Politics

“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” These words from Franklin D. Roosevelt beautifully summarise our Politics course, which offers a unique opportunity to cover a subject which changes markedly from year to year based on current affairs and political developments, including analysing the recent referendum and general election results which have so markedly changed the UK’s place in the world order.

The A level Politics course came in for first teaching in September 2017, and is based around the study of three units, giving an insight into power within the UK, considering the role of key institutions and the mechanisms which bind them together, followed then by the study of Global Politics, covering key issues such as power, global governance and globalisation, which have never been more relevant to the world.

All units are examined by a mixture of shorter and longer answer questions.

Subject Content and Course Assessment

Unit 1 – UK Politics and Core Political Ideas

Paper Code: 9PLO/01 – 33.3% of A Level (2 hours exam paper).
Topics: Democracy and participation, electoral systems, voting behavior, the media, conservatism, liberalism, socialism.

Unit 2 – UK Government and other Political Ideas

Paper Code: 9PLO/02 – 33.3% of A Level (2 hours exam paper).
Topics: The UK constitution, parliament; Prime Minister and the executive; relationships between the branches, one other political ideology.

Unit 3 – Comparative Politics – Global Politics option

Paper Code: 9PLO/3B – 33.3% of A Level (2 hours exam paper).
Topics: sovereignty and globalisation, global governance, power and development, regionalism and the European Union, comparative theories.

Higher Education and Careers

In recent years a high number of students have gone on to study Politics at a higher level, including entry to courses based around International Relations, and the increasingly popular PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) courses.

Qualifications in Politics give a very strong grounding for all sorts of careers such as civil service, law, media and publishing, management, retail, accountancy, banking, the Foreign Office, politics, political consultancy.

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to describe and explain the increased tension over Berlin between Khrushchev and Kennedy. You will be able to have a good understanding of why there were summit meetings called, 1960 and 1961. You will be able to describe and explain why the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. You will be able to explain the impact the building of the wall had on East-West relations and the importance of Kennedy’s visit to Berlin in 1963. You will be able to show a good understanding of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the importance of the Bay of Pigs failed invasion of 1961 and the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.	You will be able to evaluate the impact on international relations of increased tension over Berlin between Khrushchev and Kennedy. You understanding of the summit meetings is precise and you can evaluate their importance. You will be able to precisely recall details of how why the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. You will be able to evaluate the importance of the building of the wall on East-West relations and the importance of Kennedy’s visit to Berlin in 1963. You will be able to show a precise knowledge and understanding of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the importance of the Bay of Pigs failed invasion of 1961 the events and significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 in the short term and long term.
Assessment Methods
Do-now tasks Retrieval Quiz in class End of Unit Assessment

Meeting	Exceeding
You will demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of the origins of the Weimar Republic from its creation in 1918. You will be able to describe and explain why the Republic faced political and economic challenges in the years 1919 – 1923. You will be able to understand some controversy over Germany’s recovery from 1924 – 28. You will be able to describe and explain how society and culture changed during the ‘Golden Years’ of Weimar. You will mostly be able to demonstrate accurate recall of key people, key dates, terminologies and acronyms to describe aspects Weimar Germany, 1918 – 1928.	You will be able to recall, with more precision and accuracy, the origins of the Weimar Republic from 1918. You will accurately explain the early challenges including the Spartacist Uprising, Kapp Putsch and the causes and impact of the German Hyperinflation of 1923. You will be able to recall, with precision and accuracy, how Weimar recovered including Stresemann’s economic and foreign policy successes whilst able to evaluate the limitations of recovery. You will have a secure knowledge of how Weimar society and culture changed. You will be able to convincingly demonstrate accurate and precise recall of key people, key dates, terminologies and acronyms describing aspects of Weimar Germany 1924 – 1929.
Assessment Methods
Do-now tasks Retrieval Quiz in class End of Unit Assessment

Meeting	Exceeding
You show a good knowledge and understanding of key terms associated with the changes happening from 1750 – 1900. You are able to describe and explain some aspects of continuity of society and economy during this period. You demonstrate a good understanding of how agriculture changed, why the factory system developed, how transport improvements impacted the economy with particular reference to the steam train. You are able to explain why living conditions in the new towns and cities changed, the impact on public health and calls for reform. You show secure evaluation of sources for utility, taking into account some aspects of provenance and / or own knowledge.	You are able to show an excellent knowledge and understanding of key terms associated with the changes happening from 1750 – 1900. You are able to precisely describe and explain aspects of continuity of society and economy during this period. You are able to show an excellent and precise understanding of how agriculture changed, why the factory system developed, how transport improvements impacted the economy with particular reference to the steam train. You are able to evaluate how and why living conditions in the new towns and cities changed and the impact these changes had on public health and calls for reform. You show a convincing evaluation of sources for utility, taking into account provenance and precise own knowledge.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Questioning in class Peer assessments (Skills based written response)

