Birmingham City Council &
School Effectiveness
Census 2011
School Project
Contact Niall Crawford
niall.crawford@birmingham.gov.uk
Birmingham Schools Census project
Birmingham City Council is working in Partnership with School Effectiveness on
a project to help raise awareness and understanding about the 2011 Census.
The city council are supporting the Office for National Statistics, who run the
census with a range of promotional activities. School Effectiveness have been
asked to take forward the ‘Birmingham Schools Census Project’. The aim of the
Project is to increase young people’s understanding of the census in the hope
that they will take positive messages home and support their families to
complete the census questionnaire.
The enclosed materials will also help schools it in its duty to promote community
cohesion, by helping the children and young people examine the community in
which they live and its future needs. They will have an opportunity to explore
population structure and how this brings specific needs and service
requirements, as well as using past census returns to get a picture of how
Birmingham and its communities have changed.
Background Information
The city council is trying to reach out to its residents in an effort to raise
awareness of the importance of the upcoming census. One way it is doing this
by helping young people in school understand more about the census through a
series of lessons. As a result of these lessons it is hoped young people will
have an understanding of the intentions behind the census and some key points
regarding issues such as confidentiality.
On 27 March 2011 the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are asking every
household in England and Wales to complete a census questionnaire. The
census will involve more than 25 million households. Scotland and Northern
Ireland will also both run their censuses on the same day. The census is
conducted every 10 years in the UK to gain the best estimate count possible of
the Country’s population, people’s characteristics and their needs.
Census information is then used for the proceeding 10 years to develop
effective and responsive policies and services at a national and local level. The
results of the census also determines the level of resources central government
allocates to local areas for key public sector services like education, health,
transport, social services, libraries and leisure.
Census day is the 27th March and census questionnaires will be delivered to all
households in England and Wales during the beginning of March 2011. Given
the timeline for the census, ONS plan to commence their promotional activities
for the general public in January 2011.
After the 27th March there is a follow up period of 6 to 8 weeks when census
staff will be knocking on the doors of people who have not completed a return to
encourage and support households in order to maximise the response rate.
The 2011 Census will be the first time people will also be able to fill in their
census return online. The public will be able to access this from the 4th of March
2011 at www.census.gov.uk.
Guidance will be available through an online help centre and a multi-lingual
telephone helpline. Supporting resources will also be available in over 50
alternative community languages, as well as accessible formats such as Braille
and easy read guidance. All can be downloaded from www.census.gov.uk.
How has Birmingham Changed?
Birmingham has changed a lot over the last ten years; but how exactly?
How many more people live in Birmingham compared with ten years ago? What
kind of people are they? And what services do they need in their local area?
The best way to find out is to count them.
For Birmingham the census is really important. Future austerity measures are
not going to make things easy in terms of finance, so it is vitally important that
Birmingham gets every penny it can for the number of people that live here who
use services the council and other local agencies like the Primary Care Trusts.
ONS have to find out how people’s lives and needs have changed, so the
government and local authorities can plan, fund and deliver services in
response to local needs.
Enclosed in this pack are some suggested lessons that will help introduce the
census to pupils. They are designed so that schools have the flexibility to use
them in a way that suits their own delivery of Citizenship, or they may be
adapted for shorter sessions such as assembly presentations. They are aimed
at year 10 pupils but may be adapted for other school years. To have the most
positive impact on Birmingham’s return we would like schools to use them
between February and mid April 2011, so pupils are taking the key messages
home when the census questionnaire drops through the door.
More information on the census can be found on the Office for National
Statistics website:
www.census.gov.uk
Publicity materials for parents
To increase the likelihood that pupils will talk to their parents about the census,
where possible we would also like schools to distribute a 1 page fact sheet on
the census to parents. It would also be great if schools could display census
posters on any parent aimed news boards. Electronic copies of these
documents are included on the enclosed CD. There are also 1 page leaflets
and posters on the census available in over 50 community alternative
languages available at www.census.gov.uk.
We understand schools may not have the resources to copy these resources
themselves. We are happy to do this for you. You can request copies of the
parent fact sheets, general posters, and leaflets and posters in other languages
simply by emailing census@birmingham.gov.uk. These will be posted directly
to your school. Please get in touch as early as possible so we can organise for
these to be copied and sent out to you.
Lesson Plan 1: Change Happens
Aim:

