Supplementary Activity Resources for UK Parliament Week 2019The activities in the centre pages of the Girlguiding Midlands UKPW 2019 booklet were provided by the WHOOSH Trainers Support Group – and here are the resources needed to run the activities with your unit. Have fun!Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of Parliament

Getting to Know Parliament / Picture Jigsaw Relay / Picture DominoesYou can use some or all of these photos for each of the above activities:

The Houses of Parliament are located on the banks of the River Thames

10 Downing Street is the official home of the Prime MInister

The chamber of the House of Commons can be recognised by its green seats

The chamber of the House of Lords can be recognised by its red seats

When there is an election members of the public cast their votes at a Polling Station. The Polling Station is often at a village hall, school, or similar

Big Ben is actually the name of the big bell inside the clock tower. The tower itself is called the Elizabethan Tower.

At elections votes are cast secretly into a sealed ballot box. At the end of the day the box is taken to a central point to have its votes counted.

The Prime Minister answers questions in the House of Commons every Wednesday at midday

In the House of CommonsProvide each group with a print out of the layout plan below:

Print a copy of the key below per group:

Copy and print the table below and cut out to make cards. For younger girls you may choose to use only the main ones:

Prime Minister SpeakerLeader of the Official Opposition

Leader of the second largest party in opposition

Government Members

Opposition Members

Clerk and Table Officers

Sergeant-at-Arms

The Mace The Bar Senate Gallery Speaker’s Gallery

Government Member’s Gallery

Diplomatic Gallery

Opposition Member’s Gallery

Official’s Gallery

Press Gallery Public Gallery Proceedings and Verification Officers

Pages

Interpreters TV Cameras

Parliamentary Tiddliwinks

Parliament has 100 staircases, more than 1000 rooms, and 3 miles of passages

There are purple ribbons attached to coat hangers in the Member’s cloakroom so Members can hang up their swords as well as their coats

300 panes of glass cover the clockface of Big Ben

There are 650 MPs in the House of Commons. 502 of them are men – 148 are women

Every day in the House of Commons starts with 3 minutes of prayers during which the MPs have to face the wall

Parliament produces 80 million printed pages each year – the official parliamentary record, committee reports, and draft legislation

When a proposed new law is sent to the House of Lords the instruction on it is written in an ancient form of French

Despite there being 650 MPs there are only 427 seats in the House of Commons – so when it is busy there is standing room only

The mace in Parliament is a symbol of royal authority and without it neither House can meet or pass laws

Who is Who and What do They Do?Print out the Powerpoint slides from the download labelled Happy Families on the website on card to make 8 sets of 4 “families” then use them to play Happy Families in a small group.Instructions for playing Happy Families:Look at the colours at the top of the cards. This game has 8 “families” (details of a Member of Parliament). Each family has 4 cards – the photo, name, political party, and constituency for each MP. You can easily

recognize the cards of a family as they all feature the same colour at the top. The object of the game is to collect as many families as possible. Deal out all the cards so that every player gets an equal number of cards. The dealer starts by asking another player for a card needed to complete a family. If the other player has the card he must give it to you. You may continue asking for cards until you make a mistake. When a mistake is made the player who was asked for his card takes his turn to request cards. That player can retake the cards taken in the previous round. When a player gathers a family he must put the 4 cards face down on the table in front of him. The player who collects the most family sets is the winner!RunaroundDisplay a large A, B, and C on the walls around the room.1.Where are the Houses of Parliament?A: BirminghamB: LondonC: Manchester

2.What is the name of the big bell which chimes every quarter of an hour?A: Big BerthaB: Big BillC: Big Ben

3.What is the actual name of the Houses of Parliament?A: The Palace of WestminsterB: Buckingham PalaceC: Westminster Abbey

4.What is the name of the place where Members of Parliament sit?A: The House of CommonsB: The House of LordsC: The House of Westminster

5.What is the title of the head of the government?A: Chancellor of the ExchequerB: The SpeakerC: Prime Minister

6. The budget sets out how money will be raised and spent. Who presents the budget to the House of Commons?A: The Chancellor of the ExchequerB: The Prime MinisterC: The Leader of the Opposition

7.Where does the Chancellor of the Exchequer live? A: 10 Downing StreetB: 11 Downing StreetC: 12 Downing Street

