Today the class stops only talking about rights and starts planning something it will actually do.

You already have Our class charter: the rights and responsibilities you agreed to hold yourselves to. An action is the next step: real work in the school or local area that leaves something different afterwards, and that somebody outside this room notices.

A real citizenship action has three tests. Your teacher will put them on the board as they are named, and they will stay there for the rest of the lesson.

First, something is different afterwards. A poster that goes up and is forgotten is not enough on its own. A survey whose findings are handed to the student council with one clear ask is different, because somebody who can decide has new information.

Second, somebody outside this class notices. If only the people in this room know it happened, it stayed a class exercise.

Third, the class can actually finish it with the time it has. A plan that needs six months and a budget the school does not have is a wish, not an action.

Work in groups of three or four. Your teacher will reveal one panel at a time: Generate, then Test, then Commit.

Generate (about 5 minutes)

Each group writes two candidate actions rooted in the school or the local area, each linked to a right or responsibility from Our class charter. Keep each idea to one sentence. If you are stuck, start from one of these ideas and change it until it fits your school:

1. Survey first years on whether they know who to go to if they feel treated unfairly, then present the findings and one clear ask to the student council.
2. Write a formal class letter to the principal proposing one change that would make a charter right easier to live by at school, with short evidence from classmates.
3. In pairs at lunch, with staff permission, walk one ordinary school route noting access barriers a person using a wheelchair or crutches would meet, then share the map with the student council or board of management.
4. Run a two-week lunchtime session where older students explain the charter and the school's complaint routes to younger students, then record how many came and what they asked.
5. Write to a local representative about one rights issue that affects young people near the school, using evidence the class has gathered (letter co-signed by the teacher before it is sent).

Test (about 6 minutes)

Here is the first idea tested: What is different afterwards? First years know who to go to, and the student council hears one clear ask. Who outside this class would notice? The first years and the student council. Can we finish it in time? Yes: a short survey this week, then the findings and the ask next lesson. Cross out any idea that fails two or more of the three tests. Put a star beside your strongest idea. Then, in your group, say out loud which right or responsibility in Our class charter it connects to, and whether it is somewhere in the school or local area you can actually reach.

Commit (about 11 minutes)

Three groups will read out their starred idea and their answers to the three tests, taking about thirty seconds each. Your teacher will choose the groups. The class chooses one shared action by a quick show of hands. Your teacher will write the chosen action on the board straight away. Once it is chosen, the class sticks with it.

The plan on the board already has the roles written in, and a line starting "Done means" for the class to finish. Next, volunteer for the roles. Several names under each role are fine, especially for drafting and collecting evidence. Add one job for the whole class too, for example answering a survey, proofreading, or helping to count. Then fill in the plan with names and dates:

• Roles: who drafts, who collects evidence, who speaks to people outside the class, who keeps the date list (several names allowed under each)
• Whole-class job: one short line saying what everyone in the class will do
• Dates: when the main work happens, and when it must be finished
• Done means: finish the line that starts "Done means" (for example a letter sent, findings presented, a map shared, a lunchtime session completed and counted)

Look at the plan on the board.

Discuss, out loud only:

• Which of the three tests was hardest to meet for the action you chose, and how did you fix that in the plan?
• What would make this action fail, and how will you spot that early?

Your teacher will keep the plan where the class can see it next time. The next lessons are for running it and keeping honest evidence while you work.

You can now:

• Tell the difference between raising awareness and an action that leaves something different afterwards
• Test a candidate action against whether it changes something, reaches somebody outside the class, fits the time you have, and connects to Our class charter
• Commit to one shared action with roles, dates, and a clear line for what done means

Next time you run the action and keep evidence while it happens, including the parts that do not go to plan.