Archives

17^th March 2010

Advertising with the ATSS

The ATSS is offering advertising space on their newly designed website.  This will be seen by a large number of Social Science teachers in schools and colleges across the UK.  The ATSS offers:

·         FREE weblinks from our website for partnership organisations such as BSA and the exam boards and other teacher organisations

·         Paid weblinks from our website for other organisations (e.g. publishers, education resource suppliers)

·         £200 for first year and £400pa thereafter, there may be negotiable rates for small/start up enterprises

·         We also offer inclusion in our newsletter or a specific email advertising at a cost of £100 for each instance you may require.

Interested? Please contact us at our office:

ATSS, Old Hall Lane, Manchester, M13 0XT

Telephone: 0161 248 9375

atss@btconnect.com

National Family Week

National Family Week aims to highlight the important role families play in society and encourage healthy active lifestyles and quality family time. Over 5,000 events will take place during National Family Week 2010 (31st May – 6th June) plus ideas to encourage families to spend quality time together. For further information on the plans for The Week, theme day toolkits and promotional resources, visit the National Family Week website at www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk and register for the Partner Zone.

Job news with the Citizenship Foundation

Go-Givers is an exciting PSHE and Citizenship programme launched in June 2007, which aims to develop the caring citizen. As Training and Promotions Officer you will provide solid and consistent support to other team members and work with them to promote and develop the project. The role will be varied, offers autonomy, responsibility and scope for development. The deadline for applications is 17 March 2010. Click here for Further details and how to apply.

Useful downloads

The latest edition of the A2 e-book for WJEC Sociology is now online on the NGFL site. It covers modules in Crime and Deviance and Social Inequality. Don’t forget, if you like it, email the NGfL Cymru with your thanks so that their funding remains assured for the near future. More material will then appear in the future. 

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/cym/vtc-home/vtc-aas-home/vtc-as_sociology

8^th March 2010

Revision AS Day

Glamorgan University are running an AS Sociology revision day on 13th April. For further information, contact the University directly and make sure you have places booked. Last year, centres were disappointed.

Trivia

Reminder that International Women’s Day means that this week is a good one to look out for lots of articles on feminism and the history of women. There are TV documentaries to check out and tape.

You can create your own online revision Blockbuster style quiz for playing in class very easily indeed if you go to http://www.teachers-direct.co.uk/resources/quiz-busters/. You only need to add twenty single words and some relevant questions.

We understand that Pat Mahoney of Coleg Gwent has retired. This is a very sad loss to teaching, but wish Pat a long, healthy and very happy retirement.

Get in touch with your views and news! It’s your organisation and will only be as good as you can make it.

2^nd March 2010

Revision Day news

Fionnula Swann has written with a bit of information for anyone thinking of booking students onto the Philip Allan student AS revision conference.  Philip Allan are thinking of cancelling this event as not enough students are booked onto it.  It is a shame as previous feedback has always rated it as an exceptionally useful revision day.  It is being led by senior examiners and it is focusing on revising key themes in preparation for the June AS exams.  If you were thinking of booking places, then do so, before it gets cancelled.  The revision conference is in London on 27th April and can be booked via the philip Allan website.

Trivia

Thanks to the sweet little poppet in year 10 who told me in all seriousness that she wanted to do soliciting in University. I think she meant she wanted to study law, but maybe with student loans being so expensive, she may have hit on something

You may want to look at www.seesaw.com which is a Channel Four website where you can watch reruns of programmes including documentaries. There is an excellent short documentary about Wild children, the offspring of hippy communes in the 1970s and the impact of the life style on the children. It would be useful as a starting point for discussions on the family see http://www.seesaw.com/TV/Factual/s-12850-Wild-Things

Bill McDonnell writes that there is website accompanying the bestselling book Connected.

http://www.connectedthebook.com/ . It helps if you've read the book but there is a really useful collection of slides to be downloaded from this site. This book has been the most interesting and broad in perspective since reading Putnam’s 'Bowling Alone'. They also challenge Putnam on the net and social networks/social capital. It will be interesting in its own right, but support courses in community and culture. In addition, this lecture might help as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnS5yIXcFuA

For all those people teaching youth culture, there is a good article on the Guardian website about the current state of youth culture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/25/emo-pop-tribes-mods-punks

Get in touch with your views and news! It’s your organisation and will only be as good as you can make it.

 February 2010
22^nd February 2010
Anthropology website
Exciting news from Barry Dufour for those considering the new Anthropology ‘A’ level with AQA; the new Royal Institute of Anthropology website has just gone live. See it for yourself at www.discoveranthropology.org.uk For information to support teachers and students of anthropology, then go directly to http://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/for-teachers/anthropology-a-level.html. You won’t be disappointed.

