Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Wyer, and I'm so glad that you could join us here today for our lesson.

Welcome to today's lesson on what do we need to become active citizens in our community, from the unit, how can we make a difference in our communities? By the end of the lesson, you will be able to explain what financial skills we need to become active citizens in our community and how to report on an active citizenship campaign.

We'll be using the following keywords in our lesson today, and some of the learning may be new, but I am here to guide you through it.

The first key word is active citizenship, and the second key word is campaign.

So active citizenship means the process of learning how to take part in democracy and use citizenship knowledge, skills and understanding to work together and try to make a positive difference in the world.

A campaign is an action or an event organised by an individual or a group of people to achieve an aim.

Our lesson is broken into two parts today, and the first part, we will be looking at what financial skills do we need to campaign.

And in the second part of the lesson, we will look at how can we report on our citizenship campaign.

So when you are ready, let's begin by looking at what financial skills do we need to campaign.

An active citizen campaigns on issues that they care about in their local community.

Active citizenship involves the process of learning how to take part in democracy.

Active citizens use citizenship knowledge, skills, and understanding to work together to try to make a positive difference in the world.

Active citizenship campaigns can make a significant difference to local, national, and global communities.

After you have chosen your issue, research possible actions, decided on what to do and how to measure its success, it is time to plan and get ready for your active citizenship campaign.

So all of your planning has been done, so you've chosen an issue, you've researched possible actions, you've decided on your action, and you've decided how to measure success.

It's time to actually get ready and have a go at doing your active citizenship campaign, which is very exciting.

Jun, Izzy and Lucas have decided to run a campaign in their local community to advocate for more suitable playground equipment for children with disabilities.

So if you don't know, to advocate means to publicly support for a cause or policy.

In their community, there is one playground, and some children with physical disabilities cannot access the equipment.

They will need to look at how considering finances will help their campaign to be successful.

So Jun, Izzy, and Lucas's campaign sounds promising.

It sounds really beneficial and it sounds inclusive.

However, one of the key things to think about is the financial stability of their campaign.

So what they can afford and what they can't, and how it's going to cost, and what it's gonna cost.

So finance is a vital part of campaigning.

Jun, Izzy, and Lucas will need to make sure they are using money sensibly and wisely to make that action possible.

So let's have a go at filling in the missing words.

Blank is a vital part of campaigning, and blank must be used sensibly and wisely to make your action possible.

Can we remember what we said those two missing words were? Can we remember? Pause the video and have a good think to yourself.

Okay, so the answers are, finance is a vital part of campaigning, and money must be used sensibly and wisely to make your action possible.

Well done you if you remembered those words.

Lucas says, "Why are financial skills so important in our campaign, Izzy?" Izzy says, "If we cannot stick to our budget, Lucas, we will not be able to finish our campaign and will probably not become active citizens or make any lasting change.

We must be able to learn about setting budgets, managing risks, and accurate financial reporting to be successful campaigners.

The two main things that should be outlined in a budget are income and expenditure." So income means money received, and expenditure is the money spent.

So setting and sticking to a budget.

So what do you need to do? Create a budget that includes money that we receive from selling cakes at a fundraising coffee morning and asking local businesses to sponsor the playground equipment.

For example, if our campaign has 200 pounds, we might allocate 50 pounds for advertising, 20 pounds for social media, 100 pounds for fundraising events, and reserve 30 pounds for unexpected expenses.

So something that you might not have planned for, maybe something doesn't go to plan, and thankfully you will have that 30 pounds reserved over for those unexpected expenses.

Now, why is this important? So a well-planned budget prevents overspending, makes sure important activities are paid for, and keeps the campaign on track financially.

So you might make budgets in your own daily life.

Perhaps your parents or carers or guardians make a budget for you.

It's just to make sure that we are spending our money wisely and sensibly, and that we know what money's coming in and what money's going out.

In other words, the income and the expenditure.

So what two main things should a budget outline? Should it outline income and profit? Should it outline income and expenses? Should it outline expenses and profits? So pause the video, have a think about this question, and come to an answer.

Okay, so the answer is income and expenses.

A budget should outline income, so what is coming in within money, and the expenses, what you are paying for.

What are you having to pay for? Well done if you got that correct.

Jun says, "How much money do we have to spend and how should we use it, Lucas?" Lucas says, "We have 200 pounds for our small campaign, Jun.

I think we should divide it up sensibly, so we use some for advertising.

Printing out posters can be expensive, so we could allocate 50 pounds for that and then 100 pounds for fundraising, and we will need 20 pounds for an hour's rent of the building.

Perhaps we should keep the rest for a contingency fund for unforeseen circumstances." Jun says, "What's a contingency fund, Lucas?" Lucas says, "A contingency fund is a money pot for emergencies or just simple things you didn't think of.

