Five Nations Network Strategy Group
Membership
Membership of the group comprises two ‘country leads’ for each of the five jurisdictions. In addition, as the current funder of the Five Nations Programme, the Cook Foundation will nominate its Five Nations Lead Trustee to be a member of the Group. As the current manager of the Programme, the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) will nominate two members of its staff as members of the Group. It is the responsibility of each jurisdiction to identify appropriate ‘country leads’ who can contribute to the work of the Strategy Group and provide leadership to participants at the annual conference. |
Background
After several years of the Five Nations annual conference, the Gordon Cook Foundation who fund the Programme and IGE UK established a group to support the planning of the conference. The annual Five Nations Programme grant includes an allowance to enable the Strategy Group to meet regularly during the year. The group performs several extremely useful functions. In particular it:
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Meetings
The full Strategy Group meets twice a year. Additional meetings of the core Strategy Group involving one representative from each jurisdiction and the other members of the group are usually held on two further occasions each year to ensure the annual conference programme is well planned.
Terms of Reference
The Strategy Group focuses on the policy and practice of citizenship and values education within England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and promotes inter-country dialogue and partnership working.
The activities of the group are to:
Procedures and Protocols
Last reviewed March 2020
The full Strategy Group meets twice a year. Additional meetings of the core Strategy Group involving one representative from each jurisdiction and the other members of the group are usually held on two further occasions each year to ensure the annual conference programme is well planned.
Terms of Reference
The Strategy Group focuses on the policy and practice of citizenship and values education within England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and promotes inter-country dialogue and partnership working.
The activities of the group are to:
- Plan and organise the annual conference.
- Act as a professional sounding board and to provide expert advice.
- Ensure an appropriate measure of strategic accountability through self evaluation.
- Strengthen the Five Nations concept by providing a cohering influence.
- Oversee and promote the Five Nations small-scale research initiatives SSRIs) and to make recommendations to the Gordon Cook Foundation for the disbursement of each year’s SSRI grant.
- Advise and contribute to the current content and design of the website.
- Advocate for and enhance the status of education for citizenship and values education across the five jurisdictions.
- Identify opportunities for advocacy and lobbying on issues relevant to promoting effective citizenship and values education and to engage with those organisations having significant influence on these issues.
- Strengthen partnerships between the key stakeholders involved in citizenship and values education in UK, Ireland and European contexts.
- Raise issues of concern in relation to the quality of provision and to identify and help promote good practice.
- Contribute to the development of the area by responding to relevant consultations.
- Engage in strategic discussions about the Programme and its future direction, as well as about the development of citizenship and values education in each jurisdiction.
Procedures and Protocols
- The group operates within the context of the mission of the Gordon Cook Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to the advancement and promotion of those aspects of education and training which are likely to promote “character development” and “citizenship”. Within that context, the Strategy Group is fully empowered to make decisions about the annual conference, its own administration, and the content of the website, provided these decisions do not result in either a budget overspend or an unreasonable expectation being placed on the management of the Programme.
- Programme management including the administration and management of the Strategy Group, its work and meetings is the responsibility of ACT.
- Dates for meetings will be determined at the beginning of each academic year.
- Meetings will be chaired in turn by a country lead from each jurisdiction.
- Agenda items will be agreed by ACT and the chair after communication with all members.
- If, at a meeting of the group, there is to be discussed any matter in which a member of one of the member organisations has a direct interest or involvement, that member must declare his or her interest or involvement. The group must then determine whether or not that member may be present during any discussion or participate in any decision with respect to that matter.
Last reviewed March 2020