Extra reading for Sociology
There is a sluggish thread on the TES forum. Someone has asked for ideas for extra reading and enrichment for Sociology. This is an area that we can all offer insight into. It might be that people from ATSS would want to offer ideas and suggestions. If you feel like contributing, then look at http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/382911.aspx 
 
Conference
A member has written in to say that conference is becoming expensive for Sociology teachers. We do our best to make sure that it is excellent value for money and affordable, but the point is taken. If members have ideas where a good venue could be found or know of somewhere pleasant and suitable, then we could be delighted to hear from you. We would like to hear of hotels and/or conference venues that could accommodate up to 150 people, with a main auditorium and break out rooms for seminars as well. Don’t forget, conference 2010 is taking place in Northampton again and that a star cast of speakers has already been lined up for delegates.

Learning Disability Week
This year's Learning Disability Week is from 22-28 June. This may give those teaching Health and Social Care, or those delivering modules in Health and Welfare time to think of activities or linking projects. This year's Learning Disability Week will focus on the Changing Places, Changing Lives campaign. Mencap and the Changing Places Consortium are calling for fully accessible Changing Places toilets to be installed in all big public places across the UK. You can order a campaign and support pack from Mencap; see http://www.mencap.org.uk/page.asp?id=9870

Trivia
There is a sociology of education blog to be seen at http://sociofeducation.blogspot.com/ It is Canadian, but there are points of interest and some discussion of theory that may be of use to our students.
This PowerPoint can be downloaded to add to your notes on the history and theory of sociology as it relates to the development of functionalism http://www.worldofteaching.com/powerpoints/english/Functionalism%20and%20the%20Roots%20of%20Sociology.ppt
Here’s a nice little Youtube download exploring structural functional views of education and relating it to the British education system – with music as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPQEWmVrUVI.
Don’t forget, you can always download from Youtube by adding your details to www.zamzar.com/.  It is very easily done and you don't need to download annoying programmes to do so.  You may want to look at www.seesaw.com which is a Channel Four website where you can watch reruns of programmes including documentaries.  There may be some useful stuff to enrich your lessons. 

15th February 2010
Sociology BITES: What is sociology for...?
Keele University, School of Sociology and Criminology are delighted to offer this FREE post-16 conference between 10-3 on March 17th 2010.
The event is sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council and is part of the Festival of Social Science which runs from the 12th- 19th March.  The Festival is a national series of events intended to engage the public in the exploration of the social sciences.  Our post-16 conference will introduce students to real-world research conducted by Keele’s national and international experts.  A mix of different curriculum-relevant sessions will be offered using a range of delivery styles and supporting resources.  Sessions will also be supported by experienced Associate Teachers in Sociology.
We appreciate this is short notice for many of you but this is a new opportunity for Keele, which we hope to repeat next year (with more notice!), and external funding was only notified recently.  We do hope you will be able to come.  Please note however, places will be limited and allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. 
Email:  
Twitter: www.twitter.com/socandcrimkeele
Blog: www.socandcrimatkeele.blogspot.com

On Jan 29th, Jurgen Habermas was on Twitter.  He tweeted, 'It's true that the internet has reactivated the grass root of an egalitarian public sphere of writers and readers.'  
A few minutes later he added, 'It counterbalances the deficits from the impersonal and asymmetrical character of broadcasting insofar as......' then later again, 'it reintroduces deliberate elements in communication.  Besides that it can undermine the censorship of authoritarian regimes...’.
After huge speculation about whether or not it was authentic, it was spotted that the wording were exact quotes from his writing.  One blogger contacted Habermas who declared 'no, no, no'  'This is a misuse of my name' There was a full report in the Guardian 2/2/10
Thanks to Pam Burrage for this story!

Marmot Review
To download a copy of Sir Michael Marmot’s Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post 2010 (Marmot Review) which is going to be one of defining documents of social inequality in the UK, then go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview
Visit www.marmot-review.org.uk for information on the Marmot Review Conference.

Jewel of Muscat
The Jewel of Muscat is the recreation of a 9th-century Arab sailing ship being built in Oman. The building of the ship has now been completed, and she is due to embark on an historic voyage from Oman to Singapore immanently. The ship will retrace the international maritime trade routes of the 9th century, very similar to the adventures of the legendary Sinbad.
As part of this project, the trust have created a series of education materials for use to teach young people. The materials include lesson plans, classroom activities, quizzes, games and experiments. These materials are completely free, and have been specifically designed for use in Geography and History lessons. They can also be used for lessons on Arab history and culture, religious education, and citizenship, as well as presenting an opportunity for students to explore the globalization and multicultural history of the ancient world that continue to reverberate today.
The materials have been divided into Beginners (ages 6-8), Intermediate (ages 9-12), and Advanced (ages 13-16), all available on our website - www.jewelofmuscat.tv - where you can also find out more about the construction and upcoming voyage. You can see the latest videos, photos and interactive features.

