Although history teachers have long been frustrated by the limitations of the National Curriculum Attainment Target and by demands to use it for purposes for which it was never intended, its official abolition has come as quite a shock. As Michael Fordham makes clear, we now have an unparalleled opportunity to rethink the way in which we assess…

Mike Murray shares a lesson sequence in which his students examined changing interpretations of the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879. Building on earlier work on teaching interpretations across an extended chronological period and the work of Wheeley et al on Rorke's Drift in particular, Murray develops new emphases, fresh ways in to the puzzle and…

The overwhelming response of history teachers to the final version of the National Curriculum (2014) was one of relief that their insistent, penetrating critique of the first draft had been heeded. Jamie Byrom shares that profound sense of relief and celebrates the achievement of the history education community in making its voice heard. However,…