Community Survey Planning

Overview

In this lesson, students learn how to notice needs in their local community and gather ideas using a simple survey and a class discussion. They will practise asking kind, safe questions and record answers.

Learning intentions

WALT: Learn how to assess community needs.

• Students will talk about what “community needs” means using examples from school and home.
• Students will identify what information they need to collect to understand a need.
• Students will create a simple survey with friendly, clear questions.
• Students will practise respectful ways to ask and record responses.

Success criteria

• I can explain, with an example, one community need in our area.
• I can create a simple survey with 3–5 questions that are easy to answer.
• I can use picture or word prompts to record answers from others.
• I can share my survey politely and listen to feedback.

Curriculum links

• Personal wellbeing: pupils understand feelings and learn ways to help themselves and others.
• Relationships and respectful behaviour: pupils learn to communicate respectfully and listen to others.
• Community and living in the wider world: pupils recognise how people work together and why communities matter.
• Citizenship skills: pupils learn how to take part in decision-making in their school community.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 5 mins – Welcome and focus

• Revisit the unit idea: community connections and responsibilities.
• Adults/volunteers share the lesson aim: “Today we plan a way to find out what our community needs.”

2. 10 mins – What is a need?

• Use short, age-appropriate scenarios (e.g., “rubbish in a playground,” “no safe place to sit,” “people don’t know local rules,” “missing items in a classroom area”).
• Students sort examples into “need” vs “not a need” using teacher prompts and visual cards.

3. 10 mins – Talk first: class discussion

• In small groups (3–4), students discuss: “What could make our community better?”
• Teacher records 5–8 ideas on a shared visual chart (one idea per sticky note/picture). Encourage “I think…” and “I agree/disagree because…” sentence starters.

4. 15 mins – Build the survey

• Teacher models a simple survey: 3–5 questions with response options.
• For Year 1–2 level, use either:
• picture responses (e.g., thumbs up / face icons / colour dots), or
• very short word responses (e.g., “yes/no”, “often/sometimes”).
• Students choose 3 ideas from the discussion chart and turn them into survey questions.

5. 10 mins – Practise asking and recording

• Role-play in pairs: one student is the “question asker,” one is the “answer giver.”
• Students practise respectful language: “Please”, “Thank you”, and “Is it okay if I ask?”
• Teacher checks that questions are safe, kind, and not personal.

6. 7 mins – Share and improve

• Each group shows their survey to the class.
• Teacher leads quick feedback using two prompts: “Clear question?” and “Easy to answer?”

7. 3 mins – Exit ticket

• Students indicate with a colour dot: “I made a survey question” and “I can record answers.”
• Collect surveys for the next lesson.

Resources

• Visual “community need” sorting cards (school, street, local park)
• Large class chart paper/whiteboard and sticky notes or picture slips
• Survey template (picture-based or word-based) for 3–5 questions
• Response option visuals (faces, thumbs, or colour dots)
• Sentence starters for discussion (“I think…”, “I agree because…”, “Can I ask you?”)
• Clipboards and pencils/crayons
• Timer and “talking turns” cue cards
• Role-play props (optional): pretend clipboard, question cards
• Dyslexia-friendly font worksheet option (paper with ample spacing)

Assessment

• Teacher observation during discussion and role-play: respectful turn-taking and clear question-making.
• Review of each student’s survey: 3–5 questions, clarity, and appropriate response options.
• Exit ticket colour-dots: whether students can demonstrate survey creation and recording.

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide pre-made survey templates with prompts and picture options (students fill in with teacher support).
• Use a matching activity: students match “need” ideas to survey question frames (e.g., “What do you need at…?”).
• Offer a smaller target: 3 survey questions instead of 5 if needed.
• Extension:
• Encourage students to add an extra question about who can help (e.g., “Who could make this better?”) or add a “write/draw” response.
• Ask advanced students to make the survey results plan: how they will count answers (e.g., how many chose each face/icon).
• EAL:
• Use picture-first questions and allow drawing instead of writing.
• Pair with a buddy and provide a clear visual model of the survey steps.
• SEN/Autism/ADHD:
• Clear routine with visual timetable (Discuss → Choose → Question → Practise → Share).
• Reduce cognitive load by limiting ideas to 3–4 choices during survey creation.
• Provide movement breaks (short stand-and-stretch) between steps 3–4.

Extension (optional)

• Conduct the community survey outside of class as a volunteer activity:
• Students (with adults/parents) ask selected, non-personal questions to agreed community members.
• They record responses using the same icons and return to class to tally results in the next lesson.