5th February 2010
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2010
The ESRC Festival of Social Science 2010 is happening between the 12th and 21st March in more than 40 UK towns and cities. The events include workshops, debates, and exhibitions to film screenings, plays, and much more. Keep up to date with information as it is released by clicking on http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/FSS/

Marking work
Increasing demand for WJEC Sociology examinations at both GCSE and AS/A level means that the board will be looking for markers in the next few weeks. You can look out for advertisements in all of the usual places or you can contact Joanna Lewis, the subject officer directly for further information. It won’t make you rich, but it is useful, especially if you are teaching WJEC specifications and it will probably pay for a holiday to relax after all the hard work!  joanna.lewis@wjec.co.uk

University of Glamorgan
The University of Glamorgan is planning another Sociology Open Day, following the overwhelming success of the previous day last year. The date is provisionally, 13th April 2010 and the programme is yet to be finalised but will probably include sessions on Family, Education and youth culture or religion, all with some emphasis on identity.

Criminology consultation
The WJEC is undertaking a consultation exercise on the criminology level 3 specifications. The purpose of the questionnaire is to provide JACQA with evidence that the criteria for new free-standing qualifications are met. If you would like to feedback on the specification then you could complete the questionnaire here.

Trivia
Here is a website of teaching and educational news stories and links that might be useful for those pursuing modules in education http://www.teachingtimes.com/home.htm
Sign up for the Wiley Blackwell publisher e-news and have access to recent research published in a variety of journals e-news@wiley.com AS Open Day

January 2010

Sociology trips
Here is a plea from Matt Couzens, ‘We are looking to take either or both our AS & AL sociology students to a Sociology conference. Please can recommend any?’
‘Also we are also looking to organise some trips and wondered if there was a website that shared ideas for sociology trips as we have a few ideas but would like to see what other colleges organised.’
If you have ideas or experience of excellent trips for Sociology, then this would be a useful article for the Social Science Teacher journal. Otherwise, contact Matt Couzens directly msc@cirencester.ac.uk]
In between times, in case others need the same information, here are some ideas drawn from my experience and from the TES forums,

Speakers: The police have community liaison officers, charities such as Women's Aid, Mencap, RCE Equality First and Mind have prepared lessons that people will come in and deliver. The local magistrates are very good, and as many are ex-teachers they understand how to give good lessons. Your local new university may have a schools rep who will come in and do a jolly session. Your Chair of Governors may also be willing to do a session on the role of the governing body. There are commercial people who come in and do revision and training sessions (Keith Trobe of Lindisfarne press is excellent - get together with another centre and you will get excellent value for money)

Trips: Law courts are easy - phone the Crown Court, folk museums can show how people's daily lives have changed, Eton College do sessions and trips so maybe you've another historical school near you. In addition, Parliament is an excellent excuse for a day trip to London. I live in Barry, so I've done a good trip to Cardiff Castle and then Big Pit (a coalmine) as a direct contrast to illustrate capitalism, surplus value and Marxism. It rather worked to drive the point home about who bore the true cost of Cardiff's posh buildings and lovely Civic Centre.
People have also suggested theatre trips as well, Blood Brothers for nature/nurture debates and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for gender identity. Daytime television shows often look for audiences, so why not contact shows to see if you can participate?
If you have other or better ideas, then contact ATSS.

Job news
Don’t forget that if you are aware of good jobs or maybe looking for someone, don’t forget to contact ATSS with your details. And remember our highly qualified NQT who is looking for a post in September; if anyone hears of anything, let ATSS know. It would be nice to know who is retiring and who is taking on posts as well. The Social Sciences are a small world and a bit of gossip is always interesting.

BBC programming
BBC2 have been broadcasting 'The History of Now - The Story of The Noughties'.  It can be seen on the bbc iplayer and touches on age, and how older people tried to relive aspects of their youth, with references to 'the kidult'. Other key concepts are illustrated.  There are three programmes in the series, the one that touches on youth culture is the first, but all have useful information and background in them.

The Justice System
Useful information on the workings of the British Criminal Justice system can be seen at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/subjects/citizenship/justice/ This site will be helpful for those teaching Citizenship and GCSE Sociology courses and, for colleagues teaching through the medium of Welsh, it is also bilingual. There may be some relevance to Law and Criminology GCE as well

19^th January 2010
Job hunt
Is anyone likely to be able to offer a permanent or long term post in September, or sooner? No geographical limitations, although the South and West are better … A recently qualified mature NQT (GTP trained) professional with two Masters Degrees, in History and in Criminology, is looking for a job either teaching or lecturing in Sociology, Criminology and/or History and Politics. If you are looking for someone good and hard-working, with a publication record and experience of industry, then contact ATSS with your details.

