Sally Thorne, Head of History at Colston’s Girls’ School in Bristol, shares her simple idea for demonstrating the importance of contextual knowledge when assessing a source. My focus for the year was thinking about how to assist students to start recognising sources as evidence, rather than just pillaging them for their information. Struggling to explain the year 8 how important it was...
Read More »In this post, Phil Arkinstall, Head of History at Hardenhuish School, Chippenham, explains his use of verbal rehearsals and a spruced-up inference diagram to help students build stronger arguments. The Verbal Rehearsal My aim was to improve the essay writing of Year 8. The issue was that in previous years students had struggled to write a decent ‘causes of the English Civil War’ essay; they were,...
Read More »This resource is a murder mystery with a difference. It relates to the disappearance of William Harrison in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire in 1660. It led to a trial and three executions for murder before Harrison’s ‘wondrous’ reappearance two years’ later with an incredible story to tell. It will help pupils: understand the attitudes and beliefs of people in the 17th century develop their skil...
Read More »In this post, Kate Smee, Head of Humanities at Chipping Sodbury School, asks, can Colin the Centipede help students to understand what the point of using sources is? Rationale: As we come under ever greater pressure to achieve higher grades, the push has been to make source work simpler. We have used the familiar strategies such as writing frames, formulae, deconstructing techniques, mnemonics…etc...
Read More »Matt Bryant, Head of Humanities at Abbeyfield School in Chippenham, shares his strategies for assisting students in accessing the sometimes tricky language presented in written sources. Getting students to critically assess evidence can be a challenge at the best of times but all History teachers know how important this is. By understanding and questioning source material the student becomes the ...
Read More »In the first of a series of blog posts detailing approaches to sourcework, Kate Hawkey, PGCE tutor from the University of Bristol, introduces the group of teachers responsible and the rationale behind the project. In September 2014 a group of history teachers in and around Bristol got together to talk about the challenges and successes of teaching history in their classrooms. They invited the PGC...
Read More »Published this week, a new textbook by Richard Kennett, Head of Humanities and SHP fellow. This book is now available to purchase from our publishing partners, Hodder. Rich has written about his fascination with the topic and what makes this book stand out on the Hodder History Nest, which you can read by clicking here.
Read More »Hot of the press is this new textbook by Alex Ford, History PGCE lecturer at Leeds Trinity and SHP regional adviser for Yorkshire and Humberside. This book is now available to purchase from our publishing partners, Hodder. Alex has written about his experiences writing and researching the book on the Hodder History Nest, which you can read by clicking here. Alex has previously provided some resou...
Read More »The attached materials from Kerry Apps, history teacher at the Charter Schools, Dulwich, are from an enquiry into the significance of the witch-hunts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries presented at the Schools History Project Summer Conference 2016. Rationale This enquiry was created to provide year eight with their first introduction to the historical concept of significance and provide t...
Read More »Regional adviser for the southeast, Andy Harmsworth, models planning and organising the new site study with these documents relating to Rochester Castle. HISTORY AROUND US 1 Guidance HISTORY AROUND US 2 Activity Booklet HISTORY AROUND US 3 Sources and Interpretations These resources are hosted on Google Drive. When you click on the link, a preview of the file will open in a new window. Some of the...
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