whole school by engaging their communities. It's innovative - students, parents and governors are trained alongside senior leaders and teaching staff - and it provides a clear pathway towards becoming an inclusive, citizenship-rich school where participation, responsibility and governance are shared across the whole community."

St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s Sixth Form Centre has been an active member of The East London Community Organisation (TELCO) since the 1990’s which is part of the broad based alliance ‘London Citizens’. We are very proud to have been founders and part of the launch of the now London wide ‘City Safe’ campaign. Over the years we have participated in many campaigns including Affordable Housing Action, Fair Wage campaign in Canary Wharf and participation in the call for ‘Strangers into Citizens’ rally. Active citizenship on the part of our sixth form (and now increasingly Years 10 and 11) simply grows leaders, helps them develop a huge range of skills and involves them in the politics of issues they are deeply concerned about. We are now developing a curriculum model for all our sixth form (800 students) with ‘Citizens’ which has allowed all parties to come together to create a quality programme relevant to all our students. We will now with this launch, have a further opportunity to network with different schools, develop our links with our wider community and really embed the skills of active citizenship within our students.

Is Citizen Schools a service or a project?

No. We build relationships with schools, universities, faith groups and community organisations (which we collectively describe as ‘institutions’), and our community organisers work within these institutions to build their capacity to both improve what they do and improve the lives of their students, parents, congregations and staff by working with other like-minded organisations. Through our work countless opportunities arise over and above local community organising, for staff, parents and students in member schools, who are welcome to take advantage of these – for example our 2-day and 5-day leadership training courses, our Migration Conundrum learning resource, our ‘Money Mentors’ financial literacy programme for year 10 and 12 students, to name just a few.

Who’s behind Citizen Schools?

Citizen Schools is an initiative of Citizens UK, a registered charity and training institute who train professional community organisers in the UK to develop broad-based community alliances, such as London Citizens.

Our Citizen Schools team is co-ordinated by Ben Hammond, and is supported by Jamie Audsley, our Citizen Schools Organiser.

Ben is also one of three London Citizenship Advisors on the new secondary curriculum for the Association for Citizenship Teaching, and prior to this worked as Citizenship Co-ordinator at Deptford Green School in south-east London. Deptford Green has been described as a ‘pioneering’ citizenship school, and was the first specialist Citizenship school in the UK. As citizenship co-ordinator, one third of Ben’s work was dedicated to outreach work, teaching educationalists across the UK in best practice citizenship education. Ben has also spent a year working in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border as a teacher trainer and language teacher with Burmese refugees, and through outreach in the UK has worked with schools and young people to develop global citizenship education for the last eight years.

Jamie joined London Citizens with a background in teaching, youth work and democracy projects. For the last few years Jamie has taught Geography and Science at Addington High School in Croydon and previously worked for London Youth. Jamie supports schools across London with a particular focus on South London where he is also a London Citizens borough organiser in Lambeth, helping schools, faith groups and communities effect change within the borough.

We want to improve Citizenship in our school. Should we join London Citizens?

Schools wanting general advice on how to improve their Citizenship education provision should contact the Association for Citizenship Teaching, the professional subject association for teachers of Citizenship . Schools who specifically want to create more opportunities for students, parents and staff to engage actively in improving the school and its local and London-wide community – be that through citizenship education, parents’ forums, school councils, or building strategic leadership teams to address community cohesion – should talk to us.

What is the Citizen Schools Pathway?

An induction and development Pathway for primary or secondary schools new to community organising and membership of London Citizens who want to build their capacity to effect community change, build local alliances, facilitate community cohesion and make learning more relevant and compelling. Schools who are existing members and who want to build their leaders (students, parents and staff) can also opt to join. Teams of leaders (including a senior leader, governor, teacher, parent/carer and some students) are taken through a year-long training programme and work to plan and implement school-based or local community change, and in so doing build the skills and experience of organising and leading change. Schools that pass through the Pathway have, at the end of year one, a diverse and skilled team able to, on the basis of experience, lead stakeholder-led change within the school or local community, able to deliver on fundamentals such as student voice, active citizenship, extended services, and community cohesion.

Who can join the Citizen Schools Pathway?