Sociology Twitter
Eugene Spiers writes: ‘I am a teacher of Sociology in Barking, East London and a member of the ATSS. I have recently started 'tweeting' to try and engage A Level Sociology students with contemporary examples that they could use in their essays and with revision and homework tasks.
‘My user name is MrESpiers, my page is http://twitter.com/MrESpiers and you can search for #yr13soc and or #yr12soc to see what I have tagged for each year group. Please let me know if you have any questions or what you think of the idea.
I have looked at this, and will be sending my students in this direction even though they don’t do the same topics – anything that gets them thinking is worth the effort! Thanks, Eugene.
Eugene has also posted on the TES forum for Social Sciences, which is an invaluable source of help and support, though mostly used by psychology teachers at the moment. He would be glad of feedback and ideas from other people who are innovative with this technology. http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/60.aspx

ESRC: Britain in 2010
Don’t forget to sign up for your free copy of the ESRC magazine Britain in 2010, which retails in W H Smiths and newsagents at £4.95. Information can be seen at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/CP/britaintoday/index.aspx
The ESRC are developing a website, http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/ssfs/ which contains resources and information on a variety of topics relevant to ‘A’ level and GCSE courses in Sociology, Citizenship and General Studies. Remember to return to this site to see new factsheets and resources.

Weird
We will have our own snow stories, however the strangest things I saw were students who had managed about 60% attendance or less, who still somehow made it through the ten inches or so of snow that we had in time for their examinations! If only they had shown that level of commitment when there wasn’t a total breakdown of services and communication…

Help – GCSE Schemes of Work
tjdstrahan@hotmail.com is looking for schemes of work for GCSE Sociology with particular reference to Crime and Deviance, Power and Politics and Work and Leisure. If anyone can oblige, then please pass your stuff on.

Trivia
A letter of congratulations has been sent on behalf of ATSS membership to Prof Bob Burgess on his recent knighthood. Prof Burgess was a chair of the ATSS for many years and has been a good friend to the organisation. Many thanks to the very many people who passed on the news and to Barry Dufour, who got there first!
Chris Livesey is looking for authors for the Online Classroom site: He writes ‘We’re currently looking to expand the website, so if you have A-level / GCSE resources you’d like to publish we’d love to hear from you. Please use the following email address: chris@onlineclassroom.tv’ Note that the site http://onlineclassroom.tv/ offers free samples, and a range of useful resources so you may find it useful to register and look at what is available.

11th January 2010
Body Image Research
From marking GCSE coursework, I know that body image is an important topic and an area of concern for many students. It might be interesting for them to undertake and critique Gok Wan’s not terribly well designed but interesting online survey into body image http://howtolookgoodnaked.com/blog/2009/12/18/the-new-body-confidence-survey-2010/

Useful blogs
Designed for colleagues in Scotland preparing students for Modern Studies, there is a blog that might be very useful. There is material there that might support Critical Thinking, Government and Citizenship courses, in addition to the Welsh Baccalaureate. See http://edubuzz.org/blogs/kate/
The BBC Home Affairs editor, Mark Easton writes a regular blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/ commenting on life in Britain. This entry is a provocative article on the white working class as a forgotten and passive community and focuses on Leicester especially, but you can see much more as well by looking at the site:http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2009/10/map_of_the_week_forgotten_whit.html
For general teaching advice on behaviour issues and class control, you could do worse than subscribe to this blog which has some useful ideas and tips.   http://www.behaviourneeds.co.uk/blog/

Equality Trust
Bill McDonnell has sent an excellent link to the Equality Trust http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/ Look at their free resources. They have produced a really useful online video programme http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/inequality-video. This will serve for anyone doing modules on inequality and poverty or health and inequality. Top notch! Much of this material is linked to The Spirit Level which in my view is set to become one of the classics of research

Trivia
The OU have a variety of podcasts relating to themes of crime and social control. They will be very useful as lesson stimulus and for revision: see http://podcast.open.ac.uk/oulearn/social-sciences/podcast-d315-crimeorder-socialcontrol 
Psychology colleagues and SEN coordinators may find this online test for autism interesting – it tests ability to read expression from the eyes http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/Faces/EyesTest.aspx
You may be aware of the website of the National Literacy Trust; if not, it has a lot of information about social class and educational attainment that might be useful: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/stats/poorexam.html

1^st January 2010
Happy New Year
I hope your break was all you could have wished and despite having to go back at least a week too early, that you are refreshed and invigorated – well, alright, have recovered from your hangover … I hope the snow was only a passing inconvenience to those who experienced it, and that if it falls again, then large enough quantities drop on you so that work is closed!

Congratulations to an old and valued friend!
Thanks to Barry Dufour for passing on the excellent news that Professor Bob Burgess received a knighthood today in the New Year's Honours List.  So what with Anthony Giddens being a lord and now Bob Burgess a knight, we are mixing in exalted company indeed. We offer our congratulations to Bob on his new title and thanks to him for his support for the ATSS over very many years indeed.

