Secondary School: Form Time Sessions (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
Overview:
This set of lessons in the project ‘Our Generation Our Vote’, has been produced to provide young people in secondary school with the knowledge and skills they need to engage with a General Election. The teaching time once an election is called can be short especially if this overlaps with a school holiday therefore this introductory unit offers the opportunity for schools to introduce students to the core knowledge and concepts they will need to successfully teach about a general election.
Curriculum links:
Taking part in the ‘Our Generation. Our Vote’ project will support schools to deliver a range of key curriculum areas, including Citizenship, PSHE, SMSC (particularly the promotion of fundamental British values) in England and Health and Well-Being and Humanities in Wales. Taking part will also support with children and young people’s personal development; one of the four key judgements for Ofsted inspections in England and a key part of the inspection area ‘care, support and guidance’ for Estyn in Wales.
Time commitment:
We understand that schools will have varying amounts of time to devote to the ‘Our Generation Our Vote’ project therefore we have produced a range of options you may wish to follow:
➯ A form time discussion route - short informative and discursive sessions to be lead by form tutors.
➯ An assembly route - Knowledge based assemblies with guidance notes that can be delivered by a range of staff members.
➯ Full lessons route - A range of lesson materials created by experienced providers which answer all of the key questions laid out below. Most are accompanied by full teacher guidance.
Key Learning questions:
These sessions will cover the following key learning questions:
➯ Who has the power to make political decisions over England and Wales?
➯ What is Parliament?
➯ What is a general election?
➯ What does an MP do?
➯ Candidates
➯ Manifestos and issues
➯ Exploring manifestos and casting your vote!
➯ Analysing the results
Please note, teachers do not need to deliver all the resources; they should pick and choose those that are most appropriate for their learners and the time they have available.
If you have more time, these short form time sessions can be accompanied by interactive activities found here.
There is no fixed way of delivering ‘Our Generation our Vote’ however we do recommend that all of the key questions are covered.
Introduction to Our Generation. Our Vote. (Secondary School Form Time resources)
Welcome to Our Generation Our Vote!
These sessions introduce learners to what Our Generation Our Vote is and gets them energised to participate in the project, alongside thousands of other young people across England and Wales.
Introduction to the election (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
This session introduces young people to elections.
Registering to vote (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
This session supports young people through the registering to vote process.
What is the UK government? (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
This session introduces young people to national government.
Candidates (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
This session supports young people to research and learn about the candidates they can vote for.
Exploring manifestos and casting your vote!
The Results (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
This session introduces learners of all ages to the results of Our Generation. Our Vote. and supports them to start to analyse these. Learners then compare the results of Our Generation. Our Vote. to the results of the 2024 General Election and start to think about how the winning government and their elected MP might have an impact on their lives and community. Please see the facilitator notes on each slide for more detail and delivery guidance.
This session should take approximately 30 to 50 minutes, depending on the uptake of, and time given to, the discussion activities and whether you look at the results in more detail with your group via the Our Generation. Our Vote. results page, or just use the information on the slides.
On some of the slides, there are additional questions or more detail aimed at older groups of young people, these are indicated by an orange box. Please use/remove as appropriate for the age and needs of your group.
From the new academic year, Our Generation. Our Vote. will share additional resources and opportunities for young people to continue with democratic education and getting their voices heard in their communities and with their elected MP.
Secondary School Form Time sessions (Our Generation. Our Vote.)
A series of 10/15 minute sessions that are designed to be delivered to secondary school students and learners in form time in the run up to the general election on 4th July.
This presentation collects together all sessions for the programme.