Wow. That pretty much sums up this year’s SHP summer conference. On paper it looked like an exciting programme, but the reality was so, so much better than I could even have imagined. Although the conference didn’t officially start until Saturday morning, I arrived at Leeds Trinity University early on Friday to do a walkthrough of the conference venues and host a Fellows meeting with some of the legends of the Schools History Project. It was also great to spend time with all of the Friday-nighters who had headed up to Leeds early and joined us in the bar at LTU. My opening speech the following morning was only marginally spoilt by the failure of Royal Mail to deliver my plastic poo (it’s a long story!) but the tone for the conference was set in our welcome to the SHP family, inviting everyone to make the most of the opportunity to share, reflect, discuss, chat, make new friends and enjoy the vibe.
As Director, I had the privilege of being able to drop into many of the workshops that were taking place across the two days and I was blown away (but not surprised) by the incredible quality that was on display. From KS1 to KS5 there were plenty of options to choose from to guide, inspire and entertain, whether you wanted to play historical games or reflect on your personal journeys, the whole gamut of history teaching was covered.
“Meeting enthusiastic, inspirational teachers, doing great things in their classrooms. It’s so good for the soul! Great mix of events and lots of opportunities for sharing ideas.”
Conference Attendee, 2024
Our first keynote came from War Inna Babylon’s Stafford Scott and History teacher Lucy Capes. It was truly awe inspiring, a tour de force of history from the frontline combined with impassioned challenges to disrupt the status quo, and raise up the communities that have struggled for decades against institutional racism.
The evening lecture was delivered by Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock of Sheffield University, who shared some incredible stories from her recent book, On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe. Her expert ability to read against the grain and amplify indigenous voices chimed perfectly with the previous keynote. SHP is working with Caroline and other educators, academics and indigenous partners on a really exciting project about teaching Indigenous histories in schools. We would be hugely grateful if you could take a few minutes to click on this link and complete a short survey for us: Teaching Indigenous Presence and Perspectives in the History Classroom
On Sunday morning we were treated to a fascinating round table discussion debating how we can make school history meaningful for our students. The centering of our students at the core of everything we do, is central to my mission at SHP, so it was so great to hear voices from primary, secondary, ITE and the history research community sharing ways in which history lessons have the power to connect, inspire and help students to navigate through their lives.
But the SHP conference is always so much more than just the curated programme. The chance to make new friends and catch up with old ones, the chance to share ideas and steal lots more, the hanging out in the bar or over meals. This year the vibes were amazing, and a special thank you must go out to our musician Mary Hampton, who played her live set of folk songs on Saturday night which was a real treat, and even inspired SHP GOAT Chris Culpin to burst spontaneously into song, a moment that I, for one, will never forget.
Plans are already starting to bubble up for next year’s conference which will be taking place again at Leeds Trinity University on the weekend of July 12-13 2025 so get that date into your diary! I’ll sign off with a few words from some the attendees from this year’s conference:
“I thought it was brilliantly organised the workshops/lectures were fantastic.”
“The conference was simply excellent. The history teaching world can be quite difficult to navigate as a black teacher. In this conference I felt safe, seen and supported. The range of workshops was great. The atmosphere and relationships at the SHP are second to none!”
See you in Leeds next year!
Dan
