Top School Trips 6

This had the added benefit of a reciprocal and formative dialogue between students and history teachers. The research process gave our students the scope and latitude to immerse themselves in their historical research and discuss this, often at length, with their assigned mentors. For any history teacher that has ever felt compelled to cut through curriculum content owing to lesson or time constraints, sidestepping or truncating these elucidating discussions, this experience can provide a pleasant tonic to the tyranny of the school bell. The impact of the History Symposium over the two years that we have held it has grown significantly within our school context. We have experienced sizeable growth in student participation from year one to year two, in addition to the vast majority of students reflecting favourably on the outcome of the final recorded product, the showcasing of their work via the internet and the formal letter of recognition. For many of our students, participation in our History Symposium has served as a springboard for entry into external essay prizes, such as the Robson History Prize offered by Trinity College, Cambridge. Once our symposium had been completed and filmed, we were able to transition our extracurricular offering and extend help, support and assistance to those formulating essay submissions to this prize and others. Avoiding over- simplification Our extracurricular offering for KS3 students has meanwhile taken the format of a “Virtual Legacy Wall”. All students in Y7 to Y9 are invited to research an individual, event or organisation that has had a positive impact on history, and to prepare and record a short presentation on their topic of choice. Similar to the sixth form symposium, the final edited recording was made available online to showcase their work (see bit.ly/ts133-H2) , and formal letters celebrating and recognising student participation were issued to contribute to their digital portfolios. The student participation process is a similar model to that outlined previously – students are invited to participate in this extracurricular activity, and then offered the support and guidance of a history teacher as a mentor. The underpinning approaches taken here are tailored to our disciplinary focus on historical significance within the KS3 curriculum and the various debates surrounding this, building on the work of our core curriculum to avoid any oversimplification of its meaning and application. Endless possibilities In this way, our young historians already had an emerging appreciation of the complexities surrounding historical significance before embarking on this extracurricular endeavour, giving them food for thought to discuss with their mentors during those invaluable “tangent” conversations. The success and popularity of this extracurricular activity has meant that in future years we will be extending the opportunity to participate to our GCSE historians. As a history department, we hope that we have collectively laid a platform for the sustained future growth of, and increased engagement Patrick O’Shaughnessy is a head of humanities, author, public speaker and educational consultant; this article is adapted from an essay titled Going the Extra Mile, originally published in the book What Is History Teaching, Now? edited by Alex Fairlamb and Rachel Ball (£19, John Catt) FIVE REFLECTION QUESTIONS Why are we offering this extracurricular opportunity? How does this extracurricular opportunity synchronise with, and develop the current provision of the history department specifically, and the wider school more generally? Is it sustainable? What and where is the actual history driving the extracurricular opportunity? Have the students, staff and school community been given a genuine voice in sculpting the extracurricular provision? The outcomes of the extracurricular activity and the ongoing reflection process will be pivotal in driving forward the extracurricular opportunity, both dynamically as it emerges and retrospectively for future iterations. Regular reviews are a positive! with extracurricular involvement. The rationale for, and the format of, our co-curricular offering is likely to evolve as our journey continues. The possibilities for extracurricular involvement in history are huge: book clubs, re-enactments, listening to and creating podcasts, local history projects and debates, to name but a few. We look forward to what the future has in store as we continue to develop this aspect of our school provision. www.teachwire.net/school-trips | 59 H I S TORY