Author: onebighistorydepartment

curriculum and planning, subject leadership

This blogpost isn’t for you; what your line manager needs to know about history

Thanks to Catherine Priggs, Assistant Headteacher T&L, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School and member of HA Secondary Committee for this week’s blogpost. In it Catherine explains how to work with senior leaders to ensure that they have the knowledge they need to support history teaching and subject leadership. Curriculum leadership needs our attention. In the face of non-specialist teaching due to a recruitment and retention crisis, … Continue reading This blogpost isn’t for you; what your line manager needs to know about history

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substantive knowledge, teacher knowledge, teaching and learning resources, teaching history

Unsilencing Welsh History in Schools

This blogpost shares with OBHD readers a short article published in Public History Weekly on 8 June 2023 by Rhonwen Bruce-Roberts. Our students in our history lessons are living in the UK. Rhonwen suggests that ‘anglocentrism poses a risk of denying separate histories and separate identities that are a part of its story’. She challenges us to ‘tease out forgotten narratives through ‘multiperspectival history’’. Abstract: … Continue reading Unsilencing Welsh History in Schools

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diversity and inclusion, teaching and learning resources, teaching history

Resources for June – Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History month

This very short blogpost is to help spread the word about support and resources to help you take part in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history month with your students. “Don’t teach nothing about Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history or culture. Makes you feel like no one understands.” This is a quote from a yong person that you can find in the Anti-Bullying Alliances 2019 report … Continue reading Resources for June – Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History month

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curriculum and planning, GCSE and A level, historic environment, KS3, teaching and learning ideas, teaching history

How is your history club doing?

Thanks to Sally Burnham, HA and SHP Fellow and history teacher at Carres School in Lincolnshire for this blogpost. This post is packed full of great ideas for History Club activities across all year groups. In September we decided that we wanted to give History Club an ‘update’. During Covid it was many of the ‘nicer’ things of school life that had been put on … Continue reading How is your history club doing?

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curriculum and planning, diversity and inclusion, GCSE and A level, historic environment, KS3, local history, subject leadership, teaching history

Corners of foreign fields: ideas for making meaning and memory on a Battlefields Trips

Thanks to Hugh Richards, Head of History at Huntington School in York and leader of the HA’s Subject Leader Development Programme, for this blogpost. Hugh is a leading thinker about how to make history memorable and meaningful for young people, and he has a lot of experience in organising Battlefields Trips. Hopefully you will be inspired to get (back) to the Battlefields. This blog explains … Continue reading Corners of foreign fields: ideas for making meaning and memory on a Battlefields Trips

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curriculum and planning, historical scholarship, KS3, substantive knowledge, teaching history

Cracking the Enigma: a new approach to teaching ALL of World War Two

Thanks to David Bailey, a history teacher at Jerudong International School, Brunei, for this blogpost. David, and his departmental colleagues, have been rethinking their approach to teaching World War Two. He hopes to start a conversation about this. Please get in touch with your ideas and think about contributing a blogpost about how you have wrestled with this issue. How do you tackle World War … Continue reading Cracking the Enigma: a new approach to teaching ALL of World War Two

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diversity and inclusion, KS3, reading listening watching, subject leadership

Introducing South Asian Heritage Month

Thanks to Sharon Aninakwa, member of HA Secondary Committee and Head of History at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls, for this blogpost inviting us to to engage with South Asian Heritage month next term. Sharon provides context, reasons why we should engage, and practical support to do so. In the history teaching community we are blessed to be able to bridge the gap between … Continue reading Introducing South Asian Heritage Month

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beginning teacher, CPD, historical literacy, teaching history

What to read about reading

Thanks to Alex Fairlamb (@lamb_heart_tea) of HA Secondary Committee for putting together this reading list for anyone teaching history in schools. It will help us learn, talk and think deeply about why and how we are teacher of reading. Reading is a central part of student learning.  We are ALL teachers of literacy and therefore how we explicitly teach reading and use this to develop … Continue reading What to read about reading

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curriculum and planning, subject leadership

How special(ist) is your Line Manager?

Thank you to Simon Harrison, Headteacher of Crofton School and member of HA Secondary Committee, for this blogpost. In in Simon discusses line management by specialists and non-specialists, and points us in the direction of support for the latter to help them with their understanding of history as a school subject. As a history teaching headteacher, I find it hard to keep my nose out … Continue reading How special(ist) is your Line Manager?

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curriculum and planning, KS3, subject leadership, teaching history

Where do marks on KS3 assessments come from?

Thanks to Martyn Bajkowski, Head of History at Pleckgate School and member of Secondary Committee, for sharing work on assessment at Key Stage 3. Martyn shares how his department have read, thought and discussed their way to a manageable system that is focused on secure historical learning. Pupils find it engaging and it is providing the department with useful data to use to work on … Continue reading Where do marks on KS3 assessments come from?

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