Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.

With the 2012 London Olympics rapidly approaching, you are probably marvelling at what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this is and what amazing classroom teaching opportunities it might bring.

You have probably already been inundated with ideas for your history lessons linking the Olympic movement to specific curriculum areas such as the Ancient Greeks.

Short of re-enacting those Olympics of Ancient Greek times how can you can ensure that your students not only see the links between history and the Olympics, but more importantly, the active links, and the personal links.

Here we can use the idea of a contemporary history curriculum that takes a current concern and places it in its historical, temporal context.

A key aspect of understanding the Olympics and their significance is Local History: an excellent starting point...