Hi, I'm Mrs. Allchin and I'm going to be taking you through this citizenship lesson today.

I'm going to give you all the information that you need to be successful, and I'm also going to pause and tell you when to complete a check for understanding or a task.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

This lesson is called How can I Evaluate My Action? And it comes from the sequence of lessons: How can I be a changemaker in my community? By the end of this lesson, you will understand what success can look like in your active citizenship project and how you can measure this.

The keywords for today's lesson are: evaluate, which is judging or determining the significance, worth or quality of someone or something; success which is achieving what you set out to do or reaching your goal; and measure, which is a way to check or track how much progress that you've made.

Our lesson outline for "How can I evaluate my action?" is first, we're going to look at What can success look like? And then we're going to consider How can I measure my success? So let's start by looking at What can success look like? So the final step of your active citizenship project involves reflecting on and evaluating what you have done.

Therefore, it is important to take time to consider what success can look like as this can vary from group to group and even person to person, depending on your issue and the goal that you hope to achieve when carrying out your active citizenship project.

So Sam is asking, "What might success look like within an active citizenship project?" What do you think? So success could be many things.

It could be raising awareness or changing opinions about an issue.

It could be raising money or resources for a charity related to your issue.

It could be communicating with decision makers about your issue, and it could also be those personal successes, such as developing those citizenship skills throughout your project.

So an issue that might be explored through active citizenship could be the gender pay gap.

So let's just say for example, that could be the issue that a group chose for their project.

Raising awareness about this issue would involve educating others so they are aware of the pay gap and how this does not align with the Equality Act 2010.

So people can't support an issue if they don't know it's an issue.

So by raising awareness, you are bringing the issue out into the open and this can encourage others to discuss the issue and bring it to the attention of decision makers.

It can also encourage people to be more observant of what is happening in society and push for change when change is needed.

So let's have a check for understanding on that.

So why is raising awareness going to be an important success criteria for Jun? So let's have a look at what he's saying.

So, "There is an amazing small charity based near my house that not many people know about.

It supports refugees with learning English and also provides them with a special space.

It is at risk of closing due to a lack funding." So consider why is raising awareness going to be an important success criteria in this case? So people can't support an issue they don't know about.

By raising awareness of the charity's potential closure, Jun is alerting others who might not have known it existed.

So in this case, you can see that an important success criteria is raising awareness.

Raising money or resources for an established charity is a way that can support charities to address the issue they are advocating for.

Charities often rely on funding to be able to carry out their work.

Many charity websites also contain information which outlines specifically how any money donated to them is used.

Providing practical resources, e.

g.

sleeping bags to a homeless charity means that much needed resources are going directly to those that need them.

So Sam is asking, "Is there anything we need to be aware of when identifying raising money as our success criteria? So pause and have a think.

Yes, there is.

Raising money or resources is a valuable and worthwhile action that can support charities and other organisations in addressing local, national and even international issues.

It's like we looked at before, if there was a homeless charity and you were collecting and donating practical resources, that is of course going to help them.

However, it's important this isn't just a token gesture.

People should be informed about the charity, understand where their support goes, and receive feedback on the impact they've made, which could encourage ongoing support.

So let's have a check for understanding.

Why is gathering resources a suitable success criteria for Laura? So Laura is saying, "My church runs a public food bank and I'm raising awareness by speaking to school forms and staff.

I also plan to set up a school donation point to support the food bank." So why is gathering resources a suitable success criteria in this case? The resources Laura gathers will provide practical support for those using the food bank.

She's also raising awareness while encouraging donations.

Communicating with decision makers lets them know what their community thinks and can encourage them to take action.

In our representative democracy, citizens elect decision makers to act on their behalf at both local and at national levels.

So communicating with decision makers is a democratic right and a key part of active citizenship, helping people make their collective voice heard.

So Sam is asking, "What if we made contact with a decision maker but we didn't hear back? Can this still be counted as a success?" So this is a tricky one, so have a pause and think, if you were to make contact with someone and you didn't hear back, would this still be counted as a success? Yes, you can't control if or when a decision maker responds, especially within your project's timeframe, but by sharing your views and those of others, you've exercised your democratic right and you've highlighted an issue.

Even without a response, you've taken an important step in active citizenship.

So let's have a check for understanding.

Why is Jacob wrong when considering if he has been successful? So Jacob's saying, "I spoke to pupils and staff about the lack of local youth services, raised awareness and gathered over 400 petition signatures.

I sent everything to my local councillors with a letter about my project, but haven't heard back yet.

It feels like a failure." So have a look at that again, pause and consider why is Jacob wrong when considering if he has been successful? Jacob's done a great job.

He's raised awareness and he's collected over 400 signatures.

Even without a response, he's shared the views of many locals with his councillors.

That is a success.

And of course it can be really disappointing and feel disappointing if you don't hear back, but it's really important to stay focused on what you have managed to achieve.

And in Jacob's case here, he's achieved a lot.

Active citizenship shouldn't be a one-off in class.

It builds lifelong skills to use your democratic rights now and in the future.

