The fifth and final Citizenship morning of the academic year took place on Friday 14 June and, upon the request of the boys, the Fourth Formers were joined by girls from Bedford Girls’ School to work collaboratively in the sessions. Additionally, in the lead up to the day, boys and girls worked together to play a lead role in both writing and delivering the sessions.
Ms Alice Swallow, Citizenship Lead, explained, “It has been fantastic to see pupils from both schools working so hard in preparing for this. They have selected the topics, written the lessons and, under the supervision of teaching staff, delivered large chunks of the content – very impressive stuff in their first year in the Upper School.”
Citizenship mornings take boys off timetable to equip them with the knowledge, skills and understanding to play an effective role in public life. During these sessions, they learn about their rights and responsibilities, identity and diversity, and are encouraged to take topical, controversial issues and engage in discussion and debate. Today’s sessions were taught in House groups and covered a variety of topics with the aim of supporting pupils with their engagement with relationships and the wider world. 
Fourth Former Dylan Uppal, who was a session leader, explained, “Having the girls join in was a welcomed addition. The girls provided different perspectives which can widen people’s knowledge and understanding that just doing it with your ‘mates’. Mixing with the girls also allowed us to talk to people that we would not necessarily have talked to before and make new friends.”
The morning began with an introductory talk, before pupils split into groups made up of a mixture of pupils from both schools. They had two lessons in these groups, one on vaping and another on being an active bystander. The morning finished with a workshop delivered by Emily Hurst, a member of the Bedfordshire Police Education and Diversity team, who covered community awareness, personal responsibility and being a good citizen.
The Remove Form started the morning by spending some time focusing on the sensitive topic of bereavement. Using resources adapted from Winston’s Wish, boys considered what grief is and how they can support someone who is grieving. For the second part of the morning, we welcomed back Patrick Foster to deliver a highly powerful and thought-provoking talk sharing his experiences of gambling, addiction and mental health. A good summary of his talk can be read in this BBC article. They finished the morning building on their knowledge from their biology lessons earlier this year, with a lesson on sexual health and STIs – how and where you go to get checked for these and the best methods to prevent transmission.
Using resources put together by Empathy Week, the Lower Sixth worked at developing this skill. The lesson was based around the story of a young man called Pete, whose father died last year and how he used sport to deal with his grief. The topics of suicide, depression and grief were all raised within the lesson and as part of the material covered, boys were given the chance to consider how they might support someone who is grieving. They finished the morning with a session on the refugee crisis. Refugee Week 2024 takes place from 17 to 23 June, and this session offered an introduction to contemporary topics and issues connected to this, exploring the key themes of community, mutual care and the human ability to start again.