Pupils learn that the census helps us to understand changes in society and
how we cater for the needs of our future population.
Learning Outcomes:
Pupils understand that:
 Life does not stand still.
 The pace of change over recent decades has been very fast.
 The census plays a key role in capturing change across society, for example
the number of women working, the number of cars owned by the average
household and the number of people from different backgrounds in a local
area.
 Census information is used to see how people‘s lives are changing to plan
more effective services meeting their needs.
Suggested activities:
Please use with the ‘Shift Happens’ power point slides 1-4 to give pupils
examples of the different technologies that different generations have
experienced.
1. In small groups pupils try to list the new technologies and devices that play a
part in their lives. (5 mins)
2. In the same groups pupils try to list the technologies and devices that played
a part in their parents’ or guardians lives. (5 mins)
3. Teacher takes feedback from groups and as a class they try to decide which
ones have had the greatest impact and why. (10 mins)
4. Class watches the ‘Shift Happens’ power point and discusses some of the
information on there (15 mins). Points to draw out are :
 rate of population growth in other countries
 rate at which technology is advancing e.g. a £500 super computer!
5. Groups are set one of the following questions and asked to feedback their
answers to the rest of the class for discussion. (15 mins)
 How do you think technology will impact on your life in the next 10 years?
 How can Birmingham respond to peoples’ needs and use of new
technology? (We already have pay by phone car parks in the City)
 Why should people of all ages be taught how to use new technologies?
6. Use the slide below to do a class pole with regards to what pupils have and
have not experienced (end of the power point).
Some of Generation Y have never …
•
•
•
•
•
•
lived without a computer
listened to an ‘engaged tone’
looked for a book in a library
used a phone box
lived in a house without multiple
TVs and remote controls
remembered a time when we had
a PM other than Blair and Brown
Plenary:
Recap with pupils that nothing stands still. As the members of the class grow
up they may be 24/25 years old by the time of the next Census.
What kind of questions do they think might be included in 2021 Census to get a
picture of the use of new technologies by the general population and how this is
changing?
E.g.
 How many people have broadband (superfast broadbrand)?
 How many people have electric powered (hydrogen fuel cell) cars?
 How many people generate their own power at home by solar panels?
 How many people use e-book readers?
Finally ask the pupils to consider how information about the use of new
technologies may change the services provided by the council and other
organisations?
E.g.
 More services provided over the internet
 The provision of electric filling up points for electric cars
 Public grants for solar panels
 Should libraries provide free downloads for e-book readers, rather than
paper copies?
Lesson Plan 2: What’s age got to do with it?
Aim:

Pupils explore the sort of information gained from the census and focus on
one area, that of age of the population.

Pupils understand that by knowing data and statistics, planning and
provision can be done in a more fair and responsive way.
Lesson Outcomes:



Pupils interpret data to help inform decisions.
Pupils look at other peoples needs and make recommendations for provision
of services.
Pupils understand that planning is not just about the present but it must
predict to the needs of the future.
Suggested Activities:
1. How are statistics used?
Teachers share the information below with pupils by giving them it in cut up
strips for the pupils to do a sort activity in groups. They are to rank which use
they see as the most important and so on down to the least important (15 mins)
(Appendix 1).
Census statistics provide valuable information for public and private
organisations to plan services in the community over the next ten years, for
example:
 An accurate population count helps the Government to calculate the funding
it gives to each local authority and health authority
 Data is collected and analysed about the age, health and wealth of the
population so money can be allocated to health and social services
 Information about housing and its occupants indicates where
accommodation provision is poor and helps in planning for new housing
 Knowing how many people work in different occupations helps government,
local authorities and businesses to plan jobs and training policies
 Information about how many cars people have and how they get to work
helps to plan public transport and how much traffic is on the roads
 Information about ethnic groups helps to plan and fund programmes to meet
the needs of minority groups
 Census statistics help research organisations to know where the best places
are to ask people to fill in surveys so that everyone in society has a voice
 Businesses use census data to decide where to locate or expand their
premises to reflect local demand and the available workforce
Outcome of activity – that census provides a whole range of information which
is important for different purposes and used by a range of organisations.
2. How do age profiles affect spending?
Pupils are given ward age profiles sheets produced by the census that
encourage them to look at its structure now and in ten years time. They look at
the different areas of spending and try to prioritise what is needed for now and
in ten years time (30 mins) (Appendix 2).
Pupils should be encouraged to discuss areas like school provision, health
services, and care and support for the elderly in their groups. For example
Small Heath has a high number of young people so will need lots of provision
targeted at them. It also has less elderly people than the city average, but will
have a higher than average elderly population in 10 years time. So whilst this
may not be a priority now future provision should be discussed, e.g. meals on
wheels, sheltered housing etc.
3. Pupils are asked to justify why they prioritised the services they did for
one of the locations.
Plenary:
Pupils to work in groups to come up with a list of 5 priorities that they think a
council should always use to when looking at how they spend their money (10
mins). E.g. using data to guide decisions; looking at current and future
population trends; considering the needs of different population groups; looking
at a full range of services - social housing, health provision, care for the elderly
etc.
Groups to compare their lists and look for similar traits.
Key message to take away is if we don’t have census data then planning can’t
be done effectively.
Lesson Plan 3: The Census and the
responsibility of Citizens
Teacher Information: How did the census start?
The first census took place in 1801 because the Government was worried that
the country’s supply of food may not be enough to feed the growing population.
It asked five questions and the results showed 10 million people living in two
million households.
By comparison the last census, held in 2001, asked 40 questions. The results
showed there were almost 60 million people and approximately 24 million
households. Therefore in 1801 the average household size was 5 in 2001 2.4,
less than half.
Aim:

