Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mrs. Kennedy.

Thanks for joining me for today's lesson.

We've got lots of content to get through today, and I'll be here throughout the lesson guiding you through it.

So let's get started.

Our lesson today comes from the unit, "How can we make a difference in our communities?" And our lesson is called, "How can communities work together to create change?" By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain what community cohesion is and why it's necessary for change.

Let's take a look at our key words for today's lesson.

We've got three keywords for today's lesson.

Our first one is community, which is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

Next, we have cohesion, when parts stick together.

And finally we'll combine those two words for our last keyword, which is community cohesion, working together to achieve shared goals or values.

They're our three key words for today.

Let's see how many times we can spot them throughout the lesson.

Today's lesson has three parts, and the first part looks at what does community cohesion look like? So Laura's gonna start us off with a question and she says, "What is community cohesion, Jun?" Have a chat with the person next to you.

We've just looked at that in our key words.

Maybe you can try and come up with an answer before we hear what Jun has to say.

So Jun tells us, "If we join the definitions of the word community and cohesion together, we can work out what community cohesion means." So we've already found out that a community is a group of people either living in the same place or perhaps sharing a particular characteristic in common.

So you can be part of lots of different communities.

You've got your school community, and within that you might have your class community.

Or you might have an art club that's a community, a drama club that's a community, a music group that's a community.

And outside of school, you all belong to lots of different communities as well.

And a community is just a place where people have a particular characteristic in common or they're living in the same place.

And then we know that cohesion means sticking together.

So if you pop those two words together, you get the definition for community cohesion.

But Jun tells us that community cohesion means much more than just that.

So let's find out a bit more about community cohesion.

So Laura again asks, "Well, can you give me some examples, Jun?" So I wonder if you can think of any examples before Jun gives us some, now we know what community cohesion means.

What might show some examples of community cohesion in action? Jun says, "Imagine a happy and successful community where people from all different backgrounds have equal opportunities in life.

In that community, people respect each other, everyone matters and knows their rights, but also their responsibilities towards each other.

The residents, or the citizens, of that community recognise that there will be differences, but those differences do not need to divide people." So Jun's given lots of examples of that, of what helps this community that we're imagining to be cohesive.

He talks about respect and knowing our rights and the responsibilities that we have as citizens as well.

Recognising difference, but knowing that that doesn't have to divide us.

What else does community cohesion look like? So again, Jun's asked us to imagine a community.

And in this community, people trust the local council.

You've probably all heard of the local council before.

They are the people that citizens in a local area elect to run that area for them.

People also trust the police, the court system, the media, the schools and all the employers and everyone acts fairly towards everyone else.

In this community, people get on well together at both work, at school, in education, and in public places.

So maybe in libraries or youth clubs.

When disagreements arise, they are managed without argument and people live without fear of each other in a safe environment.

Laura says, "Well, that sounds like my ideal community." And Jun says, "Yeah, that's exactly it, Laura.

It's what most people would like their community to be.

Cohesive, understanding, equal and accepting of everybody." How do you think that sounds as a community? So we've had lots of information there.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

So true or false? Cohesion means united.

Do you think that statement is true or false? So you should have said that that statement is true.

Let's take a look at why.

So cohesion, we've already heard, is when people are in agreement with one another and they work together successfully and become united, they stick together.

Community cohesion means that there is a common vision and a sense of belonging for everyone who lives or operates within that community.

The diversity of people's different backgrounds and circumstances are appreciated and positively valued.

So we've got the word diversity there.

That's probably a word that you've heard before.

The word diversity just means a community that's made up of people from lots of different backgrounds.

So that might be lots of different types of people.

That might be different because of their race, because of their gender, because of their religion, because of their interests and hobbies or because of their beliefs.

So diversity just means made up of lots of different types of people.

Those from different backgrounds in a cohesive community will have similar life opportunities.

Strong and positive relationships are developed between people from different backgrounds.

So the diverse people that are within that community have strong and positive relationships, whether that's in the workplace, in school or within their local neighbourhood community.

So we've said, community cohesion is when a community is inclusive of everybody.

And so we've already talked a little bit about what the word diverse means.

And the word inclusive simply means being wholly part of a group or an activity.

So in an inclusive community, you would expect to see everyone within that community, no matter how diverse that community is, being given equal access and equal opportunities to take part in things.

Have a read of this sentence for me, and I want you to fill in the missing word.

So it said, "Community cohesion means there is a strong sense of- in the community." Do you think our missing word there is entitlement, is it belonging or is it inequality? So I asked you to fill in the blank.