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to describe and explain the early tension between the members of the Grand Alliance at the three wartime conferences and events in Europe up to 1945. You will be able to have a good understanding of the ideological differences between Capitalism and Communism. You will be able to describe and explain the development of the Cold 1947 – 1949 including the flashpoint of Berlin, 1948 – 49 and the setting up of East and West Germany. You will understand why the Cold War intensified, 1949 – 58 including the arms race and the USSR’s response to the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and international reaction to this.	You will be able to evaluate the consequences of the wartime alliances for East-West relations. You will understand the attitudes of the wartime leaders and how this further impacted East-West relations. You will select accurate evidence to show the creation of the satellite states to further explain how soviet influence spread, 1945-48. You will be able to demonstrate an excellent understanding of short term and long term reasons why Stalin blockaded Berlin and how this further escalated the Cold War. You will be able to evaluate the significance of the arms race, Khrushchev’s response to the Hungarian Uprising and international reaction.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Retrieval quizzes in class Topic 1 End of Unit Assessment (factual recall)

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to have a good knowledge of Nazi policies towards women and why this was so. You will be able to describe and explain Nazi policies towards young people including education and youth groups with some evaluation. You will be able to understand the ways the Nazis reduced unemployment and how they made changes to peoples’ standard of living. You will be able to describe and explain why persecution of minority groups, especially the Jews, increased after 1933.	You will be able to evaluate Nazi policies towards women and young people. You will be able to confidently evaluate policies designed to reduce unemployment whilst also having an in-depth knowledge of policies impacting the standard of living of German workers. You will be able to evaluate the impact Nazi racial policies had upon groups such as Slavs, Roma, Sinti, homosexuals and those with disabilities. You will be able to evaluate the escalation of persecution towards Jewish people with precise reference to events such as the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Retrieval quizzes in class Key Topic 4: End of Unit assessment (factual recall)

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to write a response that includes three causes of the outbreak of The Great War (this is the keystone point: no answer can be graded as ‘meeting’ if it does not contain three causes from: military, alliances, imperialism and nationalism). You will demonstrate the skill of analytical writing by demonstrating the Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link technique (PEEL) on each paragraph. For each cause, you will be including sufficient factual detail/proof to justify judgements rather than unsupported statements. You will be able to show secure explanation on each cause and link to why it was a reason for World War I breaking out.	You will apply precisely selected evidence, giving more weight to the judgements drawn. The quality of your evaluation will be in greater depth (e.g. linking in more depth to the question, considering limitations of each factor as a cause, making a clear judgement for each cause, maybe comparing their importance). You will be able to write a response that can also contain evidence of more independent research gathered from outside of the content studied in class.
Assessment Methods
Do Now tasks Retrieval quiz (factual recall) in class End of Unit 2 assessment (Skill: causation writing)

Meeting	Exceeding
Your written response analyses each source. The written response explains why each source is useful to a historian (i.e. what we can learn from the source) Your written response analyses the provenance of a source, considering the impact on usefulness, Some aspects (nature, origin, purpose) are explored less convincingly. You have applied your own knowledge to test the source content, and how this may affect usefulness, but this may lack detail, or show inconsistency between sources. You include some evaluation of utility using some of your own knowledge to support.	You have convincingly analysed both sources with utility explained in equal depth. Your written response discusses the nature, origin and purpose (provenance) of each source, considering its utility with all elements considered convincingly in depth. You include detailed and precise own knowledge and deploy this to test the source content to explain how this may affect usefulness, showing an excellent understanding of the topic. There is no unnecessary narrative.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Questioning in class End of Unit Assessment: Skills based written response on source Utility

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to produce a written response that includes three distinct causes of the Break with Rome (this is the keystone point: no answer can be graded as ‘meeting’ if it does not contain three factors) Each of your causes contain sufficient factual detail/proof to justify judgments rather than assertions. Each cause is analysed/explained and linked to why it was a cause of the break with Rome	Your selected evidence is precise and detailed giving more weight to the judgments drawn. The quality of your evaluation is in greater depth (e.g. linking in more depth to the question, considering limitations of each factor as a cause, making a clear judgement for each cause, maybe comparing their importance). Your answers may contain evidence of independent research outside of the work covered in class.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Questioning in class End of Unit Assessment: Causation writing (PEEL Paragraphs)

Meeting	Exceeding
You need to know and explain a main reason why William won at Hastings and give your view as to why it was important. You should write a paragraph that demonstrates a clear causation approach, including the reason, evidence for it, and an explanation of why it helped William win. You must give a brief judgement explaining why this cause was the most important.	You need to explain the reason why William won at Hastings and evaluate why it is the important reason. You should demonstrate clear evidence of writing in a causation structure by making a point and supporting it with precisely selected relevant evidence. You must show evaluation by explaining the relative importance of the cause you are discussing.
Assessment Methods
Do Now scores Comprehension quiz Skills based end of unit assessment

Subject Content and Course Assessment

Unit 1 – UK Politics and Core Political Ideas

Unit 2 – UK Government and other Political Ideas

Unit 3 – Comparative Politics – Global Politics option

Higher Education and Careers

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