Topical Tuesdays: Brexit Trade Agreement – KS2 News Story and Reading and Writing Activity Sheet from The Week Junior

On Christmas Eve 2020, the UK and the European Union (EU) finally reached an agreement on how the two sides would work together after Brexit.

This was good news, but thinking more generally, is it right for countries or states to gather together in large groups, such as the European Union?

Most people believe in much the same sorts of things surely it makes sense to agree the same sets of rules and work together within those guidelines? Or is it important to keep us all as separate groups, maintain our distinct cultures and traditions, and ‘look after our own’?

This resources pack includes an article from The Week Junior Newspaper about the EU/UK trade deal, and a sheet of activities designed to get children thinking, talking and writing about what the story means to them.

Activities include:

• Debate whether having groups of countries, such as the European Union, is a good thing. Most people believe in much the same sorts of things – friendship, fairness, co-operation and so on. Surely it makes sense to agree the same sets of rules and work together within those guidelines with international

  authorities to oversee fair play? Or is it important to keep us all as separate groups and to ‘look after our own’? What do you think?

• Imagine your school and another one nearby have had to join together to share things like books, playgrounds and lunch halls. Write a set of between five and ten rules that you think would help the partnership to succeed happily.
• Write a letter to a school pupil in another part of the world. Explain what it is like to live in the UK and add some questions asking about life in your pen pal’s country.
• Write a factfile about a group of states or countries, present or historical, such as the United States of America, the European Union or the former Soviet Union. Outline which states or countries were included, why they joined together and what kept them together.

Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download here.

What is The Week Junior?

The Week Junior magazine looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.

To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to schools.theweekjunior.co.uk.

This resource is part of the News Activities Archive collection.
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• News story
• Activities sheet