For pupils to understand the breadth of information the census can collect.
Learning Outcomes:


Pupils understand the confidentiality of their information.
Pupils to debate the need to comply with filling in the census.
Suggested Activities:
1. Give the pupils the True/False Quiz and go through answers with them
(Appendix 3).
2. Teacher asks class why do they think the first census was done in 1801. A.
worried about running out of food.
3. Pupils are asked in our day and age what sorts of things might we be running
short off? E.g. houses, primary school places and maybe food?
4. Teacher gives out Appendix 4 and asks pupils to fill in why is it important the
government knows about the named aspects.
Teacher Information: What does the census tell us?
The census asks everyone the same questions at the same time to produce a
unique set of facts and figures about the UK. It tells us about:
Population - to help central government decide how much funding it needs to
give to each local and health authority. (This is weighted on both the number of
people in a local area and their relative needs). Local authorities then use
census data to plan the services within their local areas.
Health and disability - to help plan services and put policies in place to ensure
people with disabilities are treated equally.
Housing - to allow central government and local authorities to assess the
quality of housing and plan to meet future needs.
Employment - to show how many people work in different occupations and
industries to help plan jobs and training policies.
Ethnic groups - to help central government allocate resources and monitor
policies to ensure that all groups are treated equally. To monitor inequalities
and deprivation amongst different population groups so actions can be taken to
address these and ensure they do not persist in the future.
Transport - to help understand the pressures on our transport systems and
improve planning for roads and public transport.
5. Pupils look at the pros and cons for filling in the Census. In groups they are
asked to debate the questions below and then feed in to a wider class
discussion.



What reservations might people have about filling it in?
Should people be made to fill it in and if so how?
Which of the following areas are you least likely to want to give information
about and why? Why should it be included?
 work,
 education,
 national identity,
 sexuality
 ethnic background,
 second homes,
 language,
 health,
 religion,
 income,
 marital status.
6. Ask pupils to write five questions they feel could be put into the census and
why? Pupils to look at some selected options and judge if they are fair,
equitable and appropriate. (Teachers should share a sample of the census
questionnaire with the pupils).
Plenary
Pupils are asked how they could encourage others at home to fill in the census,
based on the information they have explored through the lesson, e.g. all
information is confidential.
Lesson Plan 4: Family history and how the
Census can help us discover the past
Aim:
 For pupils to understand how the census helps to keep records of people
and their lives for future generations to explore.
Learning outcomes:
Pupils understand that:
 the census questionnaire developed over time in response to information
need by the government of the time in order to plan effectively.
 the range of information included in the census can tell a lot about a family
and its growth over time.
Suggested activities:
1. Celebrity Discussion: Share the first two slides of the power point with the
pupils that summarise what two celebrities found out about their family through
participating in the BBC programme ‘Who do we think you are?’ What surprised
the pupils about the past history in the celebrities past?
2. What would they like to know?: Ask pupils to work in pairs and write a list
of the type of information they would like to know about their ancestors. Pupils
to share thoughts; would they just like to know about the good things?
Prompts: places your family have lived, what hobbies they had, their religion,
education, social status, careers etc.
3. Tracing family history: Tell pupils the information from previous censuses’
can help people to trace their family history. Ask them why the latest records
available to use are the 1911 most recent ones. Answer: due to the 100 year
confidentiality rule.
The Smith Family
Show the pupils the power point about the Smith family. Show the 1901 slides
first and discuss the information gained from it then go on to show the 1911
information.
The census entries are included as a PDF that can be printed out and
expanded up to A3 size so pupils can look at them in more detail. The summary
slide after the original contains all the information in an easy to read format.
Points to discuss with the pupils:


