Author Archives: sallythorne

Policing other people’s teaching

Posted on March 26, 2017 by sallythorne

When December rolls around, I get annoyed by the inevitable complaints of people proclaiming that it is too early to put up the Christmas tree. Why does it matter to people so much? There is no rule about this. If you … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | 4 Comments

A Tale of Two Year 11s

Posted on March 5, 2017 by sallythorne

I inherited two year 11 groups upon my arrival at the new school. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best: sparky students, quicker relationship building due to seeing them more often, the promise … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reflections | Leave a comment

WLFS History conference: Tamizian

Posted on February 25, 2017 by sallythorne

Narrative construction. Vartan begins with two questions: What makes a good narrative? What was the last narrative you read and enjoyed? Definition. A story? Yes, but chronologically ordered and limited by evidence. An underrated skill – Lang, 2003. A form … Continue reading →

Posted in CPD Notes, wlfs | 2 Comments

WLFS History Conference: Walsh

Posted on February 25, 2017 by sallythorne

Prosopographical! This is the term of the session for me. Definitely need to go and do some reading Sources and interps for ordinary pupils in ordinary classrooms.  Ben begins by talking about his experience of students as an examiner. Some … Continue reading →

Posted in CPD Notes, wlfs | 1 Comment

WLFS History Conference: Carroll

Posted on February 25, 2017 by sallythorne

Jim Carroll on, how can we get students writing more like historians?  History is an argumentative discipline.  Scrap “I think/believe” – don’t encourage then that beliefs are important, because it’s about evidence, not belief.  Make the cause the subject of … Continue reading →

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WLFS History Conference: Counsell

Posted on February 25, 2017 by sallythorne

The odds are stacked against the poor. They have little chance of climbing into the corridors of power. And the odds are also stacked against peace. In many countries, history is about knowing a particular story and being able to … Continue reading →

Posted in CPD Notes, wlfs | 1 Comment

Preparing for Assessment: the Verbal Rehearsal

Posted on January 17, 2017 by sallythorne

A few years ago, inspired by some excellent CPD, I introduced the verbal rehearsal to my KS3 students before they completed their assessments. I wrote a little about it here. I did this in a variety of ways – heavily … Continue reading →

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Nurture 16/17

Posted on December 31, 2016 by sallythorne

Time to review the past year and look forward to the new one. 1. Teaching I began the year as Head of History at the school where I had worked since I was an NQT, a post which had been … Continue reading →

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The Knowledge

Posted on December 13, 2016 by sallythorne

I’m coming clean now and admitting I thought the knowledge vs skills thing a false dichotomy (and an enormous distraction, but that’s for another time). This is a conclusion I came to after spending a great deal of time mystified as … Continue reading →

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#youreallyshouldteach…Vlad the Impaler

Posted on October 31, 2016 by sallythorne

Ben Newmark and Mike Stuchbery over on Twitter have been hoping to highlight some obscure bits of history that are worth teaching. I’m going to bang my Vlad the Impaler drum again. In my final year at university I took … Continue reading →

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