Currently primary or secondary schools in specific London boroughs (Brent, Croydon, Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Shoreditch, Southwark, Wandsworth, Westminster), plus 3 schools from Milton Keynes. Schools have to contribute London Citizens membership dues, create a team of leaders to participate in trainings, events and to lead the team-building in the school, and pay an additional (one-year) programme fee of £200 per leader taking part.

London Citizens runs some campaigns, like the Living Wage, City Safe and Citizens for Sanctuary. How do these play out in schools?

London Citizens Campaigns are decided by its members and come out of listening campaigns finding out key community issues across London, and are ratified at the regional and London-wide assemblies. A member school can get involved in a campaign as much or as little as it wishes – from offering campaign actions as choices for interested staff, parents and students to attend through enrichment, to using Citizen Schools resources (or writing their own) to unpick and explore the issues underlying the campaigns in curriculum time, to allow students’ to make their own choices about them and decisions about what should be done.

Do we have to support all of London Citizens’ campaigns if we join as a member?

Every member – be it a school, faith group or community organisation – has campaigns that it wants to focus on and get involved with, and others that it takes less of an active role in. All campaigns are agreed through the democracy of London Citizens, and as such all members need to be willing to have their institution’s name next to any London Citizens’ campaign. When a new member joins London Citizens, it gets a say in determining these campaigns at our annual assemblies, and through our regional decision-making structures.

What can we expect from London Citizens when we become a member?

A professional community organiser, responsible for London Citizens members in your borough, who will work with your school and its leaders (staff, students and parents) to further your internal and community interests. Numerous opportunities to engage students in active citizenship – through curriculum resources, action and campaigning opportunities.The entitlement to participate in the wider decision-making of London Citizens through borough, regional and London-wide caucuses – to help determine priorities, strategies and collective campaigns.

If we become a member of London Citizens, what will be expected of us?

A commitment to work with other members of London Citizens to effect change in our communities.Participation, by a combination of staff, students and parents, in the decision-making of London Citizens, and in events and actions with which the school is involved.A sustained contribution to the leadership and health of London Citizens – by evaluating our work, actions and outcomes, and by helping to guide London Citizens as it evolves.

Which schools can join London Citizens and the Citizen Schools Alliance?

Currently, the Citizen Schools Alliance is London-based, so membership is limited to schools, youth groups and other young-people focused educational institutions in London. This year as our 'Citizens' networks expand, we are offering schools from Milton Keynes to join, through our broad-based alliance 'Citizens:MK'.

How much does it cost to join London Citizens?

Membership dues are paid by every organisation who becomes a member of London Citizens. They are there so the members of London Citizens hold its organisers’ to account and have ownership over its direction. For secondary schools, dues are equivalent to £1 per pupil in the school per year. If your school has 900 students, the cost is £900 per year. For primary schools, we currently have a flat fee of £600 per year.

Why do members of London Citizens pay ‘dues’?

As with all broad-based community alliances, fees are there so the members of London Citizens hold its organisers’ to account and have ownership over its direction. More practically, they pay for professional community organisers to support the organisations in membership.

How have schools raised the funds to be part of London Citizens and the Schools Alliance?

Different schools have different funding strategies. Most allocate the money centrally, from community cohesion, community engagement, extended schools or student voice budgets. As our work is whole-school (bridging the curriculum, community and culture of schools), we do not recommend paying exclusively through departmental budgets.

There are many ways to raise the dues – ways that raise exciting opportunities for raising the profile of London Citizens and Citizen Schools within a school from the beginning. From non-school uniform days to sponsored events, the wider school body can take ownership over raising the money. Over 50 schools and educational organisations have raised the funds and continue to raise the funds year on year.

We want to join London Citizens. How do we do it?

There are no application forms. Joining London Citizens is different – before you decide to join you need to check London Citizens is for you and will support your aims, vision and beliefs. But the same is true the other way – London Citizens isn’t looking for every school to become members – we want schools who share our belief in the power of communities and groups – teachers, parents and students included - acting together to improve education and life in London. So we believe in meeting face to face with head teachers in the first instance, and if deemed appropriate we can then take the opportunity to senior leaders, governors, staff and students to make sure the whole school owns the decision on whether to join.