If we run a coffee morning and we have planned on it being outside, we are dependent on the weather.

If it suddenly rains and we need to rent a tent, or the kettle breaks and we need to quickly go and buy one, we will need extra finances.

A contingency fund is the extra money you set aside for unexpected surprises like these." Lucas has said it very well there.

So to sum, a contingency fund is a sum of money set aside to cover unexpected emergencies or expenses, and it can be used to help maintain financial stability when unforeseen costs arrive.

Another thing we need to think about when it comes to campaigning is managing risks.

So what you need to do, we need to anticipate potential financial challenges such as unexpected expenses or fundraising problems. We need to develop contingency plans so we can fix these problems. For example, if we have a campaign event that is cancelled due to bad weather, having alternative fundraising strategies can help us not lose out on funding and important campaigning.

Why is this important? Risk management makes sure the campaign can adapt to challenges without compromising the overall aims of the project.

You need to anticipate these possible, potential financial challenges, and doing that risk management ensures that your campaign, your active citizenship campaign, can adapt to these challenges without thinking, "I'm gonna have to do something completely different now." So true or false, risk management make sure the campaign can adapt to challenges that might be faced.

Is that true or is it false? Hopefully we all said it is true.

It's true because if an active citizen has good risk management skills, the campaign is more likely to be successful, because they can adapt to challenges that might be faced without compromising the aims of the project.

So having this risk management in place before the actual project takes place and the campaign takes place is a really, really good thing.

Izzy says, "What risks might we need to think about, Jun?" Jun says, "Some people might not be able to get to the coffee morning we have arranged due to transport or mobility issues.

Perhaps we should allocate some money from the budget for transport so anyone who needs transport support, Izzy?" Accurate financial reporting is also a key thing to keep in mind when it comes to campaigning.

So we need to track all income and expenses of the coffee morning, and sponsorship, and have up-to-date records that everyone can see what we are spending and what income we are bringing in.

For example, we need to make sure someone takes responsibility for accurate financial reporting.

We can use a spreadsheet to map our spending and regularly review these records with everyone.

Having everyone together, ensuring that collaborative planning is happening still, makes communication so much better when it comes to reporting on your finances.

So it's important because it builds trust with people and follows legal requirements, avoiding fines or damage to our reputation.

It also makes the financial situation clear to everyone involved.

Lucas says, "How should we accurately report our finances, Izzy?" Izzy says, "I think we could complete a spreadsheet as we go along to keep track of our spending and money coming in, Lucas.

I think we should also present what we will be spending our money on to those that gave it to us so it is clear we are using it wisely and sensibly." So let's check our understanding here.

Accurate financial reporting is important because, is it A, it builds trust with people, B, it confuses the financial situation, C, it avoids getting fined, D, it can earn you money.

Which do you think are correct? If we said A, it builds trust with people, and C, it avoids getting fined, we would be correct.

Well done.

So our task is to write one paragraph to explain our answer to this question.

So what financial skills are important in campaigning, and why? Lucas says, "Remember there are three main financial skills and they are all important for different reasons." So we are gonna write one paragraph to explain what financial skills are important in campaigning and why.

When you are ready, pause the video and try and enjoy this task.

Okay, well done everyone.

Good efforts on our paragraphs.

So you might have included some of the following of our answer.

"Financial skills are really important in campaigning because they help you use your money wisely and sensibly.

First, setting and sticking to a budget helps you plan how to spend your money so you don't run out before covering important things like advertising and events.

Next, managing risks means being ready for surprises, like an event getting cancelled, by having a backup plan or extra money saved.

Finally, accurate financial reporting is about keeping track of all the money spent and received so people trust how you're using the money and you follow the rules.

These skills make sure your campaign runs smoothly, stay successful, and makes you successful at active citizenship." So great job if you managed to include any of the same things that we did.

Next task.

You are given 200 pounds to complete your campaign.

How would you divide it up and budget your money sensibly? Explain your decisions.

Andeep says, "Remember to include a contingency fund." If we remember what a contingency fund is, we will remember that it is a sum of money set aside to cover unexpected expenses or emergencies.

So you've been given 200 pounds to complete your campaign, how are you going to divide it up? Have a go at explaining your decisions.

Good luck.

Okay, well done everyone.

So your answer might have looked something like this.

"If I were given 200 pounds to run an active citizenship campaign to reduce litter in public spaces, I would divide the money like this.

Advertising, 70 pounds.

This would cover posters and flyers to raise awareness about littering.

For example, I could print colourful posters to put up in public areas with catchy slogans like, 'Keep our parts clean!' This is important because people need to see the message to understand the problem.

Community engagement, 60 pounds.

I would use this for organising activities like cleanup events or workshops.

