Rosie Knowles
'The effect of Labour Party policy upon the UK class system'
Not just a complex subject, but potentially a contentious one, too. And you'd be forgiven for taking it to be university level at least ... But it's actually the title of Rosie Knowles's extended project – which she's working on as part of the AQA Baccalaureate.
We caught up with Rosie during the summer holidays at the end of her Lower Sixth to find out how she's been getting on ...
So, what made you choose the subject?
It related to subjects we covered in our Sociology A level, so I decided I'd like to find out more about it. I'm interested in politics, though I wouldn't say I know much about it!
‘You're really arguing something, coming out with your own opinions and backing them up’
And once you'd identified the area?
Well, I came up with some ideas, then had a meeting with Carolyn, my extended project 'supervisor'. We discussed the ideas and she gave me some guidance and made some suggestions: what she thought would work best, potential problems and so on. Once I'd worked on it a bit more, we had a second meeting and set targets for progress over the summer and that kind of thing.
How are you finding it so far?
I've been doing a lot of reading! Researching and finding out the detail of actual policies.
Because it's such a long project, I've found I have to have a lot of self-discipline and self-motivation. There's a lot of research to do – but it makes it feel a lot more satisfying when you make progress.
‘I've realised how much progress I've made over the year’
And what about other elements of the AQA Baccalaureate?
Overall, I think it's really made me appreciate how much time I've put into things and how much progress I've made over the year. It's weird when you look back and realise how much you've done!
For example, the enrichment part has really pushed me to keep up my debating. It was something I did already, but when you're busy with lessons it's easy to let things slip a bit. The Bacc gave me a push.
And Critical Thinking is interesting – it makes you think a lot. We've been looking at a lot of topics and discussing or writing essays. And it's a more interesting style of essay – you're really arguing something, coming out with your own opinions and backing them up.
Aside from the AQA Bacc, what else are you studying?
I'm doing AS levels in English, Sociology, Psychology, Maths and Further Maths.
And any ideas about university plans?
I'd like to study English at university – then become a nursery school teacher. I haven't decided on a university yet ... I was thinking about Oxford ... But maybe Edinburgh, York, KCL ...