Active citizenship helps you develop key skills like critical thinking, teamwork, research, analysis, communication, advocacy and evaluation.

These skills are vital for your project, but also for being an active citizen in the future.

Success criteria often overlap, so it's helpful to consider the different ways success can appear in an active citizenship project.

Success isn't always big or bold.

Small actions like raising awareness or emailing an MP can build momentum and lead to lasting change.

So let's have a check for understanding.

Identify and correct the three mistakes.

So here it says: Success has to be big and bold, it can't be subtle.

Making just one person aware of an issue or sending your MP an email might seem like small successes, and that's because they never lead to any substantial change.

So have a think, identify and correct the three mistakes.

So did you spot them? Success has to be big and bold, it can't be subtle.

Making just one person aware of an issue or sending your MP an email might seem like small successes, and that's because they never lead to any substantial change.

So you can see there the errors in purple.

And let's have a look at what that should read.

Success doesn't always have to be big and bold, it can be subtle too.

Making just one person aware of an issue or sending your MP an email might seem like small successes, but often it is these subtle achievements that can add up, build momentum, and lead to lasting change.

For Task A, I'd like you to write an opposing argument to Sofia's statement.

So Sofia is saying, "The only way to be successful during your active citizenship project is to make a significant change to a rule, law or policy.

This shows you have been successful and if you can't evidence this, sadly it means your project has been unsuccessful." So you need to use what you've learned so far to write an opposing argument to this statement.

So pause while you have a go at Task A.

So your opposing statement might have included: Changing a rule, law or policy is one form of success in an active citizenship project, but it is not the only one.

Raising awareness of an issue is a significant achievement.

If people were unaware of the problem before your project and now understand it, you have made a real impact.

Similarly, raising money or resources for a cause can lead to meaningful change.

For example, if a project supported a homelessness charity and helped to provide meals or shelter, that is a clear and valuable success, even if no law was changed.

And you might have gone on to continue: Communicating with decision makers is another big win.

Even if they don't change anything immediately or even reply to your communication, getting your issue in front of people with power is a crucial step and is often how change actually starts.

Finally, personal growth and developing your personal skills matters too.

Projects like these help you build citizenship skills.

If someone becomes more engaged and passionate because of their project, that's a success story in itself as it will hopefully encourage them to utilise their democratic rights in the future.

Success can present itself in many different ways.

So we've had a look at What can success look like? Now let's think about How can you measure your success? So Sam is saying, "What are SMART targets and how can they support with reaching your goal? So pause and have a think.

So SMART is an acronym that provides important points to consider when setting goals for active citizenship and evaluating your success.

A Specific goal focuses on exactly what you want to achieve.

Measurable means you can track progress easily.

Achievable ensures a goal is possible with your time and resources.

Relevant means a target is related to citizenship and Time-bound means setting a deadline.

So consider whether your goal is measurable, as this will make evaluating your project easier at the end.

Measurable goals are motivating because they show clear progress towards targets and impact.

So it can be really, really positive things to look at as a group or individually.

You can make a goal measurable by setting specific numerical targets, making it easier to track progress.

So ultimately using numbers so things are more measurable.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How can Jun ensure his goal is measurable? So let's have a look.

Jun is saying, "There is an amazing small charity based near my house that not many people know about.

It supports refugees with learning English and also provides them with a social space is at risk of closing due to a lack of funding.

But for my active citizenship project, I'm going to make more people aware of this amazing charity and I'm also going to try and raise money too." So consider how can Jun ensure his goal is measurable? Remember, measurable is about adding numerical bits of information, there to help you measure.

So Jun could attach numbers to this goal, for example, by saying he wants to make 100 people aware of the issue and that he wants to raise 150 pounds to support the charity.

So Sam is asking, "What methods can we use to make these success criteria measurable? So raising awareness or changing opinions about an issue, raising money or resources for a charity related to your issue, communicating with decision makers about your issue, and personal success through developing citizenship skills.

Simple pre and post action questionnaires are a great way to measure whether you have educated others or raised awareness about an issue.

For example, if you are presenting to a group of people about your issue, you could firstly ask them to rate their understanding of the topic out of 10 and then ask them to repeat this following your presentation, hopefully leading to a number increase, which will allow you to evaluate your success.

To test understanding of a topic a similar method could be used, but this time asking a number of questions that require a knowledge-based answer, e.

g.

which country is the biggest producer of fast fashion? Then following your presentation or meeting, ask them to complete the same questionnaire.

This will allow you to compare answers and hopefully see an increase in knowledge gained as a direct result of your action.

So for example, that might be before our presentation, 40% got question A correct, whereas at the end of our presentation, 90% for example.

Helps you to be more measurable.

Raising money or resources is instantly measurable if you set a realistic number to the goal.

So for example, to raise 100 pounds or to receive 20 sleeping bags.

It is a good idea to set interim targets along the way.

This will help to keep the end goal in sight and will inform you if you are not on track to meet your goal, meaning you can put additional measures in place if needed.

