Government & Politics

Half-term 1- Teacher 1 UK Democracy, Teacher 2 UK Constitution.

Why we sequence this way: Democracy and Participation was chosen as the first unit to study as it provides the foundation understanding of basic political theory as well as giving the students a wider understanding of why people get involved in Politics. This is taught concurrently with the UK Constitution in order to provide students with the basic grounding for the operations of the UK government. 

Half-term 2- Teacher 1 UK political parties, Teacher 2 Parliament

Political Parties as the second unit covers the history of the parties as well as the role of minor parties in elections. Each party is looked at so we can understand its history , ideology and policies over time. Parties are then looked at in a broad scope to analyse the impact of the parties on politics. This couples well with the teaching of the parliament as it provides context for how UK parties affect and change legislation within the framework of the legislative branch. 

Half-term 3- Teacher 1 Voting systems in the UK, Teacher 2 Prime minister and cabinet

The powers of the PM and Cabinet follow on from Parliament. It gives students the ability to compare the two areas and work out who they interact with. This is supported with in-depth knowledge and analysis of elections in the UK, and how these elections and how they’re run affect the day-to-day running of government. 

Half-term 4- Teacher 1 Voting behaviour and the media, Teacher 2 Relationship between branches. 

The relationship between branches has to come last as students need to know the information about how the Branches work before comparing. In this unit we also look at the powers of the Supreme Court and the EU, how it works and its influences. Students also require prior knowledge of the parties and elections in the UK in order to understand why voters make the choices that they do. 

Half-term 5- PPE revision

Half-term 5 is taken as an opportunity to recap the previous units studied throughout Year 12, ahead of the Year 12 PPEs, while also accounting for the period in which students sit these PPEs and allowing for appropriate feedback time

Half-term 6- Teacher 1 US Congress, Teacher 2 US Constitution 

The US Constitution is taught first as it provides wider context for why US government and politics operates in the way that it does, and provides necessary historical context for the later USA units. Congress is the first branch of government laid out in the US constitution so it makes sense for this to be taught concurrently.

Year 13 sequence of lessons

Half-term 1- Teacher 1 US Presidency, Teacher 2 US Supreme Court.

Why we sequence this way: At the start of Year 13, we look at the Powers of the US president both domestically and in terms of foreign policy. We also at the role of the supreme court, focusing on key ideas of judicial activism and restraint, as well as The appointment process for Justices and then looking at the courts role within the checks and balances of US politics. We also discuss how effective the supreme court has been at protecting civil rights in the USA. This serves as a useful recap of the checks and balances put in place by the US Constitution. 

Half term 2- Teacher 1 US Democracy, Teacher 2 Comparative politics.

The final part of the US course is by looking at democracy and participation within the US subsystem. For example the electoral systems for Presidential and congressional elections, campaign funding and the role of political parties. Then the reasons for changes in voting behaviour over time. On the other side of the course,  we focus on comparative approaches looking at how to use rational, structural and cultural theories surrounding politics in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America and then how to apply these to exam questions. We use this as general revision across all papers to apply knowledge to exam questions and focusing on synopticity between different topics.

Half term 3- Teacher 1 Liberalism, Teacher 2 Conservatism.

In this half-term, we start on the political ideas component of papers 1 & 2 of the course. We save this till the end of Year 13, as students engage with the wider course throughout Year 12 and 13, as well as the specific A-level skills they’ll have mastered means that they'll have the necessary grounding to cover the ideologies. Liberalism was chosen as the first ideology to cover as it provides a clear set of beliefs that students can see in everyday life. It is also the simpler ideology in terms of the different branches from the exam board. Conservatism offers students the opportunity to develop their political ideas from the previous ideology and offers a clear contrast to Liberalism and so pairs well.

Half term 4- Teacher 1 Socialism, Teacher 2 Nationalism

Students finish the course by looking at socialist thought, which pairs well in its vast similarities as well as differences with nationalist thought. Nationalism was chosen as the non-core ideology as it offered the clear opportunity for recapping previous ideologies as well as engaging with a phenomenon that is relevant in the news.

Half-term 5- Revision

The structure of the course allows us a full half-terms worth of revision ahead of study leave for students exams, which will allow for in-class exam practice.

Half-term 6- Exam leave