Modern Studies at Knox

On Friday, 30 S1 pupils, myself and 2 of my colleagues took a trip to the Scottish Parliament. We took the tour It’s My Parliament! which included a 30 minute information session, a look around the Parliament including the Debating Chamber and the Garden Lobby and then a Q and A session with our constituency MSP Iain Gray. Our Q and A session was particularly fun and Iain Gray coped well with a Knox Academy grilling! We had a great day and I would like to thank the Education Department at the Parliament for such a valuable afternoon.

Okay, I know this has a pretty boring name but the Festival of Politics is actually a fantastic opportunity to learn and participate in workshops/discussions/debates about controversial and exciting issues which we all face in the 21st Century. There are events on issues such as Human Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, Power of the USA, the Law, Homosexuality, Terrorism and Climate Change.

 It runs from the 20th-23rd of August, which I know is when we go back to school, but there are events in the evenings and on the Saturday. A lot of the stuff that’s on is free but you have to make sure you get a ticket first. All events will be held at the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, Edinburgh.

 The Youth Politics Festival will also be running on the Saturday from 11am-4pm, to get free tickets contact info@carnegiefestival.com.

I’d urge all to see at least 1 thing at the Festival - I know I will! Check out the link below for the full programme and info about how to get tickets.

 http://www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk/

Are criminals born or are they made?

I would like to welcome my new Higher class to the Modern Studies blog. They have been working very hard on the issue ‘Is China is Democratic country?’ and have produced some powerpoints on this. This will help them when revising for NABS, Prelims and their final exam.Well done 5C!

mark-james.pptrichard-rachel-and-ferg.pptdaniellealixchloe-n-rachael.ppt

is-china-a-democracy-graeme-and-joonathan.pptis-china-a-democracy-sean-and-sam.pptis-china-democratic-by-chris-roddy-and-ally.pptjobe-and-alex.pptkcm-china-powerpoint.pptkirsty-robert-zoe.ppt 

Last Friday (June 13th) Youth Parliament held a Fair Trade coffee morning for staff at Knox Academy. They provided Fair Trade Tea, Coffee, Juice and various cakes and fruit which gave staff a chance to sample what Fair Trade products are available at local supermarkets.

 They managed to raise over £50 which they have decided to donate to UNICEF.

 Well done to all those involved!

In June this year, East Lothian Council, in partnership with Lothian and Borders Police, will be hosting a series of Internet safety and responsible use training sessions for parents with pupils in P5 - S6 across the county.  This is in response to growing concerns, expressed by individual parents and parent councils, about how to make sure young people use the internet safely and responsibly. The sessions are also designed to show parents how they can protect their youngsters from on-line dangers.

        These evenings will start promptly at 7pm and have a limited availability. If you have any queries or you would like to book a place on one of these sessions, please email Tess Watson, (Acting Education Support Officer) at  twatson at eastlothian.gov.uk or log onto http:edubuzz.org/blogs/internetsafety

Members of Youth Parliament sent away their application for Schools Question time today. They have based their questions around the hotly debated topic ‘Attack and Defense’ and chosen some very interesting panalists to debate this topic.

 I wish the group the best of luck - fingers crossed!

 To find out more about BBC Schools Question Time follow the link below

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/schools_question_time/default.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/schools_question_time/default.st

Resources for Modern Studies can be found anywhere and everywhere!

 Like him or loathe him, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has realised another ‘investigative’ film on the USA. This time he looks at the American Health Care system, focusing on the fact that it is a system which seems to be keeping the poor sick and the insurance companies very healthy indeed.

 Released on October 26th it will be a very useful film to catch for Standard Grade Modern Studies students as we study inequalities in healthcare in the USA within our Ideologies unit. You can watch the trailer by clicking on the link below (hopefully!).

 http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/m10834/Sicko/

Hi everyone!

Our debate this week has been on ‘Do we still need NATO?’. A very important and controversial topic! One of the arguements for keeping NATO is that the rise in international terrorism has meant that we should keep our country as safe as possible by being part of the biggest military alliance in the world.

 A point of discussion is….do you feel that international terrorism is a real threat to our safety or is it blown out of proportion?

 Any thoughts?????