Dear Colleagues,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our teacher members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This will also be my final newsletter as I have taken another role and will be leaving the PSA in December. It has been a great pleasure to work with you all over the last couple of years. 

My replacement will be announced in the early new year. 

I wish you all the best for the future!

Josh Niderost, Programme Development and Outreach Officer, PSA 

The Outstanding Teaching of Politics in Schools Prize is a new award celebrating innovation and excellence in teaching politics and citizenship in secondary education. We are looking for educators who showcase teaching practices that actively engage students and develop their knowledge of politics; who demonstrate innovative approaches to teaching any aspect of the politics and/or citizenship curriculum; and who actively disseminate and share teaching practices with colleagues and the PSA Teachers’ Network.

Nominations can be submitted by self-nomination or by any PSA member. A nomination form can be found on our Prizes page along with more information in our Prizes Handbook.

Nominations should be submitted to nominations@psa.ac.uk by the deadline of midday on 20 December 2017.

The PSA is now offering a termly grant of up to £500 for PSA teachers to organise and run an event in their local area.

The PSA hopes that this grant system will give PSA teacher members the opportunity to organise activities to benefit their pedagogy and their students’ education as well as support the PSA’s aim to develop membership, outreach and activities across the regions and nations of the UK.

Please let me know if you interested in applying via: josh.niderost@psa.ac.uk.

GCSE Citizenship Studies

The new GCSE specifications (AQA, Edexcel, OCR), are being examined for the first time in 2018.

You can attend both teachmeets (regional, teacher-facilitated twilights and weekends) and training courses with a former senior examiner.

"Shared teaching ideas. Gained greater support from colleagues in similar situations." Citizenship Teacher

Upcoming teachmeets:
Tues 23 Jan, twilight, Manchester
Tues 27 Feb, twilight, Manchester

Course: Getting you and your pupils ready for the GCSE Citizenship Studies in 2018

Consider assessment approaches, moderation, marking and exam preparation. Share challenges you face.

Find out more about these training courses, facilitated by a former senior examiner for Citizenship Studies:

Sat 20 Jan 2018, 11am-4pm, London
Sat 3 Feb 2018, 11am-4pm, London

Events for A-level politics teachers, led by research-active academics from Birkbeck’s Department of Politics, on fields included in the revised Politics curriculum.

Sessions focus on teachers’ class needs and consist of two 50-minute sessions, followed by a Q&A.
 
Free events (registration required):

• 7 Feb: Ideologies and International Relations

• 21 Feb: British Politics and American Politics

This week the National Assembly for Wales’ Expert Panel on Assembly Electoral Reform have published their recommendations for the future of the Assembly. 

The Panel was appointed by the Assembly Commission to provide impartial, evidence-based expert advice on:

• the number of Members the Assembly needs;
• how Members should be elected; and
• the minimum voting age for Assembly elections

The Panel has, this week, published its report: A Parliament that Works for Wales. 

Pearson currently have exciting opportunities for qualified teachers to join their Assessment Associate Team, as Examiners for their GCE A Level Government and Politics qualification.

If you have any queries regarding the role, please contact the AA Recruitment team on aaresourcing@pearson.com. For more information about Examiner opportunities at Pearson please click here.

The PSA Blog features contemporary content from academic members of the PSA in response to news or fresh research findings. 

Simon Usherwood (Surrey) looks at Regulatory alignment, constructive ambiguity and Brexit. 

Feargal Cochrane (Kent) asks: Why does the Irish border matter?

& Rowland Atkinson (Sheffield) explores: Rapturous Riches: What the Paradise Papers show us about life at the top?

Follow the PSA on Twitter or search for the #PSAschools hashtag for real time updates on all our schools' activities, news and campaigns.

As a PSA Teacher Member you have full access to the Schools’ Area of the PSA website.  Here you can find all the latest information about the following initiatives we offer to schools:

•         Free Seminars for Schools programme
•         Free professional development resources
•         Free subscriptions to leading publications, including Political Insight
•         Priority registration to PSA schools' events
•         Priority registration for student career workshops

Don't forget, members can access the Teachers' e-News archive online here.

We're always keen to hear from you, so please keep in touch or let the PSA 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,

Josh Niderost

Programme Development and Outreach Officer

020 7321 2545
PSA Head Office, 113a Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6HJ.