Do you think the street is still in existence in Birmingham? (There is a St
Lukes road in B5 just of the Belgrave Middle Way).
What jobs are people doing?

What does it tell you about the age people left school?
Share the points below with the pupils to show how information became
more detailed as the census has progressed. (Pupil version Appendix 5).
What can you find in the 1841 census?
Census returns can not only help us determine who our ancestors were, but
they can also tell us:

Where your ancestors were living

Who they were living with

What their occupations were

If they had any servants

Who their neighbours were

If they had any brothers and sisters

What their ages were at the time of the census
What is in the 1911 census?
In common with the censuses that preceded it, it recorded the following
information:







Where an individual lived
Their age at the time of the census
Who (what relatives) they were living with
Their place of birth
Occupation
Details of any guests on the night of the census
Details of any servants they had
Also, depending on an individual’s circumstances, additional information could
include:






Whether they were an employee or employer
Precise details of the industry or service they worked in
Details of nationality
Duration of their current marriage
Number of children born to that marriage
Number of children still living, and the number who had died
Use slide 12, what might the 1921 Census tell us about the Smith Family so that
pupils can extend the family tree in a way that shows the family growing.
4. Using the PDFs of the 1911 census included in the package, blow them up to
A3 size and give to groups of pupils . Ask them to extract information from
them about a family of their choice on their sheet and put it in to the outline
grids provided (Appendix 6).
Plenary:
The census is not all about the future it keeps us informed about the past and
where we came from. Ask pupils at what point in time in the past , they would
most like to be able to see information about them and their relatives and why?
Now they know how useful the information will be to their future family members
does it make them want to fill out the census as a record of their time so it can
be accessed in the future? What 1 piece of information they would most like
someone to be able to find out about them?
Appendix 1Pupil sort activity
An accurate population count helps the Government
to calculate the funding it gives to each local
authority and health authority
Data is collected and analysed about the age health
and wealth of the population so money can be
allocated to health and social services
Information about housing and its occupants
indicates where accommodation provision is poor
and helps in planning for new housing
Knowing how many people work in different
occupations helps government, local authorities and
businesses to plan job and training policies
Information about how many cars people have and
how they get to work helps to plan public transport
and how much traffic is on the roads
Information about ethnic groups helps to plan and
fund programmes to meet the needs of minority
groups
Census statistics help research organisations to
know where the best places are to ask people to fill
in surveys so that everyone in society has a voice.
Businesses use census data to decide where to
locate or expand their premises to reflect local
demand and the available workforce.
Appendix 2 Ward age profiles work sheet: Aston
1. Describe the age profile of Aston now.
2. Describe what the age profile of Aston will look like in 10 years time.
3. What services/provision would you say are a priority for Aston at the present
and in ten years time? Add in other services if you think other services are
needed in Aston. Place a number next to the service and number them
between 1 and 5 with 1 being very important and 5 less important.
Service/provision
Elderly Care homes
Secondary Schools
Outdoor play areas
Doctors Surgery’s
Nursery Places
Further Education/
training courses
Present Day
10 Years Time
Appendix 2 Ward age profiles work sheet: Edgbaston
1. Describe the age profile of Edgbaston now.
2. Describe what the age profile of Edgbaston will look like in 10 years time
3. What services/provision would you say are a priority for Edgbaston at the
present and in ten years time? Add in other services if you think other
services are needed in Edgbaston. Place a number next to the service and
number them between 1 and 5 with 1 being very important and 5 less
important.
Service/provision
Elderly Care homes
Secondary Schools
Outdoor play areas
Doctors Surgery’s
Nursery Places
Further Education/
training courses
Present Day
10 Years Time
Appendix 2 Ward age profiles work sheet: Hodge Hill
1. Describe the age profile of Hodge Hill now.
2. Describe what the age profile of Hodge Hill will look like in 10 years time.
3. What services/provision would you say are a priority for Hodge Hill at the
present and in ten years time? Add in other services if you think other
services are needed in Hodge Hill Place a number next to the service and
number them between 1 and 5 with 1 being very important and 5 less
important.
Service/provision
