St. Mary's RC High School, Chesterfield
On 25th June, we took 13 Year 12/13 students to a study session and project workshop organised by the History Department at The University of Sheffield. The focus was the Multicultural Middle Ages, with sessions led by third-year undergraduates. The workshops included Gender in the middle ages, Connecting East and West & Pagans and other heretics. The morning was concluded by a plenary lecture by Dr Amanda Power on medieval multiculturalism. This gave the students another experience of degree-level History.
While the students were in the workshops, teachers had discussions with lecturers about improving links between University and School departments. It was beneficial for us to know what HE departments were looking for, so we can further enhance our students, particularly in the sixth form. It seems likely that more of these sessions will go ahead, with increased input from local secondary schools.
Following the sessions at the History Department, we took the students for a tour of the Students Union, to give them a sense of the University itself. I then organised a tour of the University Library. They were taken into the stacks and shown special collections. I felt it was important to show them the range of resources available to historians. The students were astounded at the size of the Library and the sheer quantity of resources. The librarian kindly agreed to let them use the Library when they start their coursework later in the year.
A valuable day in so many regards, but most importantly it inspired the students. They were so enthusiastic following the visit, and I know that it confirmed for many their desire to read History at university.
A colleague and I attended a PTI CPD on Crown and Parliament. This directly linked to our A Level syllabus and we enjoyed the high academic rigour provided. It also enabled us to establish links with leading historians in the field of the English Civil War (D. L. Smith, R. Cust & K. Sharpe). It was excellent to have podcasts of each lecture, as we used them in the classroom with our AS students as part of their revision programme.
As a result of attending this CPD, we are in the process of organising a visit to school by Kevin Sharpe and Richard Cust in the autumn and spring terms. Both historians were very open and agreeable to visiting us and talking to our A-Level students. This will give them a great opportunity to learn from the best historians in their area of study and would not have been possible without the PTI.
St. Mary's RC High, Chesterfield, is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive school for ages 11-18 in Upper Newbold, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, that specialises in the teaching of languages. It received a School Achievements Award for the third time in 2003.