ESOL Citizenship materials a Home Office requirement Monday, June 21, 2010 - 09:45

The new publication Citizenship Materials for ESOL Learners was launched in London on Monday 21 June 2010, at the first of a series of regional workshops - Active Citizenship: Active Communities - to be held throughout June and July 2010. The NIACE regional workshops are now over-subscribed, but further workshops are available at the NATECLA Conference 2010, taking place at the University of Surrey, on 9,10 and 11 July 2010.

The pack was originally developed by NIACE and LLU+ in 2006 - in consultation with learners and practitioners - and in 2009 the Home Office commissioned NIACE to update the pack.

Use of Citizenship Materials for ESOL Learners has been a requirement for some years now, if ESOL learners wish to apply for UK citizenship or settlement. In its Citizenship ESOL Materials - Remarks from the UK Border Agency, the Home Office has said:

"The UK Border Agency is extremely grateful to NIACE and its partners for this comprehensive refresh of its well-respected, and well-used, citizenship resource."

"Since they were introduced in 2006 the materials have proven to be an invaluable resource in supporting the integration of new migrants to the UK and the changes now being introduced will, we are sure, take them to an even higher level of effectiveness."

The pack's updated materials and new chapters include:

• updated sections on What is citizenship, Parliament and the UK as a Diverse Society; and
• new sections on Getting involved in your Community and Faiths and Beliefs.

Chris Taylor, Programme Director at NIACE, said:

"The updated pack of citizenship materials for ESOL learners provides practitioners with additional resources to stimulate and structure lively discussions in the classroom. The feedback from the piloting of these materials was extremely supportive and we know that the new packs will work for ESOL learners just as well as the originals did. We're very grateful to the learners and teachers who took part in the trial: without their help, we wouldn't be so confident that the revamped resources are of real value."