Labour should absolutely give Reform a pasting on the grounds of being pro-Putin and massively unpatriotic pt 234

Hampton Court again today, and it was my turn to be the tour guide. I'm so mean though explaining that the Haunted Gallery almost definitely didn't have Katherine Howard running down it to plead for mercy, as Gareth Russell explains in...

Today was Hampton Court, baby! First of three visits with Y11 for their History Around Us site study for OCR B. It didn't disappoint!

Spent an excellent evening at the @histassoc.bsky.social W Surrey branch lecture by Alex Walsham on persecution & faith in the early modern era. 8 of our students came too - so satisfying to see them recognising the key terms and events they've been studying. Edwards' Gangraena only this afternoon!

I'm apparently not organised enough to have started a book thread earlier in the year, but I'm reading Shy Creatures at the moment and it's just extraordinary. Anyone else?

Love these suggestions: will definitely be implementing several in the next term!

Just got an advert for David Irving's book on YouTube 🤢

@pamc86.bsky.social Lovely to see you virtually Pam! How are you?

This a symptom of my deep denial about the end of the summer holidays. Not content with buying three new books from our brilliant new indie bookshop, I picked up another three from the library 🙈

Ben speaks for me too. He always finds the right words.

Superb interpretation of Raleigh from the 1972 Ladybird book, Some Great Men and Women. #ocrbhistory #theElizabethans

It is time. My 5-year-old asked (I promise he asked) me to tell him about history. In his words "from the start of time." We've started with the Middle Ages. I got that Sainsbury's Kings & Queens book when I was a child and it's one of the main reasons I'm a History teacher now.

Just urned off my 6am alarms. Might have another early wake up for our holiday in the Netherlands but apart from that: back of the net!

Went on the best run this morning. Gorgeous River Wey Navigations, built in the 1650s, and a bit more local history 🤓

To try to improve students' chronological memory, our department is going to colour-code main eras of British history as per GCSE depth studies. Cue fierce debate about which colour each era feels like. For me: Middle Ages = green Early modern = orangey Industrial era = dark blue Modern era = purple

I was warned about primary class WhatsApp groups. But as usual with any aspect of parenting, I held onto my mindless optimism card (thanks, Lieutenant George) and thought, "How bad can it be?" The answer is bad. Very very bad.

It's arrived! It's absolutely stunning. Can't wait to get stuck in.

5-year-old has just discovered Oasis, but keeps singing the words of DLBIA as "so Sally can wait, she knows it's too late, she's been working all night".

Walking tour of Guildford didn't disappoint. Loads of stories to tell Y7 about their local area now!

Inspired by Michael Riley and Rachel Foster at #HACONF25, tomorrow I'm going on a local walking tour of my hometown to inform new planning in our historic environment. Can't wait to learn and plan! 5-year-old in tow has been promised cake.

This has been in our house for years thanks to Literature-graduate husband. Can't believe it's taken me so long to pick it up, but I love it. (The book, not the cat)

We're holidaying at a Eurocamp in the Netherlands in August, getting the ferry to Calais with an overnight stop off in Bruges. Don't know who's more excited about the chocolate museum there, me or the 5-year-old. The history of chocolate as a window to empire and global trade? Yes please.

We seem to be at a stage of parenting when we have to field hundreds of questions about the Titanic every day. Today the Wee Man found out (via a YouTube Lego video of all things) that the Carpathia also sank. It's already been a long evening.

As usual, absolutely loved #HACONF25. I learned so much about telling stories, looking over the historian's shoulder, literacy and disciplinary interplay, and KS4 enquiry construction. Dinner and quiz were brilliant, somehow ended up on Diarmaid MacCulloch's team (?) and met so many great people 1/2

Also totally stealing these intro pages to each GCSE enquiry from you @petejackson.bsky.social! I'm in awe of the clarity of the curriculum planning here, not to mention the nerdery and creativity of the stories shared. #HACONF25

Terrible photo by me, but loved this from @petejackson.bsky.social and @benbassett.bsky.social about the brilliant teaching community, all learning from each other and standing on the shoulders of our giant colleagues. So many people have enriched my teaching probably without knowing it! #HACONF25

