DEFINING the term active citizenship is not the easiest thing to do - and especially if you're only 14 years old.

But pupils at Rudheath High School and Verdin High School in Winsford are hoping to change all that.

From next September, citizenship will become part of the National Curriculum, meaning every school across the country will have to incorporate it into the teaching of pupils in years nine and 10.

The project is now being piloted at schools in Derby, Nottinghamshire, Cumberland, South East Scotland and Cheshire - and 29 pupils at Rudheath and eight pupils from the Verdin are among the first to take part.

John Aldridge, a former drama teacher, has been director of the European project since 1993 and is well versed on what citizenship actually means.

He said: "Our aim is to get them to develop the skills and knowledge involved in learning about citizenship so that they can become active citizens themselves as young adults in the 21st century.

"That means finding out how MPs are elected, the differences between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, ways of electing people, the responsibilities of council ministers and the differences between the EU the EN and the role of the European Commission."

It may sound as if the project is more concerned with studying government and politics than transforming children into active citizens, but the process has a three-fold effect involving the whole community:

Firstly, it involves the pupils working together to create a report in any medium they choose, whether it is print, audio or video. The report will then be used by educational director Gill Brigg, to write study material for future pupils.

Pupils will be working in partnership with a local voluntary organisation on a self-help project which will benefit the local community, whether it is for educational, environmental, health, housing, parenting or cultural purposes.

They will also work alongside the support of media professionals, which is where the Guardian has become involved.

Over the next few months the Guardian will be working as a mentor to pupils from both Rudheath and Verdin schools, by offering a helping hand to produce good quality media reports on their chosen projects.

"We want to develop their communication skills and also turn them from saying what can others do about it, to what can we do about it ourselves," said John.

"And the way to do that is for them to develop a greater understanding of the way the Press and media in general work, and knowing the difference between fact and opinion so they can decide for themselves as individuals."

Janet Forster, head of RE and pastoral team leader at Rudheath High School, said pupils were extremely enthusiastic about taking part in the pilot study.

"Citizenship is very much in the forefront of education at the moment, but more than that the school has a strong reputation for giving the children responsibility and other experiences," she said.

"We are very actively involved in things like this so when the opportunity came up for us to take part in this, I leapt at it.

"Instead of four or five volunteers, we got 29 wanting to get involved and I know that they will all follow it through to the end."

An awards day is being arranged for October when all the community projects set up by the schools will be celebrated.

But it is the fact that their reports will be used as a basis for study packs in secondary schools across the UK which promises to be most rewarding aspect.

The pilot study in Cheshire has also received the support of Cheshire Building Society, which has funded the whole project as part of its community support programme.

Spokesman John Barber said: "We think this is a fantastic thing to be involved with because it draws so many strands together in terms of schools, media, students and education.

"It also fits in nicely with us because not only are we concerned about the community within which we work but we are also making big technological developments, which is ideal for this type of project."