Hello Y12

A reminder then of what is needed for your presentations. Your presentation is about different voting systems. This should include a detailed analysis of the First-past the Post system. You should be able to different newspaper articles about this that detail opinion; at the time of the election, it was controversial. You should also go into detail about Alternative Vote. You should know about other systems and some examples of where they are in place.

It is very important that everyone emails copies of the presentations so that absence doesn't impact upon the rest of the group.

If you would like some help, this site is useful and informative. Have alook a the parliament site; it has lots of useful links and will help your understanding of how parliament works. It is also worth getting into the habit of looking here. One of the aspects I most like about GS is that being aware of current affairs is worth something. It is obviously invaluable in life.

In terms of assessment, you need to have an objective point of view; you should be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages as well as offer your own opinion. In the presentation you need to be able to give a detailed explanation of which type of voting system your prefer and why.

Ms Caldwell

Btw, we're in Rm 24 P3 on Monday.

Welcome Y12 General Studiers

Today we considered how we learn. Consequently, you are preparing presentations to give to the class to teach them about your allocated party. You need to make sure this is informative and teaches the class. So you can assess their learning (your teaching), you need to include a quiz or worksheet to go along with your presentation.

This page has some useful links as well as a link to how many seats were won etc. Have a look.

Be prepared to present next lesson; you'll have 10-15 mins at the beginning to have a quick run through. Meet up with your group to refine your presentation if necessary.

Wrap up warm!

Ms

Farewell!

Hello General Studiers...

On Monday the 21st you'll move groups (I know, I feel sad too). You are moving on to study the Cultural Domain with Mrs Price. P3 you need to go to Room 16.

Don't forget about Politics though! I will continue with the blog for other groups so leave a comment if you need a bit of help nearer the exam. Of course, you can email me at school or come and see me.

It's been a pleasure!

Farewell,Ms Caldwell

Go to the Science talk in 6th form centre! Register there, but remember to bring your homework to next lesson (Monday).
Ms Caldwell

Y12 - I know you're disappointed. I too am crushed by the failure of the link to the article... I'm working on it and it will be rectified in due course.
See you Wednesday.
Ms

Hello Y12

In today's lesson we looked at the role and ways Pressure Groups are divided and the actions they take.

We also looked at an article regarding voting issues and answer the following questions:

Explain the meaning of the highlighted phrases

Suggest two reason why voting doesn't matter

Outline two reasons voters are less likely to vote

In what ways are people's sense of citizenship improved and ensured by voting?

You must finish these and bring them to Wednesday's lesson (so we're clear!). If you are worried because you've lost the article,don't worry, it's here.

I do feel the European Union is about to descend - brace yourselves...

Ms Caldwell

Hello Y12



In today's lesson we've tried to finish up with politics. Your homework is to complete this. You need to make sure you have a secure understanding of the politics unit. this includes:

• Voter turnout
• The use and value of opinion polls
• The use of referenda
• The origins of the EU (why was it formed?)
• The role of pressure groups
• The European Union (including the five main institutions/pillars)
• The Euro
• Political Issues surrounding the EU

This learning is your responsibility. I will go over it, briefly, at the beginning of the next lesson to make sure you're all on track, but this is to cement your understanding; you learn more by yourself (remember our learning retention pyramid?).

Having looked at your essays, it is evident that many of you still don't know about alternative voting systems. Follow this link, or the link in the last post, for a very informative, easy to understand site; it has useful downloads and links to other voting systems too. Enjoy!

We will look at Human Behaviour over the next few lessons, considering the influences on peoples' lives. This be useful for those of you that are doing Sociology and Psychology, as well as just being really interesting!

Any problems, let me know...

Ms Caldwell

Hello General Studies

I am sorry about the lack of posting - I've been a bad blogger.

I hope you've all had a wonderful break and are gearing up ready for term two.

Last lesson we had your presentations on voting systems. I have to say I wasn't overly impressed by some of them, though some were informative and showed good evidence of secure understanding of a range of systems. You need to know about these so if you feel that you weren't particularly prepared you'll need to do independent research for your homework.

This is a very informative site with all the information that you should need - click here. They have some good information in the PDF files that are available to download.

You need to include information about different voting systems and the benefits and disadvantages of them. It would be useful for you to know about AV+, which is a theoretical system.

Your homework was to write an essay on voting systems.

Here are the Assessment Objectives (you should have these as a little card given to you last lesson).
•Demonstrate knowledge and understanding applied to a range of issues, using skills from different disciplines.
•Marshal evidence and draw conclusions: select, interpret, evaluate and integrate information, data, concepts and opinions.
•Demonstrate understanding of different types of knowledge, appreciating their strengths and limitations.
•Communicate clearly and accurately in a concise, logical and relevant way.

I'm hoping we will finish politics in the next couple of lessons and be able to look at what influences us...

If you have any problems then leave me a comment or contact me via the school email (lcaldwell).

Enjoy your last moments of holiday!

Ms Caldwell

Welcome!