The Schools Question Time Challenge 2010 is now under way.
It gives students aged 14 to 18 the opportunity to stage their own Question Time-style debates around the UK and a chance to work alongside David Dimbleby and the Question Time production team to make a special edition of the programme next summer.
Schools are invited to register for a free online education resource pack to support the teaching of citizenship and political literacy for secondary school pupils in the classroom.
The aim is to help schools nationwide by supporting the citizenship curriculum, helping improve students' public speaking and listening skills, and engaging young people in society and politics.
There will also be a chance to take part in the Schools Question Time programme, broadcast on BBC One in July 2010, is the final product of this far wider education initiative.
Staging school debates
The resource pack will include a new Politics and Parliament Toolkit that includes lesson plans on the different roles of Parliament and government and voting rights and the reasons why people do or do not vote.
Student producers celebrate their success in the 2009 competition
It will also provide guidance on how to take part in the second element of the challenge - trying to win the chance for students from schools all over the UK to help produce a special edition of Question Time.
Schools will be invited to send in applications describing how they would stage their own debates based on the popular Question Time format. From these applications, an initial shortlist will be drawn up in November of 45 schools from around the country.
Three schools will be chosen from each of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the 12 BBC English regions (ie North West, North East, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire & the Humber, East, West Midlands, East Midlands, South East, London, South, West, South West): 45 schools in all.
National finalists
These schools will then be invited to film a debate and send the footage in to the BBC. On the basis of these films, the 45 will be narrowed down to 15 (one school each from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the 12 BBC English regions).
The 15 national finalist schools will be given an Institute for Citizenship/Parliamentary Education Service grant to plan and stage Question Time-style events in March. They will each receive professional support in staging their event during a Schools Question Time Challenge workshop.
Choosing the winners
A team of judges will visit each of the 15 finalist schools to attend and evaluate their Question Time event and assess how well they have applied the principles of citizenship. In early April, four schools will be declared winners.
These winning schools will be invited to nominate two pupils each who will work with David Dimbleby and the Question Time production team to produce an edition of the programme in the summer.
In early May, the eight winning students will take part in a two-day workshop with the Question Time team to discuss their plans for the programme.
Making the programme
During the preparation and broadcast of the special schools edition in July, the eight students will experience various production roles such as editor, audience producer, panel producer and online producer.
Challenge partners
The Schools Question Time Challenge is supported by UK Parliament's Education Service, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC.
For more information on how to apply and to download free Citizenship resources please see: www.schoolsquestiontime.org
