The national curriculum and subsequent QCA Guidance for Citizenship at Key Stage 3 make it clear that the knowledge and understanding and skills elements should be taught together, and that one productive way to approach this is through study of topical and contemporary issues.

The issue of refugees and asylum seekers is an important one to explore in Citizenship for several reasons:

1.	There are specific links with the Key Stage 3 programme of study.
2.	The entire issue is fundamentally about citizenship - who may become a citizen, what rights this confers, how non-citizens are treated and what rights they have - are all regular features of the debate around asylum.
3.	This area is one of the major contemporary issues of political, social and economic significance that affect individuals, governments and international organisations and therefore it is an important issue for young citizens to understand.
4.	There are many contemporary myths evolving which provide fertile ground for critical analysis.
5.	Dispersal and other changes introduced by recent legislation have meant that the refugee issue has become a more current political issue in many local areas which have previously been relatively unaffected by newly arrived asylum seekers.