So let's see if you got it right.

So we had, "Community cohesion means there is a strong sense of-" and the correct answer is belonging.

Community cohesion means there is a strong sense of belonging in the community.

Well done if you got that one right.

So now that we know what community cohesion is, let's have a think about how we can see it in action.

And there are lots of different ways that you can see community cohesion.

Let's have a look at some examples together.

So one example you might see of community cohesion is when neighbours help each other out in times of need.

So the example there on the slide is someone, your neighbour, bringing you shopping when you're ill, but there's lots of other ways that neighbours can help each other out.

It might be as simple as being able to knock on your neighbor's door and ask for a teabag when you've run out.

To doing things like helping them when they need shopping or helping them with their garden or with problems they might have in their house.

It's just neighbours being there to help each other out when they need to.

Another example of community cohesion could be when people in communities come together to celebrate events.

And so we've mentioned a few there like Diwali, Bonfire Night or Christmas, but there's lots of other ways that communities might come together to share an event, and this will give them a sense of belonging and celebrates diversity in the community.

So even though you might belong to a different religious group for example, you could still go and celebrate alongside those people with those beliefs in events that they're taking part in.

And it brings the whole community together.

And another good example of community cohesion in action is when a community has things like clubs or sports teams or groups that bring people together really regularly.

And the reason that this is a good way to create community cohesion or to see community cohesion in action is that it helps to build connections among the people or the citizens that live within that community.

And it helps 'em to show what shared interests they have and connects them together.

I wonder if you can think of any other examples from communities that you are a part of that show community cohesion? So Lucas asks us, "Is every community cohesive, Izzy?" Why don't you have a little think about that question before we see what Izzy has to say.

Do you think that every community is a cohesive one? Izzy says, "Unfortunately not Lucas.

Sometimes people in communities make assumptions about others based on their characteristics.

So that characteristic might be their age, might be their ethnicity, their religion, how wealthy they are.

And this can be a really negative aspect of community life because it doesn't promote cohesion." "However," Izzy says, "as young people, we can really help to work to towards change for this in the future and help our communities to become more cohesive." Have a look at these statements, these four statements.

"Community cohesion is not always possible because-" Is it not possible because A, some people make negative assumptions about each other.

B, some people believe in equality for all citizens.

C, some people don't trust each other in the community.

Or D, some people do not want to help others at all.

So which one of those options do you think is not always possible? So you should have selected option A.

community cohesion is not always possible because some people make negative assumptions about each other and that might be negative assumptions based on all sorts of different characteristics.

You might also have picked option C.

Community cohesion is not always possible because some people don't trust each other in the community.

Let's have a think about what we've learned so far and have a task.

So the first thing I would like you to do is imagine you have met someone who has never heard of the words community cohesion before.

So thinking about all that we have discussed so far, write me four bullet points explaining to this person what community cohesion looks like.

And Aisha's going to give us a little hint to get us started.

So Aisha says, "Think about ways a community can give you a sense of belonging." So pause the video now to go away and write your four bullet points explaining what community cohesion is.

How did you get on? So I asked you to have a go at explaining community cohesion to someone who's never heard of it before.

And I asked you to write me four bullet points to explain what community cohesion means.

Your answers might have looked something like this.

So my first bullet point says, "When a community is united as one and works together to make it a safe and a happy place to live," is a really good description of what community cohesion is.

Another way you could describe community cohesion is, "A place where all people are respected and treated equally in every part of the community." Or you could have said, "People of different backgrounds have similar life opportunities and diversity is celebrated through attendance at events in the community." "Neighbours help you in times of need and offer support." And for my last option, "I said there are clubs to join to give you a sense of belonging and build connection with others." I wonder if any of your bullet points looked like mine? For the second part of this task, I would like you to think about how it feels to live in a cohesive community.

So you might wanna start by thinking about some of the communities you're a part of and think about the ones that you think are really cohesive and how it makes you feel.

Write me one short paragraph to explain your answer.

And Sam's here to give us a hint this time.

Sam says, "Think about what a cohesive community offers you and how it would benefit your daily life." Pause the video now to have a go at writing your paragraphs.

How did you get on with your paragraphs? So I'd asked you to write me one short paragraph explaining how it would feel to live in a cohesive community.

Don't worry if your answer's a bit different to this.

We all might have had slightly different answers, but one example of an answer might have been, "Living in a cohesive community would feel safe and friendly.

