HA Conference 2023
HA Conference 2023

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Our fringe programme offers a mixture of lunchtime sessions that offer you an opportunity to network if you are new to the HA Conference or have a special interest in these areas. Fringe sessions are drop-in and do not need to be booked in advance.

General welcome meeting

The Branches and Members Committee extends a warm welcome to all, especially our general members. Whether you’re a seasoned attendee or stepping into the conference for the first time, join our informal chat and welcome session.  The welcome meeting is an open invitation to all members to share a warm beverage with us. It’s a perfect opportunity to connect with fellow delegates, as well as members of the Committee. We value the sense of community that comes from these casual conversations at Conference and look forward to engaging and networking with you. 

Friday: 08.30–09.00

Primary welcome meeting
Calling all primary delegates! If you are attending the Conference and would like to come and meet fellow primary delegates and some of the members of the HA Primary Committee over a hot drink, for networking, history education chat and advice and a chance to get to know other delegates, then come along. We look forward to seeing you there.

Friday: 08.30–9.00

Secondary welcome meeting

If you are a secondary teacher who is new to the Conference, attending on your own or would like some support, join members of the HA Secondary Committee over a hot drink for an informal welcome. Find others new to the Conference and meet committee members who would be happy to introduce you to the HA and everything on offer over the weekend!

Friday & Saturday: 08.30–09.00

Introducing the ‘Supporting LGBT+ and Queer Histories in Secondary Schools’ project
Claire Hollis
Reigate College
Rebecca Jennings
University College London
This session will introduce the ‘Supporting LGBT+ and Queer Histories in Secondary Schools’ project. This collaborative project between academic historians and secondary history teachers aims to facilitate the integration of LGBT+ and queer histories in the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 history curricula in ways that ‘usualise’ queer and LGBT+ experiences for students and expose them to the diversity of concepts of gender and sexuality across different historical periods and contexts, as part of the year-round curriculum. Following a series of workshops, teaching resources were launched in October 2023 on the project website. This session will include a lecture outlining the aims and findings of the project and then showcase a sample lesson plan in a workshop format.

Friday: 13.10–13.50

Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, post-16, teacher educators

Stealth classics: from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 5

Alice Case and Jane Ainsworth

Classics for All

Gráinne Cassidy

The Classical Association

In this session, representatives from the Classical Association and Classics for All will discuss how you can find opportunities to explore the ancient world with your students within your secondary curricula. We will share strategies, resources and case studies that showcase how to include the classical past at Key Stages 3–5, deepening your students’ appreciation for world history and adding breadth to existing schemes of work.

Friday: 13.10–13.50

Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, post-16

Take your students right to the source

Andrea Varney and Helen Ward

British Library

Drop in for a sneak preview of learning resources from the British Library, focusing on migration and the British Empire for Key Stages 3 and 4. Discover fresh sources from the British Library and beyond – some previously unseen – including official records, letters, photographs and newspapers, alongside short films, timelines, teaching enquiries and student activities. Find out how you can access this pilot content from our Discovering Historical Sources website or join our teacher panel.

Friday: 13.10–13.50

Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4

Integrating local history into the school curriculum with HA branch support
This fringe session explores the valuable role that Historical Association branches can play in supporting schools to integrate local history into their curriculum. Participants will delve into the ways in which HA branches have successfully assisted schools in the past, serving as a rich source of information about local historical places, artefacts and sites. Join us to find out how branches can help to weave local history into the curriculum.

Saturday: 13.10–13.50

A-level drop-in: English Civil War
Ann Hughes
Do you teach the English Civil War at A-level or are you considering it? Join Emeritus Professor Ann Hughes for an informal drop-in session to discuss approaches and support.

Friday: 13.10–13.50

Post-16

ECCLES(IA) – using digital resources to pursue regional history projects on medieval churches
Thomas Pickles and Katherine Wilson
University of Chester
Early Christian Churches and Landscapes is an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project, creating a publicly accessible web resource containing evidence for early medieval churches (before c.1100 A.D.). During a research network, we liaised with education policymakers, PGCE history leads and secondary school teachers to discover how it should meet the needs of teachers and pupils. With Dr Daryn Egan-Simon, PGCE History Lead, the PGCE history students and school teachers, we are co-creating teaching resources to help school pupils to use them with other digital platforms to pursue regional history projects on medieval churches. This session will be a practical workshop to think through the possibilities of these resources and to reflect with participants on their strengths and weaknesses for use in the classroom.

Saturday: 13.10–13.50

Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4
The Athena Society: teaching gender equality through classics, history, politics, literature and art
Laura Aitken-Burt
Emanuel School, London
Talking about gender equality has become an increasingly difficult topic that teachers are having to tackle head on at the front lines in our classrooms, with little guidance or support. This session will explain how a group of inspired and enthusiastic Year 12 students established the Athena Society as a way in which to jumpstart these conversations with their peers through historical research presentations.

The session will explain how this student-led grassroots movement has grown over the last three years and how schools can set up their own Athena Society groups. In this way, teachers can help young people to collaborate on promoting gender equality in a positive way through learning new historical information that helps them to understand where modern political issues stem from.

Saturday: 13.10–13.50

Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, post-16, teacher educators
Global history through local stories
Hannah Randall
Holocaust Centre North
Using local stories while teaching history enriches learning for students by promoting a deeper understanding of the past, and helps students to understand their own heritage. Local history enables exploration of broader historical narratives and, by incorporating local stories, it encourages students to think about history from multiple angles and foster a well-rounded understanding and empathetic perspective. Holocaust Centre North’s permanent exhibition ‘Through Our Eyes’ tells the history of the Holocaust through the stories of 16 Holocaust survivors who made new lives in the north of England. By using the Centre’s learning programme as a case study with which to explore the impact of teaching a global, complex and emotional history through individual stories, this session will explore how history teachers can use the local to teach the global.

Saturday: 13.10–13.50

Key Stage 2, cross-phase/transition, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, post-16, teacher educators, mentors