For example, if your goal is to receive 800 signatures on a petition, you might break this down into weekly interim targets such as 100 signatures by the end of week one, 200 by the end of week two and so on.

It can be a good idea to share interim successes with your target audience too, informing them how much has been raised and what the impact will be.

So for example, "Thanks to you, we have raised 100 pounds for our chosen charity," and then telling them what that will help to pay for.

This sharing of good news can help to keep the action and issue in people's minds, encourage more donations, and it also motivates the group to keep going.

Communicating with decision makers can be a little trickier to measure, especially if you don't receive a response.

But there are still ways to approach this.

Firstly, you can still set targets regarding outward communication.

This can be the number of decision makers you wish to communicate with or the number of channels in which you wish to communicate via.

So for example, it could be, "By March the 10th our group will have written to four local councillors and our MP.

Or by March the 10th, our group will have communicated with our local MP via email, letter and social media with a trusted adult's permission." So that is still measurable, what you are doing, that outward communication.

This allows you to measure what is controllable, your outward communication to decision makers, which is an important part of active citizenship, regardless of whether or not you receive a response.

You could also aim to persuade others to lobby decision makers about your issue and add this to your overall goal, e.

g.

we aim to persuade five other people to write individual emails to our MP about our issue.

Adding a target is a way to measure success, e.

g.

we aim to receive replies from two or more decision makers.

But don't be solely focused on this target alone as communication can still be measured as successful, even without a response from the decision maker.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Communication with decision makers can only be viewed as successful if you receive a response.

Is that true? Is that false? And can you tell me why? And that's false.

And why? Communication with decision makers is still successful, even if you do not receive a response, as you have still utilised your democratic rights and communicated your thoughts on an issue.

Sam's asking, "How do I go about measuring how successful I have been in developing citizenship skills? Because remember, what you have learned yourself in those development of your own skills is still something to consider and evaluate.

So pause and have a think about this question.

Approach this in the same way as measuring other success criteria by completing a pre and post action reflection.

Consider each of the skills developed through active citizenship and score yourself out of five.

Then come back to this after the action has been completed and score yourself again.

Hopefully you will see an increase in some areas.

So for example, communication.

Initially you might score yourself a little bit lower.

After your action and speaking to lots of different people, you might have seen an improvement and you might score yourself a little bit higher.

So that reflection is really positive.

You could also measure skills within your group, and this works especially well if you've got a good relationship with your peers.

Each member of the group could pick a skill that they have seen their teammate develop throughout the project with a brief explanation.

Because sometimes actually, your friends and your peers might pick out your skills better than you can, so it's really nice to hear that.

So in this case, Andeep is saying, "Izzy got more and more confident as the action went on.

At first, I could tell she was quite shy when discussing our issue with others, but by the end she was speaking with more confidence than me." So this is an example of how, sometimes, actually your peers giving you some feedback can be really, really great for evaluating your personal skills.

You could also create a simple tracker and ask your teacher to complete it at the end of the project.

It could simply ask: What three skills did you witness me develop throughout this action? And what did this development look like? Measuring success is doable, but it does require consideration during the planning stage so it isn't just an afterthought.

Lots of the methods explored this lesson require a pre and post action activity of some sort.

So decide on the methods you will use to measure success and ensure that you factor this into your planning.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What are the missing words? Measuring success is doable, but it does require something during the something stage, so it isn't just an afterthought.

Lots of the methods explored this lesson require a pre and post action activity of some sort.

So decide on the methods you will use to measure something and ensure you factor this into your planning.

So pause and have a think what those missing words might be.

Let's see if you've got those correct.

So the first missing word was consideration, the second was planning, and the third was success.

For Task B, I'd like you to explain how Alex could measure his success considering the methods that we've explored this lesson.

So Alex is saying, "My goal is to lobby decision makers to consider raising the age of criminal responsibility.

I hope to raise awareness of this issue with people within my school community, gather signatures on a petition, and communicate my action with local MPS." So remember, for this task, I want you to explain how Alex could measure his success with this action.

Pause while you have a go at Task B.

When explaining how Alex could measure his success, you may have included: Alex can measure his success by setting clear targets for each part of his goal.

For raising awareness in his school, he could aim to speak to at least 100 students through assemblies, posters, or a lunchtime stall and maybe check understanding with a short survey.

For his petition, he could set a target of getting at least 200 signatures to show strong support.

When it comes to lobbying MPs, Alex could aim to write to at least three local decision makers and keep track of who replies and what they say.

By setting numbers and tracking results, Alex can clearly see how effective his actions have been.

So in summary of the lesson, How can I evaluate my action? There are many different ways that success can present itself during an active citizenship project.

Success could be managing to raise awareness or changing opinions about an issue, raising money or resources for a charity related to your issue, communicating with decision makers about your issue or even personal success through developing your citizenship skills.

Goals can be made easily measurable by adding a numerical target that is easily trackable.

For example, the amount of signatures on a petition, pre and post action questionnaires, surveys, and reflections can support in measuring these targets.

Well done for your hard work this lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll be back for some more citizenship lessons in the future.