You'd know your neighbours are there to support you, especially when times are tough.

It'd be exciting to see people come together for events like Divali or Christmas, celebrating the diversity with others.

You'd feel a strong sense of belonging and be pleased you had a strong relationships around you.

I'd feel happy because everyone was treated equally and everyone in the community was given the same life opportunities, regardless of background." So we've got lots of feelings into that paragraph.

Safe and friendly, excited, happy, belonging, treated equally.

I wonder if you got any of those ideas in your answers? For the next part of our lesson, we're going to be thinking about what qualities does a neighbour need? So we talked a bit about neighbours in our first part of the lesson when we were looking at community cohesion.

And we talked about neighbours being a good way of showing community cohesion in action.

But in this part of the lesson, we're gonna explore what the qualities of a good neighbour is.

So the way we interact and behave in our communities has an impact on everybody within that community.

And there are lots of different ways that we can achieve community cohesion.

So one example is we can show respect for one another and act in a way that avoids causing any harm, offence or inconvenience to others in our communities.

So in the way we act, we're thoughtful of everybody that lives within the community, not just ourselves.

True or false? The way we behave in our community only affects certain people.

Do you think that statement is true or false? So hopefully you said that that one was false.

Let's have a look at why.

So we've just heard, the way we behave and interact in our communities affects everybody within that community.

And that's why it's so important to be considerate and realise that your behaviour affects everyone else in the community in some way.

When we show kindness and respect to our neighbours, it is likely that community cohesion will strengthen.

So Jacob's giving us an example here.

He says, "I'm kind to my neighbours.

In the summer, I watered their flowers whilst they were away." And Sophia said, "I wish I had kind neighbours.

Mine play music loudly all night.

It makes it hard to sleep." So Jacob and Sophia are experiencing quite different neighbours from each other and I wonder what impact that has on them and maybe other people within their community? So another example of showing community cohesion is welcoming newcomers to a community.

And the more welcome newcomers feel often reflects how cohesive that community is.

And some of the ways that we can make new people feel more welcome is making sure they're invited to events, clubs and given opportunities to connect and make friends.

So again, we're hearing from Sophia who's not living in a very cohesive community.

She says, "I don't live in a cohesive community and no one spoke to my family when we moved in.

Fortunately I made some friends at school that lived in the same place, so I was able to talk to them.

I wish my community was more cohesive like Jacob's.

Community cohesion takes work and effort to maintain relationships and keep everyone working towards shared goals." So there are lots of different qualities that neighbours can demonstrate to support their community.

Why don't you have a quick think of what you think some of the qualities that a neighbour could have to demonstrate that they're supporting their community.

So some of the examples you might have thought of could be friendly neighbours.

So, we were just talking about that, neighbours who greet one another and make people feel welcome in the area.

Respectful neighbours, who understand and respect things like someone's want for privacy, space, but also respect diversity and the different types of lifestyles and interests that people across the community might have.

Neighbours might be considerate.

So we just heard about poor Sophia being interrupted by her loud neighbours.

So a considerate neighbour might keep the noise levels down and minimise their disruption to others.

Helpful neighbours, offering assistance with tasks, whether that's helping take the bins out, helping get some shopping for an elderly relative or an ill relative who can't do it.

And all of those things.

And there are many more that I'm sure you could come up with can support community cohesion.

So which of these qualities do you think a neighbour should have? Consideration, helpfulness, nosiness? So I think I can spot two there that I think are qualities that I would like my neighbours to have.

I would say I would like them to be considerate, to show consideration and also to be helpful.

And I'm not sure I'd like a nosy neighbour.

So Aisha asks, "Do you think you have the qualities of a neighbour that is encouraging community cohesion?" And Andeep says, "Oh yeah, I think I do Aisha, I'm respectful of others and make sure I don't play music too loud or make too much noise.

I walk my neighbor's dog with my parents because she's elderly and finds it hard to get out every day.

I also always make new people feel welcome in the community.

And my family usually takes food around to give them a sense of belonging." So Andeep's given lots of examples there of the qualities that we might like to see in a neighbour.

So he talked about being respectful, not disturbing neighbours, talks about being helpful.

He also talks about being welcoming.

All qualities that we've looked at as being important in a neighbour.

Lucas says, "What other qualities do you think a neighbour needs to encourage community cohesion?" And Sam, Izzy and Jun are gonna give us some examples.

So Sam says, "Patience.

You need to be understanding, not get easily annoyed by small inconveniences." That goes back to our point about communities, the way people act in communities impacting everyone.