For instance, I might buy gloves, bags, and refreshments for volunteers.

Engaging the community directly shows them how they can make a difference and motivates them to care more about keeping spaces clean.

Social media promotion, 50 pounds.

This would cover creating adverts or boosting posts to spread the word online.

For example, I could run a social media advert targeting people who live near local parks.

This is crucial because social media can reach a wide audience quickly and inspire more people to join the campaign.

And contingency fund, 20 pounds.

This is important to have in case I run into any problems or have any spending which I have not thought of yet.

In case of emergencies, I'll have some money available." So I wonder how much you've put towards your contingency fund and how much you've put towards your actual community engagement.

I'd be interested to know.

We have now discovered what financial skills we need to campaign.

The last part of the lesson, we're gonna look at how can we report on our citizenship campaign.

So when you're ready, let's go.

After planning your active citizenship campaign, you are now on step 6, which is put your plan into action.

The real, real exciting part.

Imagine you have now completed your campaign.

Do you think it would've been successful? Step 7 of the active citizenship process is, time to reflect, evaluate, and report your story.

So the citizenship skills we have used, the knowledge we have learned, and the process we have gone through can all be evaluated, even if we have not managed to put all of the plan into action yet.

So at step 7, it's time to think, "Right, it's done now, let's have a look at how it went." If we're evaluating it, what were the good things about it? What were the positive parts and what were the parts that we might choose to do a little bit differently next time? Let's track our understanding.

What is not included in the final step of the active citizenship process? Is it A, plan, B, reflect, C, report, D, evaluate? What is not included in the final step.

Plan.

Planning is done at the first stage of the active citizenship process, not the last.

Hopefully we got that correct.

To report on a citizenship campaign, active citizens need to consider various elements of their action.

So what did you do? What did you learn from it? Why did you do it? What impact do you think it had? What did you do well? And what could you have done better? So some of these questions we need to reflect on and think, "Hmm, would I have done anything differently? What did we do really well on? What impact has it had?" We have planned an active citizenship campaign.

So instead of reporting on its success, we need to spread awareness of the campaign, encourage others to act and become active citizens by being advocates for others and delivering a speech about our campaign.

When presenting our campaign, we need to consider a number of different things.

One thing to consider is, why is this community issue important? What actions do you want to take? How do you plan to do it? What skills do you need? What resources would be useful? How would you spend the budget of 200 pounds? How will you measure its success? And what do you think the impact of the campaign will be on the community? So lots different things we've got to consider.

Jun says, "I'm a good communicator so I can talk to different people, run meetings and present our ideas.

What skills can you bring to an active citizenship campaign, Izzy? Izzy says, "I can research really well, Jun.

I can use the internet effectively and I enjoy reading and learning new facts.

These are skills that are needed in campaigning because I can find the facts that people need to strengthen their policies and make actions more meaningful." So we all have our own different skills.

We also need to have good communication skills to present our campaign to others.

We need to be persuasive.

We want to encourage them to want to take action on your issue and join your campaign.

We want to be clear.

You will only have a limited amount of time to present your campaign.

And you need to be interesting.

Don't just read your answers to the questions, inspire others.

So now, let's check our understanding.

Can we fill in the missing words? So when we present our active citizenship campaign, we need to be, blank, to encourage others to take action.

We have to be, blank, because we only have limited time to present.

We also have to make it, blank, and not just read the answers to the questions.

So can you think what these missing words might be? Now, I want you to pause the video and have a good think about this and try and remember the missing words.

Okay, it is time for our answers.

So when we present our active citizenship campaign, we need to be persuasive to encourage others to take action.

We have to be clear because we only have limited time to present.

We also have to make it interesting and not just read the answers to the questions.

Well done if you remembered those words.

So what I would like us to do is create a two-minute speech to deliver to the class about your campaign.

Now, you must consider the following questions.

So why is this community issue important? What action do you want to take? How do you plan to do it? What skills will you use? What resources will you need? How would you spend the budget of 200 pounds? How will you measure its success? And what do you think the impact of the campaign will be on the community? So this is a big task that I would like us all to have a very good go at.

So two-minute speech, needs to be delivered about our campaign, but we need to make sure that we're including the following.

By doing this, it will help us create this speech a lot easier than just thinking, "I've gotta stand up and I've gotta deliver a speech." If we include the answers to these questions, your speech will come to you.

The following sentence starters might help you to write a successful speech.

So we've got, "Today I want to talk about a pressing issue that impacts our community deeply.

This is important because." Then, "Our campaign is focused on." Then, "Firstly, we plan to.

Secondly, we will.

Finally, we plan to." And then, "To make this campaign effective, we'll need several key skills, for example." It continues.

