Category: subject leadership

CPD, curriculum and planning, disciplinary knowledge, diversity and inclusion, historical enquiry, historical scholarship, KS3, sources and evidence, subject leadership, substantive knowledge, substantive knowledge

Decolonising Source Analysis and Introducing Sikh Female History to Year 9

Many thanks to Dr Danielle Donaldson, Head of Department, Concord College, Shrewsbury for this blogpost sharing her department’s work to extend the range of sources used in class and to teach the history of Sikh women. The curriculum intent & context We have been working on decolonising and integrating more representative history in our schemes of work at Concord College. Our enquiries are aimed to … Continue reading Decolonising Source Analysis and Introducing Sikh Female History to Year 9

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subject leadership, teaching history

4 reasons why your Headteacher should buy you an HA Corporate Membership

Simon Harrison, Headteacher of Crofton School in Hampshire and member of HA Secondary Committee, provides anyone who needs them with arguments to present to senior leadership as to why your history department needs HA Corporate Membership. From history teacher to Headteacher, in over 25 years of teaching I have filled most school roles;  history teacher,  in the ‘middle’ as a subject leader, an Advanced Skills … Continue reading 4 reasons why your Headteacher should buy you an HA Corporate Membership

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curriculum and planning, diversity and inclusion, KS3, subject leadership, substantive knowledge, substantive knowledge, teacher knowledge, teaching and learning resources

Better history by working together!

Thanks to Martyn Bajowski and Hugh Richards for this blogpost. In it they share the process they went through to create resources … and share them! This story starts with Martyn Recently I posted the story of Sophia Duleep Singh on Twitter which I produced as a team effort with Hugh Richards. Hugh and I both thought it would be worthwhile going through the process … Continue reading Better history by working together!

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GCSE and A level, historical enquiry, sources and evidence, subject leadership, teaching and learning ideas, teaching and learning resources, teaching history

Using archives to enthuse and engage

Thanks to Anne Hooper, member of HA Secondary Committee, for this article explaining how her department refreshed their GCSE course by delving into the archives. Anne explains how using full texts with original images really engages students and helps develop their evidential understanding. She generously shares the resources at the end. Using archive sources is not new to us as history teachers but sometimes it’s … Continue reading Using archives to enthuse and engage

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diversity and inclusion, subject leadership

It is time to update our Remembrance assemblies

Secondary Committee member Gemma Hargraves challenges us to think about Remembrance-tide afresh, to make it resonant for our pupils and to use stories of the past to support their knowledge of the people of today. Every year schools deliver Remembrance assemblies. Perhaps it’s the Headteacher, perhaps it’s the job of the History department. This time last year I wrote for One Big History Department about … Continue reading It is time to update our Remembrance assemblies

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curriculum and planning, GCSE and A level, historical literacy, KS3, subject leadership, substantive knowledge, substantive knowledge

Developing substantive thinking: a project to create connections through a KS3 curriculum

Thank you to Sarah Jackson, Head of History at Sawston Village College in Cambridgeshire, for this blogpost sharing some more of the work of the department… As a department we have often talked about the huge impact that cultural literacy has on the achievement of our pupils. Students who don’t have ‘pictures of the past’ find it hard to understand new content as it doesn’t … Continue reading Developing substantive thinking: a project to create connections through a KS3 curriculum

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CPD, curriculum and planning, diversity and inclusion, sources and evidence, subject leadership

Empire blogpost 2: visualising Empire a bit differently

Thanks to Richard Kennett, Assistant Headteacher at Gatehouse Green Trust in Bristol, HA Fellow and member of Secondary Committee, for this second post in his series about Empire. In my last blog I tried to suggest some practical ways to improve our teaching of Empire by focusing on asking different questions about Empire. In this blog I would like to continue with the same theme … Continue reading Empire blogpost 2: visualising Empire a bit differently

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curriculum and planning, subject leadership, teaching history

New year narrative of ‘strengthening’ not ‘catching up’ and ‘building back better’ not ‘lockdown gaps’!

Thanks to Alex Fairlamb @lamb_heart_tea for this new academic year OBHD blogpost. Alex is an Assistant Headteacher (T&L), Historical Association Secondary Committee Member and National Coordinator of TMHistoryIcons. As schools start to go back this week and next, I think it’s perhaps useful to write again about reframing the narrative of ‘catch up’ and ‘lockdown gaps’.  Nationally, teachers have worked hard to ensure that students … Continue reading New year narrative of ‘strengthening’ not ‘catching up’ and ‘building back better’ not ‘lockdown gaps’!

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beginning teacher, CPD, curriculum and planning, subject leadership, teacher knowledge

NEW! Support for beginning history teachers

The HA has launched resources to support beginning teachers and those who work with them. Are you thinking of becoming a history teacher? About to train as a history teacher? In your training year? In your first year in post? In the first three years of your history teaching career? Working with beginning teachers? If the answer to any of these Qs is ‘YES!’ than … Continue reading NEW! Support for beginning history teachers

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beginning teacher, CPD, local networks, subject leadership, teaching history

Using the new normal to better support new teachers

Thank you to Tom Pattison (Director of the Humanities Faculty at Greensward Academy, Hockley, Essex) for this new blogpost about supporting beginning teachers. In the toughest of years it offers a model for building community for new colleagues in a way that is professionally supportive for the new and old(-er!) alike. If you would like to build a similar community then look out for these … Continue reading Using the new normal to better support new teachers

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