What is the name of the second chamber of Parliament?A: The House of CommonsB: The House of ParliamentC: The House of Lords

House of Ladies?The Houses of ParliamentThe UK Parliament is made up of three parts – the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Monarch. The Houses of Parliament is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is also called the Palace of Westminster. Both Houses debate national and international issues and share the responsibility of making new laws.The House of Commons is where the Members of Parliament work. It is the elected chamber of Parliament. There are 650 MPs, each elected to represent a different constituency in the UK which is a geographical area not necessarily related to County boundaries. MPs represent their constituents and their political party, and split their time between working in Parliament and in their constituency. MPs can hold the Government to account, and Prime Minister’s Questions and Ministerial Questions offer the opportunity to question and challenge the Government’s policies.The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and is independent of the House of Commons. There are more than 800 members of the House of Lords. The majority are Life Peers and have been appointed based on their knowledge and experience. Many have been politicians but others have expertise in areas such as business, health, education, the arts, and sport. CongressCongress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It has five main functions – making laws, representing the people, performing oversight, helping the constituents, and educating the public.

Like the UK Parliament the US Congress decides and makes the laws that govern the country. It also has the power to impeach the President and remove him from office. Congress has two chambers – the House of Representatives and the Senate. The power is divided between the two chambers in order to ensure that the interests of both small and large states are balanced. The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Congress and has 435 members, each serving for a two year term and representing a congressional district. Seats are divided across the states by population, but every state must have at least one member.The US Senate is the upper chamber of Congress. Senators represent their entire state, and each state has two senators regardless of its size or population. There is a total of 100 senators, and they are presided over the by Vice President of the US who has a casting vote in the event of a tie. Senators are elected for a six year term.

My Special ThingsPrint the simple box with lid template from the downloads on the website onto A4 card for each girl. They can cut the template out, decorate it, and be shown how to fold it and stick it to make the box.

My Coat of ArmsThe coat of arms template below can be copied and re-sized to print onto paper for each girl. It can be sub-divided into different sections if you wish (eg. special people, special things, special places, and special pastimes) or left for the girls to fill in randomly.

Green PaperYou can copy and paste the text below into a Word document to print for each member of the unit to use to draft her Green Paper. If they are stuck for ideas you could ask them to think about a guiding issue such as needing to find a new volunteer, more members for the unit, a change to the programme, etc. Limiting them to just one page might make the challenge less daunting!

One-Page Green Paper TemplateUnit:

Name:

Topic:

What’s the problem? (a simple explanation of the issue)

What I want to Achieve and Why (2 or 3 sentences to explain what you would like to happen to resolve the issue)

My Proposal (max 2 or 3 sentences to explain your suggestion)

What might be the Disadvantages of this Proposal (explain any possible consequences)

Costs of this Proposal (what it might cost to do it)

Problems which Might be Encountered (identify anything that might be a challenge)

How Success will be Measured (how you will know your idea has worked)

Questions (what you want to ask people to help decide whether to carry out your idea)

Contact (how people can let you know their answers to your questions)

Roll The Dice

o Think of an argument foro Think of an argument againsto What would you ask your MP/Girlguidin to do?o How could you raise awareness of this issue?o Where could you find out more information about this issue?o Challenge to the group to think of three facts about this topico What should your organisation be doing?o What should UK Parliament be doing?

First Thing in the Morning

Here is an example of an Early Day Motion – show it to the girls so that they get the idea of how to word one.

BELL BAXTER HIGH SCHOOL GLOBAL GOALS GROUP

EDM #2517

Tabled 20 June 20192017-19 Session

That this House congratulates Bell Baxter High School's Global Goals

group on a successful conference held to engage with the community

about the work and aims of the group; marks the fact the groups is

taking forward an action plan to address the UN 17 Sustainable

Development Goals for a better future; commends the group for raising

awareness of climate change and what the school and the wider

community can do to address the issue; commends their success in

tackling single use plastics in the school with the Pass on Plastics

campaign, providing recycling bins including crisp packet recycling,

introducing refillable water bottles for all new S1 pupils, working to

achieve an Eco Flag, championing the use and sale of Fairtrade

products; and recognises the group aims to work with businesses,

organisations and individuals across the community to effect positive

change.