Dear ,

I hope you and students have settled into the new year smoothy.

There is more information about our 2014 Student Short Video Competition below - including how we've changed the process for submitting your video entry this year.  To do so is really easy, but it does require you to follow a few important steps.

Also, don't forget, the promotional price of only £15 for PSA Teacher Membership will end soon! Any current Teacher Member (active before July 23) who renews during the promotional period will automatically extend their membership by 12 months for the promotional price.  This equates to a £29 saving on usual annual cost - so I'd encourage you to do so whilst the offer is still on!

Mr Speaker, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, is inviting schools to enter the Speaker's School Council Awards.

Every school and college in the UK is encouraged to enter their project. Project size does not matter and it could be anything from increasing the number of recycling bins in your school to selling chocolate to raise money for your student council budget. What matters is your school council's efforts led to a positive change. 

The winners of the competition will be invited to the Houses of Parliament to accept the winner's trophy from the Speaker of the House of Commons himself.

The competition opens on 22 September 2014 and more information can be found by visiting the Speaker's School Council Awards website.

The first entries for this year’s PSA Student Short Video Competition have been submitted and the quality so far is fantastic!

Returning for the fourth year, we have teamed up with YouGov to ask your students to explore the question: "Europe - in or out?"

There is still time for your students to take part. The deadline for submissions is October 17th 2014.

The winning team will receive their award at the PSA Awards Ceremony Dinner on 25 November 2014 at Church House, Westminster, which traditionally is broadcast on BBC Parliament! On top of this, the winning students will each be invited to spend a week voluntarily shadowing the YouGov political team during their school holidays.

For last year’s winning entry, all the rules and how to enter, please click here. 

We are pleased to announce Gulfem Wormald, AQA's Qualifications Developer for Social Sciences, is joining the PSA's Teachers' Workshop.

The PSA's Teaching Political Studies Teachers' Workshop is being held at the University of Huddersfield on Friday 24th October 2014 from 9.30am to 4pm.

Gulfem will be leading the plenary session to outline how the politics curriculum is developing in line with the A-level reforms and more generally his thoughts about political education and the social sciences in schools.

The programme focuses on the development of effective pedagogic practices and strategies to enhance political literacies, skills and participation amongst young people in the classroom and across their schools and communities.

You can view the programme online here.  Registration is now open online here.

The PSA are once again organising one of the showcase Parliament Week events on the afternoon of 17th November 2014.

The event, “Hardcopy or #Hashtag?”, is a debate involving up to 120 young people exploring their vision for a digital parliament, led by actor and film maker Femi Oyeniran.

Click here for full details and how to register your school.

Parliament Week is a programme of events and activities that connect people with parliamentary democracy in the UK. There’s something for everyone, whether you attend or organise an event or simply take part in the conversation online.

Organisations across the UK run events and activities throughout Parliament Week which explore what parliamentary democracy means to them and their community.

Parliament Week is coordinated by the House of Commons with support from the House of Lords. All events can be found online here.

The PSA's Blog is becoming an increasingly popular forum of online political conversation for a wide audience. We welcome submissions from outside academia and would love for PSA Teacher Members to consider contributing.

A great recent example of this can be found with Richard Kelly's, Head of Politics at Manchester Grammar School, blog post on the mock Scottish referendum at MGS - click here to read.

Or this piece by Richard Driscoll, formly Head of Politics at Blenheim High School, with a piece entitled: "The ONS Survey is Wrong: Young People do have an interest in politics".

For more information about how to get involved with the PSA's Blog, please contact Communications Officer Jamie Ralph.  You can also read our Editorial Policy online here.

The PSA's Young People's Politics Specialist Group held a one-day workshop on ‘Young People’s Politics: Strengthening youth citizenship and political participation’, hosted by University of Lincoln School of Social and Political Science on Friday 5th September.

The event, which was open to members of the public, examined what politics means to young people, how they participate in democracy, and how they can be encouraged to participate more widely in civic and political engagement.

You can follow the PSA's Storify of the event online here.

Don't forget, if you missed previous monthly Teachers' e-Newsletter members can find previous e-Newsletters online here.

During the summer the PSA moved into our new Head Office.  We’re now located at:

113a Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6HJ.

Our main telephone number has also changed and you can reach the new office at 020 7321 2545.

I’m always keen to hear from you, so please keep in touch or let me know how we can serve you better. If you feel any colleagues would be interested in this e-Newsletter, please forward them a copy.

With very best wishes,
James

James Ludley
Programme Development Officer
PSA Head Office, 113a Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6HJ.