Citizenship News
The Who Do We Think We Are website explores cultural diversity and is running a week in June devoted to projects related to identity and culture http://www.whodowethinkweare.org.uk/ 
Grants are available to schools to encourage participation and these are worth up to £500 each. See http://www.wdwtwa.org.uk/news/1536/grants-for-schools-now-open.html

News and information
Gordon Collins of the Gifted and Talented Association has an excellent monthly newsletter. He writes, ‘If anyone you know would like to receive my monthly careers newsletter as well as occasional reports, please email me to register.’ ces@london.com                      

17^th March 2010

Advertising with the ATSS

The ATSS is offering advertising space on their newly designed website.  This will be seen by a large number of Social Science teachers in schools and colleges across the UK.  The ATSS offers:

·         FREE weblinks from our website for partnership organisations such as BSA and the exam boards and other teacher organisations

·         Paid weblinks from our website for other organisations (e.g. publishers, education resource suppliers)

·         £200 for first year and £400pa thereafter, there may be negotiable rates for small/start up enterprises

·         We also offer inclusion in our newsletter or a specific email advertising at a cost of £100 for each instance you may require.

Interested? Please contact us at our office:

ATSS, Old Hall Lane, Manchester, M13 0XT

Telephone: 0161 248 9375

atss@btconnect.com

National Family Week

National Family Week aims to highlight the important role families play in society and encourage healthy active lifestyles and quality family time. Over 5,000 events will take place during National Family Week 2010 (31st May – 6th June) plus ideas to encourage families to spend quality time together. For further information on the plans for The Week, theme day toolkits and promotional resources, visit the National Family Week website at www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk and register for the Partner Zone.

Job news with the Citizenship Foundation

Go-Givers is an exciting PSHE and Citizenship programme launched in June 2007, which aims to develop the caring citizen. As Training and Promotions Officer you will provide solid and consistent support to other team members and work with them to promote and develop the project. The role will be varied, offers autonomy, responsibility and scope for development. The deadline for applications is 17 March 2010. Click here for Further details and how to apply.

Useful downloads

The latest edition of the A2 e-book for WJEC Sociology is now online on the NGFL site. It covers modules in Crime and Deviance and Social Inequality. Don’t forget, if you like it, email the NGfL Cymru with your thanks so that their funding remains assured for the near future. More material will then appear in the future. 

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/cym/vtc-home/vtc-aas-home/vtc-as_sociology

8^th March 2010

Revision AS Day

Glamorgan University are running an AS Sociology revision day on 13th April. For further information, contact the University directly and make sure you have places booked. Last year, centres were disappointed.

Trivia

Reminder that International Women’s Day means that this week is a good one to look out for lots of articles on feminism and the history of women. There are TV documentaries to check out and tape.

You can create your own online revision Blockbuster style quiz for playing in class very easily indeed if you go to http://www.teachers-direct.co.uk/resources/quiz-busters/. You only need to add twenty single words and some relevant questions.

We understand that Pat Mahoney of Coleg Gwent has retired. This is a very sad loss to teaching, but wish Pat a long, healthy and very happy retirement.

Get in touch with your views and news! It’s your organisation and will only be as good as you can make it.

2^nd March 2010

Revision Day news

Fionnula Swann has written with a bit of information for anyone thinking of booking students onto the Philip Allan student AS revision conference.  Philip Allan are thinking of cancelling this event as not enough students are booked onto it.  It is a shame as previous feedback has always rated it as an exceptionally useful revision day.  It is being led by senior examiners and it is focusing on revising key themes in preparation for the June AS exams.  If you were thinking of booking places, then do so, before it gets cancelled.  The revision conference is in London on 27th April and can be booked via the philip Allan website.

Trivia

Thanks to the sweet little poppet in year 10 who told me in all seriousness that she wanted to do soliciting in University. I think she meant she wanted to study law, but maybe with student loans being so expensive, she may have hit on something

You may want to look at www.seesaw.com which is a Channel Four website where you can watch reruns of programmes including documentaries. There is an excellent short documentary about Wild children, the offspring of hippy communes in the 1970s and the impact of the life style on the children. It would be useful as a starting point for discussions on the family see http://www.seesaw.com/TV/Factual/s-12850-Wild-Things

Bill McDonnell writes that there is website accompanying the bestselling book Connected.

http://www.connectedthebook.com/ . It helps if you've read the book but there is a really useful collection of slides to be downloaded from this site. This book has been the most interesting and broad in perspective since reading Putnam’s 'Bowling Alone'. They also challenge Putnam on the net and social networks/social capital. It will be interesting in its own right, but support courses in community and culture. In addition, this lecture might help as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnS5yIXcFuA

For all those people teaching youth culture, there is a good article on the Guardian website about the current state of youth culture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/25/emo-pop-tribes-mods-punks

Get in touch with your views and news! It’s your organisation and will only be as good as you can make it.

 February 2010
22^nd February 2010
Anthropology website
Exciting news from Barry Dufour for those considering the new Anthropology ‘A’ level with AQA; the new Royal Institute of Anthropology website has just gone live. See it for yourself at www.discoveranthropology.org.uk For information to support teachers and students of anthropology, then go directly to http://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/for-teachers/anthropology-a-level.html. You won’t be disappointed.

