Members of the Wootton Basset School P&P group run a Faitrade coffee morning
Empowering students to take action as global citizens
“People & Planet is Britain’s leading youth organisation, helping students to see themselves as active global citizens and equipping them with the skills to create global change.”
Barbara Stocking, Director of Oxfam GB, 2003.
Since 2003 People & Planet has been providing students with the opportunity to learn more about global issues and empower them to take action as global citizens. In September 2006, we launched an exciting new package of workshops and support to enable your post-16 students to set up a People & Planet group in your school or college.
Our innovative approach means that your pupils will be engaged in a range of activities for Active Global Citizenship, with a minimal level of teacher input.
1. What is a People & Planet group?
Thomas Tallis P&P group get creative for their Fairtrade fundraiser
A People & Planet representative will visit your school to run an interactive workshop on Climate Change, Trade or AIDS. Those students who are inspired to take action will be helped by our support office in Oxford to set up a group. Booking a People & Planet representative to come back a week after the initial workshop to run a follow up workshops is a great way to keep keen students interested. Our follow up workshops are designed to give students more information about our Fairtrade or Go Green campaigns and help them plan how to make positive change happen.
To find out what our sixth form groups get up to, read news about their activities.
Group development
Each group is given a contact in the office who offers ongoing support and advice.
As the group develops the contact will revisit your school or college to deliver one or more of a range of capacity-building workshops which include lobbying skills, running effective meetings and campaign plannning and will equip the group with the skills needed to take effective action and engage the school and wider community in the issues.
Our campaigns
Groups campaign in their schools and communities to raise awareness of global issues, including Fairtrade, AIDS and Climate Change and influence decision makers, locally and globally. At the moment, most groups are running one or more of People & Planet’s three national campaigns: * Trade Justice campaign — including Fairtrade * Climate Change campaign — the Go Green campaign to reduce your school/college carbon emissions * Treat AIDS Now — Action for care and treatment
2. What is the benefit of having a People & Planet group in our school/college?
Nab Wood school People & Planet group run a workshop for lower years
Student-led Active Global Citizenship
The QCA framework for post-16 Citizenship learning states that students should be given the opportunity to identify, investigate and think critically about citizenship issues of concern to them, and decide on and take follow-up action. This is precisely what membership of a People & Planet group will allow your pupils to do.
- Pupils will become peer educators.
- They will develop their ability to work and communicate with others.
- They will learn how to engage with political processes.
- They will see how they are able to make a positive difference by taking action in their communities.
To see how a People & Planet group can fit into an overall strategy for citizenship in a school, see page 4 of the QCA case study of the Sir Bernard Lovell school citizenship programme.
3. How can I set up a People & Planet group in my school/college?
All you need to do is call the People & Planet office on 01865 245678 and ask for a member of our Outreach team to book an introductory workshop.
Before calling to book please ensure:
- That you have a range of possible dates when we can come to your school/college. We can’t guarantee we will be able to come on your preferred date, but you can increase the likelihood of this by booking early.
- That there will be a minimum of 1 hour quality contact time with the pupils for the visit.
- That you are interested in setting up a group in your school and booking follow-up capacity building workshops, and are not just looking for a speaker.
4. Where can I find other Development Education and Citizenship resources?
People & Planet can send you free resources on: * Fairtrade * Climate Change * AIDS
You may also like to browse these useful links: * Oxfam’s CoolPlanet for teachers * Oxfam’s Catalogue for Schools * learn zone — Christian Aid’s website for teachers, youth leaders and children * CAFOD: Schools/teachers resources * Banana Link resources * Development Education Association: schools * Fairtrade Foundation resources * Reading International Solidarity Centre
5. What about Child Protection?
We are in the process of obtaining enhanced CRB disclosures for all staff who work with sixth formers. Please feel free to download a copy of our Child Protection Policy. The Child Protection coordinator is [Crispin](mailto: crispin.chatterton@peopleandplanet.org). Please do get in touch if you have any questions regarding our policy, or any complaints.