And part of that is being patient.

Izzy says, "Positivity.

A friendly positive attitude goes a long way in creating a happy and supportive neighbourhood." And Jun says, "What about community spirit? Enjoying getting involved in events or activities and helping bring people together." And that's a really interesting point that Jun's made there.

A lot of what we've talked about so far are positive qualities that neighbours can have, but Jun's really talking about active qualities they can have as well.

So not just about being kind and respectful and helpful, but actually actively getting involved in the community to try and bring the community together.

What qualities does a neighbour need to encourage community cohesion? So is it A, patience and positivity, B, patience and popularity, C, positivity and popularity, or D, popularity and presence.

So the qualities that a neighbour needs to encourage community cohesion from this list would be patience and positivity.

Well done if you got that one right.

I would like you to have a go at drawing a mind map to explain at least four qualities a neighbour needs and include an action for each quality that can encourage community cohesion.

So, write me four qualities, but then describe an action that kind of shows that quality taking place.

And Alex says, "Try to remember the qualities we've already looked at." Pause the video now to have a go at that.

So I asked you to draw me a mind map to explain at least four qualities a neighbour needs, and then talk about some actions that show that quality happening.

Now your mind map might look quite different to mine, so don't worry if that's the case.

'cause there's all sorts of different qualities that you might might have explored that a neighbour could have.

And the four that I've picked here are consideration, respectful, friendliness, and helpfulness.

And then you can see there that I've given you an example action that shows that.

So for friendliness, it might simply be saying thank you to people.

Or for helpfulness it would be helping an elderly person cross the road safely in your local community.

I wonder what your mind maps looked like? For the final part of our lesson, we're going to look at how community cohesion can impact change within our communities.

So working together helps create positive change.

And if community cohesion exists, then change is more likely to take place.

Where there is cohesion in the community, people can work together towards a shared goal.

So one example of that might be a community that wants to build a new park.

Cohesive citizens, so a cohesive community, might come together and do things like organise a fundraiser or they might bring in volunteers to help put that plan into action.

So they might look at who they've got living in their community and be like, "Well, who actually has the skills and the time available to help build this park?" And they might bring those people in together.

And the more cohesive that community is, the more likely those citizens are to come together and actually get that park built.

Teamwork really makes that possible.

And effective teamwork is a really important part of community cohesion.

So Sophia tells us, "We have a shared vision for our community.

We're trying to raise money so the youth centre doesn't close down.

The youth centre provides a place to go for young people.

So it's really important that we save it." So as a community, they have identified that actually the youth center's a really important part of their community where young people can go and meet, but it's at risk of closing down.

So they're looking at what they can do, their shared vision for how they can keep that youth centre open.

And Alex says, "Well, my community shows cohesion by having a community garden, which people of all ages can enjoy and learn gardening skills from." Have a look at these options.

Which one do people in a cohesive community share? Is it beliefs, goals, visions or finances? What do people in a cohesive community share? Well the correct answer here is goals and visions.

They don't need to share finances and beliefs.

Cohesive communities create a strong support system for the citizens that live within them.

So one good example of this might be, imagine if someone wants to start a recycling programme.

In a cohesive community, there's a strong support system in place and others will back them up and support them to get that recycling programme started.

The community might help spread awareness and encourage citizens to participate, which can lead to lasting environmental change.

Aisha asks, "Have you got a strong support system in your community, Jacob?" And Jacob says, "Yes, I'm really lucky that my community demonstrates how cohesion could impact change.

My parents thought it was silly that we all travelled in different cars to school.

So my family set up a car share in the community.

So each of the parents only drive in once a week now.

This is easier for them and better for the environment." So as a community, they identified a problem, which was lots of parents driving their kids to school in different cars, and this was probably impacting the roads and it was impacting the environment.

And they came together to create a solution.

And when people communicate well, change can happen really quite fast.

So one example of that is imagine a community where there's a safety issue, like needing more street lights.

A cohesive community can work together to report it, to say, the local council, and push for a solution.

And when they do that, they create a safer environment for everyone and show how good relationships and communication can impact change and show community cohesion in action.

True or false? Communication is vital for change in cohesive communities.

Do you think that one's true or false? So that one is true.

Let's take a look at why.

So communication enables people and communities to work together towards shared goals and to tackle community issues as a united front.

So communication is therefore vital for community cohesion.

Well done if you've got that one right.

Community cohesion means people feel comfortable sharing different ideas.