Elderly Care homes
Secondary Schools
Outdoor play areas
Doctors Surgery’s
Nursery Places
Further Education/
training courses
Present Day
10 Years Time
Appendix 2 Ward age profiles work sheet: Nechells
1. Describe the age profile of Nechells now.
2. Describe what the age profile of Nechells will look like in 10 years time.
3. What services/provision would you say are a priority for Nechells at the
Present and in ten years time. . Add in other services if you think other
services are needed in Nechells. Place a number next to the service and
number them between 1 and 5 with 1 being very important and 5 less
important.
Service/provision
Elderly Care homes
Secondary Schools
Outdoor play areas
Doctors Surgery’s
Nursery Places
Further Education/
training courses
Present Day
10 Years Time
Appendix 3 Quiz sheet
Census true or false quiz
True
1. The first census was carried out in 1801
2. The 2011 Census will only have 30 questions
3. Only selected households in England will have
to fill in the census questionnaire
4. You have to answer every question
5. Census staff can go to prison if they share
information from a census questionnaire with other
people
6. If the census questionnaire is not filled in
someone may come round to the house and help
the residents to complete it
7. If a household refuses to fill in the census
questionnaire you could get a £500 fine and a
criminal record
8. The census questionnaire can be filled in online
9. Census information is kept for 100 years
10. In the 2001 Census nearly 390,000 people said
that their religion was Jedi
False
Census true or false quiz
Answer Sheet
1.
The first census was carried out in 1801 TRUE The first census of Great
Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) was conducted by John Rickman on 10 March
1801, revealing a total population count for England and Wales of 9.3 million.
2.
The 2011 Census will only have 30 questions FALSE The 32-page 2011
Census questionnaire contains 56 questions: 14 about the household and its
accommodation and up to 42 for each member of the household to complete.
3. Only selected households in England will have to fill in the census
questionnaire FALSE Every householder must, by law, complete and return a 2011
Census questionnaire. A householder is the person who owns or rents the property and is
wholly or partly responsible for paying household bills.
4.
You have to answer every question FALSE You must answer all the
questions but the religion question is voluntary.
5. Census staff can go to jail if they share information from a census
questionnaire with other people TRUE The census is protected by law and
personal information is not shared with anyone else, including any other government
bodies or departments. If someone involved in the census did share information they
could go to prison for 2 years.
6. If the census questionnaire is not filled in someone may come round to
the house and help the residents to complete it TRUE
7. If a household refuses to fill in the census questionnaire you could get
a £500 fine and a criminal record FALSE You could face prosecution, a hefty
£1000 fine and a criminal record.
8.
The census questionnaire can be filled in online TRUE the paper version
that comes through the door will have a unique number on it to allow you to fill it in online
or the paper version could be filled in.
9.
Census information is kept for 100 years TRUE Your answers will be
turned into statistics about the community and groups within it. Personal census
information is kept confidential for 100 years.
10. In the 2001 Census nearly 390,000 people said that their religion was
Jedi TRUE In many other countries round the world people have done the same and
in larger numbers.
Appendix 4 Why is information important?
For the following headings try to write down why it is important accurate
information is known
Population –
Health and disability –
Housing –
Employment –
Ethnic groups –
Transport –
Appendix 5 What information did different censuses tell us?
What can you find in the 1841 census?
Census returns can not only help us determine who our ancestors
were, but they can also tell us

Where your ancestors were living

Who they were living with

What their occupations were

If they had any servants

Who their neighbours were

If they had any brothers and sisters

What their ages were at the time of the census
What is in the 1911 census?
In common with the censuses that preceded it, it recorded the
following information:







Where an individual lived
Their age at the time of the census
Who (what relatives) they were living with
Their place of birth
Occupation
Details of any guests on the night of the census
Details of any servants they had
Also, depending on an individual’s circumstances, additional
information could include:






Whether they were an employee or employer
Precise details of the industry or service they worked in
Details of nationality
Duration of their current marriage
Number of children born to that marriage
Number of children still living, and the number who had died
Appendix 6 Pupil census record sheet
1911 Family ~Census Information
Name of Family:
Name
Relation Condition
Sex
Age Birth
year
Occupation
Where Born