Extra reading for Sociology
There is a sluggish thread on the TES forum. Someone has asked for ideas for extra reading and enrichment for Sociology. This is an area that we can all offer insight into. It might be that people from ATSS would want to offer ideas and suggestions. If you feel like contributing, then look at http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/382911.aspx 
 
Conference
A member has written in to say that conference is becoming expensive for Sociology teachers. We do our best to make sure that it is excellent value for money and affordable, but the point is taken. If members have ideas where a good venue could be found or know of somewhere pleasant and suitable, then we could be delighted to hear from you. We would like to hear of hotels and/or conference venues that could accommodate up to 150 people, with a main auditorium and break out rooms for seminars as well. Don’t forget, conference 2010 is taking place in Northampton again and that a star cast of speakers has already been lined up for delegates.

Learning Disability Week
This year's Learning Disability Week is from 22-28 June. This may give those teaching Health and Social Care, or those delivering modules in Health and Welfare time to think of activities or linking projects. This year's Learning Disability Week will focus on the Changing Places, Changing Lives campaign. Mencap and the Changing Places Consortium are calling for fully accessible Changing Places toilets to be installed in all big public places across the UK. You can order a campaign and support pack from Mencap; see http://www.mencap.org.uk/page.asp?id=9870

Trivia
There is a sociology of education blog to be seen at http://sociofeducation.blogspot.com/ It is Canadian, but there are points of interest and some discussion of theory that may be of use to our students.
This PowerPoint can be downloaded to add to your notes on the history and theory of sociology as it relates to the development of functionalism http://www.worldofteaching.com/powerpoints/english/Functionalism%20and%20the%20Roots%20of%20Sociology.ppt
Here’s a nice little Youtube download exploring structural functional views of education and relating it to the British education system – with music as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPQEWmVrUVI.
Don’t forget, you can always download from Youtube by adding your details to www.zamzar.com/.  It is very easily done and you don't need to download annoying programmes to do so.  You may want to look at www.seesaw.com which is a Channel Four website where you can watch reruns of programmes including documentaries.  There may be some useful stuff to enrich your lessons. 

15th February 2010
Sociology BITES: What is sociology for...?
Keele University, School of Sociology and Criminology are delighted to offer this FREE post-16 conference between 10-3 on March 17th 2010.
The event is sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council and is part of the Festival of Social Science which runs from the 12th- 19th March.  The Festival is a national series of events intended to engage the public in the exploration of the social sciences.  Our post-16 conference will introduce students to real-world research conducted by Keele’s national and international experts.  A mix of different curriculum-relevant sessions will be offered using a range of delivery styles and supporting resources.  Sessions will also be supported by experienced Associate Teachers in Sociology.
We appreciate this is short notice for many of you but this is a new opportunity for Keele, which we hope to repeat next year (with more notice!), and external funding was only notified recently.  We do hope you will be able to come.  Please note however, places will be limited and allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. 
Email:  
Twitter: www.twitter.com/socandcrimkeele
Blog: www.socandcrimatkeele.blogspot.com

On Jan 29th, Jurgen Habermas was on Twitter.  He tweeted, 'It's true that the internet has reactivated the grass root of an egalitarian public sphere of writers and readers.'  
A few minutes later he added, 'It counterbalances the deficits from the impersonal and asymmetrical character of broadcasting insofar as......' then later again, 'it reintroduces deliberate elements in communication.  Besides that it can undermine the censorship of authoritarian regimes...’.
After huge speculation about whether or not it was authentic, it was spotted that the wording were exact quotes from his writing.  One blogger contacted Habermas who declared 'no, no, no'  'This is a misuse of my name' There was a full report in the Guardian 2/2/10
Thanks to Pam Burrage for this story!

Marmot Review
To download a copy of Sir Michael Marmot’s Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post 2010 (Marmot Review) which is going to be one of defining documents of social inequality in the UK, then go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview
Visit www.marmot-review.org.uk for information on the Marmot Review Conference.

Jewel of Muscat
The Jewel of Muscat is the recreation of a 9th-century Arab sailing ship being built in Oman. The building of the ship has now been completed, and she is due to embark on an historic voyage from Oman to Singapore immanently. The ship will retrace the international maritime trade routes of the 9th century, very similar to the adventures of the legendary Sinbad.
As part of this project, the trust have created a series of education materials for use to teach young people. The materials include lesson plans, classroom activities, quizzes, games and experiments. These materials are completely free, and have been specifically designed for use in Geography and History lessons. They can also be used for lessons on Arab history and culture, religious education, and citizenship, as well as presenting an opportunity for students to explore the globalization and multicultural history of the ancient world that continue to reverberate today.
The materials have been divided into Beginners (ages 6-8), Intermediate (ages 9-12), and Advanced (ages 13-16), all available on our website - www.jewelofmuscat.tv - where you can also find out more about the construction and upcoming voyage. You can see the latest videos, photos and interactive features.