What a stunning keynote. "Unsettling is a weapon against tyranny." And that's what historians do: unsettle, with knowledge. Superb. #HACONF25

Loved presenting for the first time at an HA Conference. I had a lovely audience! #HACONF25

My major concern with this strategy beyond the obvious is that there is so little sense of hope in such a strategy. People vote for protest and inward looking parties when they have lost hope. The answer is not to try to become a protest party yourself but to make a case for a more hopeful future

Very much wishing I had a 17th century dress knocking about in the wardrobe to wear at my #HACONF25 presentation. Not early 1600s though, even style icon Anna of Denmark isn't flattered by that style.

Excited that my HA Conference presentation will involve ladders, plague sores, plum puddings, Parmesan and a warming pan. All part of the fun of the 17th century. See you Liverpool! #HAconf25

For reasons best known to our staff, today was our school's "World" Book Day. I went as someone who is not a character in a book. Sweet of several students to come up to the dept at breaktime just to see what we'd all dressed as!

Happy #internationalwomensday to all my excellent womenfolk (It hurt a bit not putting an apostrophe in that hashtag)

Well this is hitting hard immediately. Will definitely be sharing this poem with my Y8s and Y11s

Is there a word for that professional history teacher itch of knowing that an enquiry doesn't work as well as it should, but not having the time or capacity to get it right and having to make do and teach it as it is? A German word maybe?

Coming to the end of David Copperfield, I'm very pleased to find a great description of the separate system, with (presumably) Dickens' reflections on it, via Copperfield. Also alludes to the end of transportation. World-building alert for industrial era crime and punishment! #gcsehistory

Thank you SO MUCH, Past Me, for creating a cracking feedback resource last year for the Y12 assessments. Not having to reinvent my own wheel is so lovely.

The absolute joy of being able to blow £50 in Waterstones 😁

Quite enjoying now building the world of 18th-century London for context on improvements to law enforcement #gcsehistory #worldbuilding

See the problem with conferences like #soane25 is, you simply can't think about anything else the next day. My mind can't relax now because I'm replanning every single one of our enquiries in my head

#soane25 was absolutely brilliant! Truly great sessions and superb talk with Prof Eamon Duffy. Glad to have a wee role in @richkhistory.bsky.social's marvellous keynote. Gave my first ever conference talk while recovering from flu, reminding me of Leslie Knope in that episode Of Parks&Rec

Another perfect trip to National Archives with Y12. Saw originals of these two cracking documents (guesses for 2nd one?) Also finally fulfilled dream of seeing a historian I recognise there. Thank you so much @jessiechilds.bsky.social for chatting to our students, impromptu, when you were busy!

Recommendations for "teacher bags" anyone? I'm lucky to not have too many rooms to move to during the week, but still need something to keep paperwork organised that looks vaguely elegant!

Went to Hampton Court today on the Teacher Familiarisation programme to do a recce for our OCR B History Around Us site study. To say I'm super excited to get stuck into this with Y10 would be a massive understatement! The Wolsey Rooms in particular were a nerdy paradise.

Had the best day at school yesterday. Was dog tired in the morning but it kicked off with a lesson on the Levellers with my delightful Y13s: great chat about Elizabeth Lilburne and Katherine Chidley! Y11 got stuck into the Cold War and Y12 discussed and debated sources about the First Bishops' War.

What an incredible opportunity this is. If I weren't happy where I am (and lived closer) I'd apply in a flash!

Reached one of the best bits in the story for Y12 today: the Prayer Book Riots in Scotland. Jenny Geddes (apparently) throwing a stool at the Dean and (apparently) shouting "Dare ye say Mass in ma lug!!" #ALevelHistory

Not sure why I've forgotten what solid gold The Specials' first album is. And an incredible document revealing so much about late 70s society and culture in Britain.

Very excited about this! Latest Not Just the Tudors came out just in time to polish off my prepatation: it focuses in the impact of the dissolution of the monasteries.

Very excited to be presenting at the HA Conference this year! My session on the Friday is about teaching the weird and wonderful world of the 17th century. www.history.org.uk/aboutus/cate...