Social Studies

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Social Studies - Secondary News and Links

This page will keep you up to date with national initiatives and developments in social studies as well as suggesting resources and websites that you may find useful.

I’d also be delighted to hear about any exciting and successful language work that you and your class have been involved in. Contact me at the Oban Education Office on 01631 564 908 or send me an email – Elliot.

Useful History Links

www.sath.org.uk Website of the Scottish Association of Teachers of History – news and views of practising teachers, current debates, information on Conferences and workshops dedicated to furthering the cause of History teaching in Scotland.

www.scran.ac.uk The Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network- free school access to over 300,000 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media uniquely focused on our Scottish heritage.

www.learningcurve.gov.uk Free online teaching and learning resource from the National Archives- loads of documents, photos, film, and lesson materials with emphasis on English curricular areas but with key overlapping themes for the Scottish curriculum .

www.nationaltrust.org.uk Includes brief histories and visitor information on over 300 historic buildings and gardens owned by the National Trust

www.nls.uk Access to Scotland’s premier library online housing the largest collection of books and maps for the study of Scotland and its people.

www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ Website on the management and safeguarding of Scotland’s built historic environment which includes learning pack resources for schools.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Online access to the UK’s repository of Census records, pictures, photos, and historical documents from the Public Record office- includes research information leaflets and an education centre.

www.bbc.co.uk/history Excellent website with a huge variety of serious and “fun” resources which include animations, galleries games and interactive tasks on many historical themes.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revision Includes “bitesize” revision materials and tests for the English national curriculum but also for Scottish Standard Grade and Highers which pupils enjoy using.

www.schoolhistory.co.uk Terrific website which boasts a huge variety of freely downloadable materials including worksheets, lesson plans, powerpoints, games, quizzes and contains links to other relevant sites with an excellent teachers forum for gleaning ideas.

www.historyonthenet.com Lots of freely downloadable resources including quizzes, worksheets, lesson plans- not a great range of topics but nevertheless worth a look.

www.reviseonline.co.uk A site maintained by Miss Stockdill at Castle Douglas High School – site holds a host of interactive activities plus links to other useful websites.

Useful Geography Links

SQA Website
Main SQA website and accessible by teachers and pupils. The site contains Conditions and Arrangements documents for all subjects at all level. A very useful resource are the Marking Schemes for all recent exams, which can be used by staff and pupils to improve exam technique.

www.understandingstandards.org.uk
This is a password protected SQA site aimed at teachers. Its main use is to allow teachers to mark sample questions and get instant feedback on the accuracy of their marking.

http://www.scalloway.org.uk
This is a terrific site for revision of Standard Grade Geography topics. Hosted by Scalloway Junior High School in Shetland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education /
The BBC has two main sites for the study and revision of Geography in Scottish schools: one at Standard Grade and one at Higher. Both provide excellent up to date coverage of the respective courses.

www.sagt.org.uk
Website of the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers. Gives access to a wide range of resources for all levels of the subject, with a large number of useful links to other sites.

http://www.who.int/
The World Health Organisation website has links to an enormous amount of information on matters of health. Invaluable for pupils studying Higher and Intermediate Geography.

http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=12426
Excellent site for animations of physical Geography processes.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/index.html
Education pages of the MET Office website, give very useful resources on all aspects of UK and world weather conditions.

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
Site of the Ordnance Survey. Contains lots of useful material for both teachers and pupils, including some good educational games.

www.ecoschoolsscotland.org/
Eco Schools is an international initiative designed to encourage whole-school action for the environment.

www.gtcs.org.uk/
The website of the General Teaching Council for Scotland. GTC Scotland has responsibility for maintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching in Scotland.

www.ltscotland.org.uk/
Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice, support, resources and staff development which seek to enhance the quality of learning in Scotland.

www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/
NQ (National Qualifications) Online is the resource to support learning and teaching in Scotland's secondary schools and further education colleges. Includes a searchable electronic library of support materials and resources, including teaching and student packs on individual subjects, practical activities for the classroom, specimen exam questions, sample projects and management advice, including some downloadable resources for teachers of Geography.

Useful Modern Studies Links

www.tutor2u.net
Designed for AS Level but excellent for Higher and Advanced Higher. Extensive archive of free downloadable powerpoints and revision notes on UK and international politics.

www.number-10.gov.uk
Excellent for teachers and pupils. Keep up to date with the latest events.

www.scotland.gov.uk
Keep up to date with events at the Scottish Executive.

www.theherald.co.uk
Excellent resource for teachers and pupils.

www.abernet.org.uk
Aberdeen Council’s education website with excellent downloads for standard Grade and Higher.

www.historylearningsite.co.uk
While this is a history site, it also contains a section on UK and US politics with superb notes on all of the topics covered at Higher and Advanced Higher.

http://edition.cnn.com/POLITICS
Excellent website for US politics.

http://thisnation.com/
Full of resources about US politics.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek
Daily digest of articles from Newsweek.

www.washingtonpost.com
Articles from a quality US newspaper.

www.un.org/english
Lots of material across all UN activities.

://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public
Extensive information about the UN.

www.hq.nato.int/
Up to the minute news and articles. Includes video and audio downloads.

Modern Studies Association Website

www.msa-scotland.co.uk

The official site of the Modern Studies Association. Contains a huge number of links and if you join the MSA your membership entitles you to access the restricted section of the site which contains a wealth of resources. Highly recommended.

Higher History Pupil Conference

As part of the Raising Attainment initiative, a very successful Higher History Pupil Conference was held in Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh on Friday 16 March. Over a hundred pupils from six schools in the authority took part. Mr G Urie, Headteacher at Hermitage Academy welcomed the keynote speaker, Dr Ian Matheson, former SQA Principal Assessor for Higher History. Pupils were given intensive support by Dr Matheson, in developing their Essay Skills and took part in mixed school workshops which included essay script marking, and building up a specific answer to an essay question from the previous 2006 examination paper. After lunch, Mr Jim McGonigle, PT History at Hermitage Academy, gave pupils excellent advice on developing their Source Handling Skills and, again, pupils had the opportunity to mark and evaluate a variety of sources from past year's scripts. Pupil and staff feedback at the end of the day was overwhelmingly positive ( comments below) and it is to be hoped that this type of conference will be scheduled again in the next session. Thanks to all participants for making the day so worthwhile.

" Very good.. provided a lot of information" " Really helpful"

" I learnt to always read the question!" " Useful... have it again"

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