5th February 2010
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2010
The ESRC Festival of Social Science 2010 is happening between the 12th and 21st March in more than 40 UK towns and cities. The events include workshops, debates, and exhibitions to film screenings, plays, and much more. Keep up to date with information as it is released by clicking on http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/FSS/

Marking work
Increasing demand for WJEC Sociology examinations at both GCSE and AS/A level means that the board will be looking for markers in the next few weeks. You can look out for advertisements in all of the usual places or you can contact Joanna Lewis, the subject officer directly for further information. It won’t make you rich, but it is useful, especially if you are teaching WJEC specifications and it will probably pay for a holiday to relax after all the hard work!  joanna.lewis@wjec.co.uk

University of Glamorgan
The University of Glamorgan is planning another Sociology Open Day, following the overwhelming success of the previous day last year. The date is provisionally, 13th April 2010 and the programme is yet to be finalised but will probably include sessions on Family, Education and youth culture or religion, all with some emphasis on identity.

Criminology consultation
The WJEC is undertaking a consultation exercise on the criminology level 3 specifications. The purpose of the questionnaire is to provide JACQA with evidence that the criteria for new free-standing qualifications are met. If you would like to feedback on the specification then you could complete the questionnaire here.

Trivia
Here is a website of teaching and educational news stories and links that might be useful for those pursuing modules in education http://www.teachingtimes.com/home.htm
Sign up for the Wiley Blackwell publisher e-news and have access to recent research published in a variety of journals e-news@wiley.com AS Open Day

January 2010

Sociology trips
Here is a plea from Matt Couzens, ‘We are looking to take either or both our AS & AL sociology students to a Sociology conference. Please can recommend any?’
‘Also we are also looking to organise some trips and wondered if there was a website that shared ideas for sociology trips as we have a few ideas but would like to see what other colleges organised.’
If you have ideas or experience of excellent trips for Sociology, then this would be a useful article for the Social Science Teacher journal. Otherwise, contact Matt Couzens directly msc@cirencester.ac.uk]
In between times, in case others need the same information, here are some ideas drawn from my experience and from the TES forums,

Speakers: The police have community liaison officers, charities such as Women's Aid, Mencap, RCE Equality First and Mind have prepared lessons that people will come in and deliver. The local magistrates are very good, and as many are ex-teachers they understand how to give good lessons. Your local new university may have a schools rep who will come in and do a jolly session. Your Chair of Governors may also be willing to do a session on the role of the governing body. There are commercial people who come in and do revision and training sessions (Keith Trobe of Lindisfarne press is excellent - get together with another centre and you will get excellent value for money)

Trips: Law courts are easy - phone the Crown Court, folk museums can show how people's daily lives have changed, Eton College do sessions and trips so maybe you've another historical school near you. In addition, Parliament is an excellent excuse for a day trip to London. I live in Barry, so I've done a good trip to Cardiff Castle and then Big Pit (a coalmine) as a direct contrast to illustrate capitalism, surplus value and Marxism. It rather worked to drive the point home about who bore the true cost of Cardiff's posh buildings and lovely Civic Centre.
People have also suggested theatre trips as well, Blood Brothers for nature/nurture debates and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for gender identity. Daytime television shows often look for audiences, so why not contact shows to see if you can participate?
If you have other or better ideas, then contact ATSS.

Job news
Don’t forget that if you are aware of good jobs or maybe looking for someone, don’t forget to contact ATSS with your details. And remember our highly qualified NQT who is looking for a post in September; if anyone hears of anything, let ATSS know. It would be nice to know who is retiring and who is taking on posts as well. The Social Sciences are a small world and a bit of gossip is always interesting.

BBC programming
BBC2 have been broadcasting 'The History of Now - The Story of The Noughties'.  It can be seen on the bbc iplayer and touches on age, and how older people tried to relive aspects of their youth, with references to 'the kidult'. Other key concepts are illustrated.  There are three programmes in the series, the one that touches on youth culture is the first, but all have useful information and background in them.

The Justice System
Useful information on the workings of the British Criminal Justice system can be seen at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/subjects/citizenship/justice/ This site will be helpful for those teaching Citizenship and GCSE Sociology courses and, for colleagues teaching through the medium of Welsh, it is also bilingual. There may be some relevance to Law and Criminology GCE as well

19^th January 2010
Job hunt
Is anyone likely to be able to offer a permanent or long term post in September, or sooner? No geographical limitations, although the South and West are better … A recently qualified mature NQT (GTP trained) professional with two Masters Degrees, in History and in Criminology, is looking for a job either teaching or lecturing in Sociology, Criminology and/or History and Politics. If you are looking for someone good and hard-working, with a publication record and experience of industry, then contact ATSS with your details.