So think back to the beginning of the lesson when we talked about diversity.

And part of our diverse community might be a community where people have lots of different ideas.

And when you've got a cohesive community, people should feel comfortable in sharing those different ideas.

Everyone is able to share their viewpoint.

And by doing that, if there is an issue or a problem in that community, if everyone is able to share their viewpoint, there's a much better chance of creative solutions being suggested.

Let's have a look at the example of that.

Some communities welcome everyone to join the community group.

For example, a computer club where people can ask questions, get advice about programmes, and get lessons in word processing.

With the range of skills on offer in any community, creative solutions and different ideas can be shared, which encourages cohesion.

So Izzy asks, "Andeep, do you have any ways to share ideas in your community?" And Andeep says, "Well sadly, we don't have much community cohesion.

I'm actually not too sure.

There isn't much communication in my community, so I really wouldn't know.

I do know my friend's community is really welcoming.

They got together to raise £50,000 for the new church roof.

They all shared their different ideas and put on a range of successful fundraising events.

So I think that's a great example of community cohesion.

What do you think? Do you think that's a good example of community cohesion? People from across the community coming together, sharing their skills to tackle an issue.

In this case, the money needed for a new church roof.

Have a look at this one.

How can communities share different ideas to impact change? So option A is fundraising activities.

Option B is join clubs that share ideas.

And option C is argue with one another.

So which of those is a way of communities sharing different ideas to impact change? So fundraising activities is certainly a way that communities can share different ideas to impact change.

And so is joining clubs that share ideas.

Arguing with one another isn't a great option though.

Community cohesion can be shown through the resilience shown in emergency situations as well.

So one good example of that is back in April, a community of Littlehampton was faced with flooding.

So Littlehampton is a village on the coast and they were faced with some flash flooding.

Firefighters had to evacuate 15 people after 42 caravans and properties flooded.

The community came together in this emergency.

They worked with the local council to create a refuge centre at the Littlehampton Wave Leisure Centre.

This changed things for people who had to leave their homes and gave them a comfortable place to stay.

So as a community, they recognised that these citizens who lived within their community were facing an emergency situation.

They had to be evacuated from their homes very quickly because of flooding.

And the community came together to create a solution and offer a comfortable place for these people to stay where they would be safe.

So this says, "During the flooding in April, 2024, the community of Littlehampton worked together with the local who- to create a refuge centre for those evacuated from their homes." And Jun says, "Think about who can give communities money and resources to help in times of emergency?" So what's our missing word there? Who did the residents of Littlehampton work with to create the refuge? So it was the local council that they worked with.

Well done if you got that one right.

So for our final task today, I would like you to imagine that the local council has asked you to write a blog post for their community website all about how community cohesion can impact change within that community.

And Laura has given you a few things to remember there.

Pause the video now to have a go at that.

How did you get on with writing your blog posts? So we'd ask you to write a blog post on behalf of the local council, all about community cohesion and how community cohesion can impact change.

I wonder if you've got any of the same ideas in your blog posts as I did in mine? I said, "When a community works together, amazing change can happen.

Community cohesion happens in ideal communities that we'd all like to live in.

Let's make our local community an example of a cohesive community.

We can do this by sharing goals so everyone knows what we're working towards.

And by being a strong support system so neighbours can rely on each other, especially when times get tough.

Similarly, if we communicate effectively, it can help us share ideas, come up with new solutions and make our community more creative.

If emergencies were to happen, our resilience would pull us through.

Together we can make change happen and build a safer, happier community." I wonder if you included any similar ideas in your blog posts? And that's almost the end of today's lesson.

Thanks so much for joining me.

Let's have a quick look at all the things we've talked about.

So we've discovered that community cohesion allows people from all different backgrounds to have equal opportunities and equal access to opportunities in life.

We learned that cohesive communities have a common vision and a sense of belonging, for all in the community.

We then explored some of the qualities that a neighbour in a community might have.

Kind and helpful neighbours, for example, help to build community cohesion by showing respect and consideration to everyone.

And they're all really important qualities of a neighbour.

But we then took that one step further and said, "Well, let's not just look at the qualities.

What does an active citizen and an active neighbour need to do to help their community create change? And we said that community cohesion can impact positive change by sharing goals, developing strong support systems, developing effective communication, sharing different ideas, and sharing resilience in times of emergency.

I've really enjoyed exploring the idea of community cohesion and how communities can create change.

I hope you've enjoyed the lesson too.

Thanks for joining me.