"We'll need resources to bring this vision to life, for instance." "Our budget of 200 pounds might seem small, but we've carefully planned how to make it go far.

We would spend." "To measure our success in the short-term, we will.

In the long-term, we will." And, "We believe this campaign will have a significant and positive impact by." So let's put our heads together.

Let's think.

We need to come up with a two-minute speech on our campaign.

We need to be able to present it clearly and we need to be able to use the sentence starters to produce our speech.

So you might want to come back to these slides on the sentence starters, or you might choose to come back to this slide.

However, we'll pause the video here on the final sentence starters.

When you're ready, have a go, and good luck.

So now our speeches are ready.

I would like to say well done.

This is a brilliant thing, and I wish I was there with you in your class to be able to hear these speeches.

Instead, we have written our speech, and I'm going to present it to you.

So, "Today I want to talk about a pressing issue that impacts our community deeply, the rising cost of bus fares.

This is important because, for many of us, public transport is a lifeline, whether it's used to get to work, school, or for accessing essential services.

But as fares increase, that lifeline becomes less affordable, forcing some to make tough choices or face isolation and loneliness.

This issue doesn't just affect individuals, it ripples across the entire community, limiting opportunities, increasing financial strain, and even contributing to environmental concerns as fewer people can afford sustainable transports.

Our campaign is focused on making bus fares more affordable for everyone.

But this isn't just about complaining, it's about taking action.

We want to raise awareness about how these fares are impacting our community and work towards solutions, whether that's advocating for discounts, promoting alternative funding options for bus services, or engaging local authorities to rethink their policies.

You might be asking, how on earth are we going to do this? Firstly, we plan to launch a community-wide awareness campaign.

We'll share stories from real people who are struggling to cope with higher costs and highlight the broader benefits of affordable transport, like reduced traffic congestion and a healthier environment.

Secondly, we will use the most important social media platforms to reach a wider audience and advertise our campaign.

Finally, we plan to organise a community event, such as 'Bus Fare Equality Day,' which will allow people to share their experiences, learn about the campaign, and show their support.

To make this campaign effective, we'll need several key skills.

For example, leadership will be essential to organise and coordinate our efforts.

We'll also use communication skills to engage with the community, spread our message, and approach local decision-makers with compelling arguments.

Furthermore, creativity will help us design eye-catching posters and social media content, while problem solving and collaborative working will guide us in overcoming challenges and working effectively as a team.

We'll need resources to bring this vision to life, for instance, posters, flyers, and banners will be vital for spreading the word.

A venue for our community event is also important, as it will serve as a focal point for discussion and action.

Our budget of 200 pounds might seem small, but we've carefully planned how to make it go far.

We will spend 50 pounds on printing materials, like posters and flyers to help raise awareness of the campaign.

Another 80 pounds will cover supplies and refreshments for the community event, creating an inviting space for engagement.

40 pounds will be allocated for tools, like sound systems, or props for demonstrations, and 15 will go towards boosting our social media posts to ensure our message reaches beyond our immediate circles.

We will then have a contingency fund of 15 pounds for unforeseen expenses.

To measure our success in the short-term, we will track how many people engage with our campaign, how many people attended events, signed our petition, or shared our posts.

In the long-term, we will monitor whether our advocacy leads to lasting changes, such as fare reductions or commitments from local transport authorities.

Feedback from the community will also be a key measure of our impact.

We believe this campaign will have a significant and positive impact by addressing the issue of increased bus fares, we'll make public transport more accessible, reduce the financial burden on families, and encourage a stronger sense of community.

More affordable bus fares will also encourage environmentally friendly travel, contributing to a healthier planet for future generations.

In conclusion, this campaign isn't just about reducing bus fares, it's about creating a fairer, more connected and more sustainable community.

Together, we have the power to drive this change, and I'm excited to encourage you to take action to stop the increase of bus fares in our community.

Thank you for listening.

So maybe you thought of some of the same ideas as I did in my speech, and if you did, well done you.

But you might have also thought of some other things that I have not included, and if you did, well done you.

We all are unique, and we can all have a go at being active citizens in different ways.

We have now come to the end of our lesson, so I would like to summarise it for us.

Effective campaigns rely on careful financial management, ensuring that money is used wisely to turn plans into action.

Three of the financial skills that are vital for campaigning are setting budgets, managing risks, and accurate financial reporting.

The final stage of the active citizenship process is reflecting, evaluating, and reporting on your campaign.

We can raise awareness of the campaign, encourage others to act and become active citizens by being advocates and delivering a speech about our campaign to others.

I've really enjoyed today's lesson on what do we need to become active citizens in our community.

It is such a powerful thing to be an active citizen, and we can all work together collaboratively to become that.

Well done on all of your efforts today, and hope to see you in the next one.