Peace One Day citizenship initiative launched at Hackney school
This morning, students at the Petchey Academy in Dalston attended the launch of a new Citizenship initiative by Peace One Day, with the help of Jaime Winstone and a presentation by its founder, Jeremy Gilley.
The Citizenship Resource aims to advance active learning in the areas of conflict resolution, global citizenship, human rights and the link between sustainability and peace, using Peace Day on 21st September as a focus.
Asked by the Hackney Citizen why he chose Hackney in which to launch the Citizenship Resource, and why at the Petchey Academy, Jeremy said: ‘It seemed a great opportunity as I have a long history and connection with the local area – for example I attended Anna Scher’s Theatre school and know the area well.
‘We chose Petchey Academy as they have a such an entrepreneurial approach to education with a strong emphasis on citizenship which is very exciting and inspirational – this is an exact fit with the launch of the new digital citizenship resource.’
Ms Charlotte Carson, who teaches Citizenship at the Petchey Academy, said, ‘The Peace One Day Citizenship Resource has benefits for both the school and the wider community. Its lesson plans communicate messages that are relevant in the classroom, in the home, and in the world. I’m looking forward to Peace One Day on 21 September.’
Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley said today: ‘The goal of Peace One Day Education is to provide resource materials to every school on earth, inspiring a generation to become the driving force behind the vision of a united and sustainable world.’
The resource includes 19 student-centred lesson plans as well as Peace Day projects, cross-curricular links and video footage from ‘The Day After Peace’.
The new Peace One Day Citizenship Resource, recommended for teachers in secondary schools (Key Stages 3 & 4), accompanies Gilley’s documentary, produced in association with the BBC and Passion Pictures, The Day After Peace.
Over six thousand School Edition DVDs of the film were today delivered free to every secondary school in the UK.
For the first time teachers are able to access the free Citizenship Resource online in an easy to use, interactive format. The resource is available now at www.peaceoneday.org.
About Peace One Day:
In 1999, film maker Jeremy Gilley embarked upon a mission that, 10 years later, would involve over 100 million people worldwide: PEACE DAY.
Gilley’s initial mission to try and establish the first ever Day of Peace with a fixed calendar date was achieved in 2001 when member states of the UN unanimously adopted Peace Day as 21 September annually.
Since then, Peace One Day has continued to work with global organisations, including UNICEF & the World Health Organisation, to help secure the conditions in which life saving initiatives can take place on Peace Day.