The Education Service provides free online resources and taught sessions, supporting the National Curriculum for history from key stage 1 up to A-level. Visit our website to access the full range of our resources, from Domesday to Britain in the 1960s, and find out about more about our schools programme, including new professional development opportunities for teachers.
The Education Service provides free online resources and taught sessions, supporting the National Curriculum for history from key stage 1 up to A-level. Visit our website to access the full range of our resources, from Domesday to Britain in the 1960s, and find out about more about our schools programme, including new professional development opportunities for teachers.
Holding History is a stop motion animated film created by students during a week-long workshop at The National Archives. The film was designed to highlight key historical stories from within our collection and covers a variety of time periods and themes. Many thanks to the Friends of The National Archives for their support on this project.
When making the film, students were asked to consider:
What is The National Archives? How has it changed and developed over the centuries? And what are the challenges, threats and importance of an archive in today’s world?
Each student was then given a specific story to research within our records before they could storyboard, design, create and capture their stop motion sets.
These finished film clips can now be used by teachers and students as brief overviews, introductions or interest points for the various topics explored within the film. These accompanying questions are designed to work alongside the film clip, to guide students in thinking about what they have learned from the clip or from their lessons and previous knowledge. Some questions can be answered from the film itself, others are intended to be answered after class discussion or independent thought.
The clips can also work as a model for student’s creative exploration of history, allowing students to see what can be done to tell stories from history and inspire their own creative work – either through animation, drawing, storytelling or other creative exploits.
Samson Jackson is believed to be one of six Black Africans to have served on the Western Front during the First World War. He changed his name in 1915 from Bulaya Chanda to Samson Jackson. In the 1920s, he started using the name Chief Luale (Luali) for his career on the stage.
Bulaya Chanda was born in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) around 1895. He was of the Awemba or Bemba tribe who are a Bantu speaking people found in the north-east corner of Zambia, near the border with Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Use the sources in this lesson to find out more about his fascinating life and how his experiences challenge popular beliefs about the First World War and inter-war period.
**Suggested inquiry questions: **
What documents can we use to find out about the life of Bulaya Chanda? How do Bulaya’s experiences challenge popular beliefs about the First World War and inter-war period? What can we discover about leisure and entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s?
Connections to the curriculum
**Key stage 3 **
Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day: the First World War and the Peace Settlement; the inter-war years.
**Key stage 4 **
AQA GCSE History:
Depth study: Conflict and tension: the First World War, 1894–1918
Thematic study: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day
‘Armistice and Legacy’ is a graphic arts project illustrated by nine students who spent a week at The National Archives, illustrating their interpretations of First World War records and the research undertaken by The National Archives staff during the centenary of the war. The tales are told through the eyes of those who served in the war, showing the diverse experiences at the front and at home.
The eBook can be used as a resource to learn about the experiences of war, or as an example of work your students could create inspired by historical documents.
The five videos in this series called ‘Civil War People’ have been updated to a greater quality from our focussed topic website English Civil War.
View our videos to find out how a Bishop, Puritan, Scotsman, Irishman or King Charles I himself possibly viewed the prospect of civil war in 1642. Their words help to provide information which supports the document activities. Look at the videos first!
Then, explore a specific linked document activity for each character.
Try and read the original document.
Each document is provided with background information, questions, a transcript and a simplified transcript to help.
Please note that the document used in each activity can also be seen in the topic website English Civil War alongside other documents so you can expand your studies!
‘Why are historians still arguing about the First World War?’
Using original letters, reports, photographs and maps, students follow an enquiry led approach via six modules of 1-3 lessons each. Working with these sources your students will be able to put the evidence to the test and bust a series of common myths about this conflict, including were the soldiers ‘lions led by donkeys’ or did ’women spent the war nursing and knitting’.
This scheme of work is designed as an an ‘off the peg’ resource for students learning about the First World War at Key Stage 3-4.