Sociology Twitter
Eugene Spiers writes: ‘I am a teacher of Sociology in Barking, East London and a member of the ATSS. I have recently started 'tweeting' to try and engage A Level Sociology students with contemporary examples that they could use in their essays and with revision and homework tasks.
‘My user name is MrESpiers, my page is http://twitter.com/MrESpiers and you can search for #yr13soc and or #yr12soc to see what I have tagged for each year group. Please let me know if you have any questions or what you think of the idea.
I have looked at this, and will be sending my students in this direction even though they don’t do the same topics – anything that gets them thinking is worth the effort! Thanks, Eugene.
Eugene has also posted on the TES forum for Social Sciences, which is an invaluable source of help and support, though mostly used by psychology teachers at the moment. He would be glad of feedback and ideas from other people who are innovative with this technology. http://community.tes.co.uk/forums/60.aspx

ESRC: Britain in 2010
Don’t forget to sign up for your free copy of the ESRC magazine Britain in 2010, which retails in W H Smiths and newsagents at £4.95. Information can be seen at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/CP/britaintoday/index.aspx
The ESRC are developing a website, http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/ssfs/ which contains resources and information on a variety of topics relevant to ‘A’ level and GCSE courses in Sociology, Citizenship and General Studies. Remember to return to this site to see new factsheets and resources.

Weird
We will have our own snow stories, however the strangest things I saw were students who had managed about 60% attendance or less, who still somehow made it through the ten inches or so of snow that we had in time for their examinations! If only they had shown that level of commitment when there wasn’t a total breakdown of services and communication…

Help – GCSE Schemes of Work
tjdstrahan@hotmail.com is looking for schemes of work for GCSE Sociology with particular reference to Crime and Deviance, Power and Politics and Work and Leisure. If anyone can oblige, then please pass your stuff on.

Trivia
A letter of congratulations has been sent on behalf of ATSS membership to Prof Bob Burgess on his recent knighthood. Prof Burgess was a chair of the ATSS for many years and has been a good friend to the organisation. Many thanks to the very many people who passed on the news and to Barry Dufour, who got there first!
Chris Livesey is looking for authors for the Online Classroom site: He writes ‘We’re currently looking to expand the website, so if you have A-level / GCSE resources you’d like to publish we’d love to hear from you. Please use the following email address: chris@onlineclassroom.tv’ Note that the site http://onlineclassroom.tv/ offers free samples, and a range of useful resources so you may find it useful to register and look at what is available.

11th January 2010
Body Image Research
From marking GCSE coursework, I know that body image is an important topic and an area of concern for many students. It might be interesting for them to undertake and critique Gok Wan’s not terribly well designed but interesting online survey into body image http://howtolookgoodnaked.com/blog/2009/12/18/the-new-body-confidence-survey-2010/

Useful blogs
Designed for colleagues in Scotland preparing students for Modern Studies, there is a blog that might be very useful. There is material there that might support Critical Thinking, Government and Citizenship courses, in addition to the Welsh Baccalaureate. See http://edubuzz.org/blogs/kate/
The BBC Home Affairs editor, Mark Easton writes a regular blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/ commenting on life in Britain. This entry is a provocative article on the white working class as a forgotten and passive community and focuses on Leicester especially, but you can see much more as well by looking at the site:http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2009/10/map_of_the_week_forgotten_whit.html
For general teaching advice on behaviour issues and class control, you could do worse than subscribe to this blog which has some useful ideas and tips.   http://www.behaviourneeds.co.uk/blog/

Equality Trust
Bill McDonnell has sent an excellent link to the Equality Trust http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/ Look at their free resources. They have produced a really useful online video programme http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/inequality-video. This will serve for anyone doing modules on inequality and poverty or health and inequality. Top notch! Much of this material is linked to The Spirit Level which in my view is set to become one of the classics of research

Trivia
The OU have a variety of podcasts relating to themes of crime and social control. They will be very useful as lesson stimulus and for revision: see http://podcast.open.ac.uk/oulearn/social-sciences/podcast-d315-crimeorder-socialcontrol 
Psychology colleagues and SEN coordinators may find this online test for autism interesting – it tests ability to read expression from the eyes http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/Faces/EyesTest.aspx
You may be aware of the website of the National Literacy Trust; if not, it has a lot of information about social class and educational attainment that might be useful: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/stats/poorexam.html

1^st January 2010
Happy New Year
I hope your break was all you could have wished and despite having to go back at least a week too early, that you are refreshed and invigorated – well, alright, have recovered from your hangover … I hope the snow was only a passing inconvenience to those who experienced it, and that if it falls again, then large enough quantities drop on you so that work is closed!

Congratulations to an old and valued friend!
Thanks to Barry Dufour for passing on the excellent news that Professor Bob Burgess received a knighthood today in the New Year's Honours List.  So what with Anthony Giddens being a lord and now Bob Burgess a knight, we are mixing in exalted company indeed. We offer our congratulations to Bob on his new title and thanks to him for his support for the ATSS over very many years indeed.

Citizenship News
The Who Do We Think We Are website explores cultural diversity and is running a week in June devoted to projects related to identity and culture http://www.whodowethinkweare.org.uk/ 
Grants are available to schools to encourage participation and these are worth up to £500 each. See http://www.wdwtwa.org.uk/news/1536/grants-for-schools-now-open.html

News and information
Gordon Collins of the Gifted and Talented Association has an excellent monthly newsletter. He writes, ‘If anyone you know would like to receive my monthly careers newsletter as well as occasional reports, please email me to register.’ ces@london.com