The Schools History Project’s Summer Conference is the absolute highlight of my teaching year. We call it the ‘Glastonbury of the mind’ (copyright Arthur Chapman) because it is the standout event of the summer, and the vibes are just as strong. It’s a wonderful weekend of outstanding professional development, as well as a chance to be a part of our growing SHP family.
This year we are returning to our traditional 3 day conference (full details available here: SHP Summer Conference, July 11-13 2025 Leeds Trinity University – Schools History Project), but with some new tweaks: alongside the 40 workshops for primary and secondary history teachers, we will be running our first ever SHP student workshops for 6th formers. Last year the award-winning folk musician Mary Hampton performed for us in the student union bar, followed by SHP legend Chris Culpin spontaneously bursting into song. This year Mary returns as an artist in residence, alongside our poet in residence, Natalie Davies, who will be sharing work from her National Trust residency at Brimham Rocks near Harrogate, with primary students across Yorkshire.
I’m particularly excited about our keynote lectures for this year’s conference. Kicking off the conference will be Corinne Fowler, Professor of Colonialism and Heritage who will be reflecting on the impact of the Colonial Countryside Project, for which I was honoured to be part of. Our Saturday keynote comes from another of my co-collaborators, Wajid Yaseen, the founder of the Tape Letters Project. He’ll be sharing sounds and stories from his oral history archive about the Pakistani community in Britain and I’ll be joining him to share the teaching resources we have produced. We wrap up the conference with Professor Julie Gottlieb who will be exploring ways in which we can bring empathy and emotional literacy into the history classroom. Julie will be part of our next SHP Understanding project in the autumn so watch this space!
Alongside all of this we will be hosting our usual fringe sessions and opportunities to meet the exam boards as well as the return of the Saturday Night Extravaganza, with a special guest joining us!
Thanks to the generous support of our partners, Leeds Trinity University and OCR, the Schools History Project have been able to maintain the same ticket prices since 2020! That means that you will get the lowest prices and highest quality History CPD on the market. Our Early Bird offer runs through to the end of April, so if you are going to choose one conference to attend this year, the SHP summer conference is both affordable and inspiring!
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE SHP Summer Conference 2025 – Early Bird | Leeds Trinity University Online Store
Yorkshire History Forum March 15th University of Sheffield 11-4pm
After the hugely successful launch of the SHP Yorkshire History Forum, booking is now open for our second event, which is taking place at the University of Sheffield. We have another fantastic spread of workshops for primary and secondary History teachers and this time we’ve added two keynote sessions too. There will also be exhibition stalls and a lunch provided as part of your ticket. It’s a brilliant opportunity to get some high quality professional development, network with other teachers in the region and meet our new Regional Advisors who can support you and your students.
Full details available here: Yorkshire History Forum – Schools History Project and booking Link: https://store.leedstrinity.ac.uk/product-catalogue/conferences-events/events/shp-yorkshire-history-forum
Finally, former SHP Director Michael Riley has been doing some superb work on teaching about the Climate Crisis and asked me to share this opportunity with everyone:
Thursday, February 27 Climate action and history teaching in New Zealand
The climate crisis demands new approaches to education. One way teachers can respond is by making different choices about what and how we teach. In this talk, Michael Harcourt and Haimana Hirini present a project from Taitā College, a secondary school in Te Awakairangi, New Zealand, that integrated mātauranga (Indigenous Māori knowledge) with critical, place-based historical thinking.
Full details and booking link can be found here: Climate action and history teaching in New Zealand Tickets, Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 4:30 PM | Eventbrite
If you have any questions about anything related to the Schools History Project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at d.lyndon-cohen@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Hope to see many of you in Sheffield and Leeds!
Dan
