Year 7 Building A Better World

Overview of programme;

This programme aims to take the pupils through a journey to identify a better world and to discuss how through personal action, they can create this better world. The core element of programme is to understand on how personal attitudes and behavior towards the social diversity of communities can lead to either cohesive communities or communities which are divided across race and faith boundaries.

Session one is an introductory session where the keywords of the programme are discussed through an interactive task and are understood within the context of community cohesion. In session two there is an investigation into the breakdown of diversity within our local area. A historical and a statistical perspective are presented, on the basis of this information there is a discussion and a task sheet on migration into our region. In session three, we focus specifically on the causes of social division, homing in on discrimination, racism, prejudice, bullying, verbal abuse and Stereotyping. Although these topics may be viewed as inflammatory, they are treated with the sensitivity that they deserve, and care is taken to ensure that each individual is treated with respect. Session three also looks deeply into the effects and consequences of social division.
Session four provides an opportunity for pupils to propose ideas as to how the cycle of social division can be broken and community integration and cohesion can be developed. Pupils are tasked to model their view of what sort of world they would like to live in, focusing on vital factors which must be present in this vision. Peace, respect, acceptance, understanding of various cultures etc. Session five looks at peer pressure and how best to challenge this assertively, games and task sheets are used to develop the ideas in this session. Session six presents an opportunity to review discussions and points of views expressed from previous sessions. The programme is concluded by tasking each pupil to make a personal commitment as to what new action they are going to take to make their school, neighbourhood and community a better place to live in.

The new key words to be developed in this programme are: -
Social diversity
Social cohesion
Social division
Social harmony
Ethnic
Personal choice
Verbal abuse
Respect
Stereotyping
Bullying
Hatred
Emotional distress
Violence
Challenging assertively
Peer pressure

There are additional flexible options with this programme in that certain modules can be delivered to pupils rather than the entire programme. In the first option, sessions one, three and four would be delivered as an education programme. In the second option, a bespoke one-session version can be delivered.