The HA: there for you virtually

We know how hard life has been for teachers and schools in recent weeks. Materials have had to be put online hastily to provide students with home learning activities in the light of a fast-moving situation. At present, there is little indication as to how long schools will remain closed with some reports hinting that schools may remain closed until the autumn. We know that teachers will be concerned that if school closures continue beyond Easter and into the summer, students need to be getting the best history education possible from home with good quality resources and activities that can continue to build a solid and coherent history education.

HA resource-sharing hub for home learning

We are very aware that some parents will be struggling to know how to support their children's education. The HA is here for the long haul and that’s why our education committees have developed an HA home learning resource sharing hub to support the history community and parents beyond the start of school closure and through the times ahead.

Many of you have already been sharing and collating ideas and activities to get through the immediate crisis. In the longer term, the HA is well-placed and ready to act as a hub for the history community to share the home learning resources they have developed, but we need you to help us. The HA is the heart of the history community and through our membership, journals, blogs and website we reach most schools across the UK. We are calling upon the history community to submit your home learning ideas and resources to share with others.

The Historical Association was founded in 1906 to support the need for good history resources in schools, and that is what we will do in this crisis. Our education committees will post to the sharing hub the activities and resources that will support effective learning in history. This means that anyone coming to the HA to look for home-learning resources to support their curriculum or their children's history education at home can have confidence in the materials they’ll find on the HA hub.

You can submit your resources by email to melanie.jones@history.org.uk

Conditions for submission

1. Must be the original work of the person submitting
2. Should be free to use with no conditions attached.
3. Should not provide endorsement for any paid for materials or platforms although commercial providers who have made materials free and open access may submit.
4. Must be copyright free
5. Should be aimed at pupils in schools and colleges in the United Kingdom
6. Be submitted by email and, if possible, in an editable format
7. Be submitted along with the completed submission form to provide brief details of the author, nature of the resource and how it is intended to be used.
8. Submissions are made on the understanding that acceptance to the hub does not mean an endorsement from the HA.

Acceptance criteria

Committees will make decisions based upon the overall quality of resources as well as need on the hub, but below are some of the main criteria we’ll be using.

• It is clear what disciplinary and/or substantive knowledge the students will gain by using the resource
• A short explanation has been provided as requested.
• There are no errors of fact, or unacceptable distortions that could mislead
• The resource effectively supports the learning of history with a good understanding of key concepts
• It is clear how a teacher/student could fit the resource into a coherent programme of history learning
• The resource puts the learning of history as a priority over practising generic exam skills
• There are no obvious copyright infringements

Once submitted, resources will be considered by the HA. It will not be possible to give reasons for non-inclusion or any feedback on resources. For those submissions posted to the HA sharing hub, the author will retain intellectual property rights. At this point in time it is intended that this sharing hub will operate only during the current school and college shutdown period.

We look forward to receiving your submission. Thank you for offering your expertise to the wider history community.

Go to KS3 hub

Go to KS4/5 hub