Pupils examine a wide range of original sources in the 'What is history' workshop
KS 3 & 4 workshops
Workshops for key stage 3 and 4 students are all based on topics in the History National Curriculum and examination board specifications. Students will have the opportunity to work directly with original historical documents, or good quality facsimiles if the original is too fragile to be handled.
Workshops last for 2 hours and can be booked either in the morning or in the afternoon. Specific start and finish times can usually be arranged to suit you. All workshops take place in the education room at The National Archives. The maximum number of students per workshop is 30. Most of the workshops are free of charge. All of the resources you will need are provided in the workshop.
Special events are available at set times through the year. A charge is usually made for these and special booking conditions apply.
To book a workshop use the booking form or contact the education officer
for more information.
For details about areas to eat lunch, coach parking etc, go to facilities.
For details of how to get here go to directions.
If you are too far away to visit, go to videoconference workshops for information about how to book a workshop in this format.
Year 7: Crime and punishment
This workshop combines some of the resources in the Crime and Punishment exhibition on Learning Curve, the National Archives website for schools, with a variety of other primary documents. The workshop aims to help pupils to use different types of documents to find out more about the types of crimes committed and punishments given from 1450 to 1900, and for them to consider how these vary from today.
The workshop begins with pupils consulting a range of documents from three different time periods - (i) before 1450, (ii) 1450-1750 and (iii) 1750-1900. From this activity pupils will start to uncover the different types of crime that people committed in the past, and looking at the new crimes that emerged during the Industrial and Transport Revolutions.
Next pupils will move on to discover the variety of punishments that were given in the past. Using a Prisoners' Record Book from 1873 they will concentrate on the types of punishment that different people received in Victorian England. Pupils will consider whether punishments varied between men and women, and between adults and children. The workshop will draw to a close by discussing whether pupils think that these punishments were far, what the purpose behind each type of punishment was and how crime and punishment in the past is similar or different to today.
Availability: Any time of year
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: year 7, maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
QCA links: History Unit 2: How did medieval monarchs keep control?
, History Unit 2: Unit 3: How hard was life for medieval people in town and country?
Year 7 - What is history
Pupils get a close look at plans to assasinate Hitler during World War Two
This workshop aims to develop students' awareness and understanding of the different types of historical sources available to help us find out about the past, and how each one can be used as evidence. Documents chosen for the workshop will relate to topics studied at primary school such as the Tudors and Victorians. Others will look forward to topics students will be going on to study.
The main activity involves students working in groups, looking at different types of documents held in the archives. These include a Plea Roll from Henry VIII´s reign, Wenceslas Hollar´s map of London in 1667, a census return and criminal register from the Victorian period, Metropolitan Police Files from the Jack the Ripper murders and a propaganda poster from the Second World War. The students identify what type of document they are looking at and record information about it, such as its age, who made it, why it was made and what questions they want to ask about it to find out more. At the end of the session, students are given opportunity to feed back on their findings and time to ask the Education Officer any questions they would like about the documents they have been investigating.
The workshop also aims to raise students´ awareness of archives. We will explain how the National Archives works, what we keep here and the work that goes into looking after our collection - one of the biggest archives in the world! We will discuss students´ ideas about why it is important to keep original documents.
Availability: Any time of year
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: year 7, maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
QCA links: History Unit 1: Introductory unit what's it all about?
Year 7 Special Event: Domesday Book - Day of Judgement
This role-playing workshop brings back to life one of the most important and famous documents in history and the events behind its creation.
Students will be given roles to play; they will be either an Anglo Saxon villager from the manor of Mortlake, Surrey or one of the places associated with it, or they will be a Norman commissioner, sent by William the Conqueror to find out information for the Domesday Survey. Professional actors who play the parts of Rannulf, the reeve of the manor of Mortlake, and Canon Robert de Belleme, chief commissioner, will lead the students through the workshop.
The background to the role-play is that the commissioners who first visited Mortlake appear to have found some mistakes in the amount of tax due to King William. The second group of commissioners have been sent, led by Canon Robert, to try and find out where the mistake was made and who was responsible for it. Rannulf will help the villagers get through the enquiry and hopefully not suffer too much at the hands of the greedy Norman Conquerors!
The workshop will end with an opportunity to see the original Domesday Book on display in the National Archives museum and learn more about this amazing document´s own history.
Availability: 17 - 21 November 2008, 26 - 30 January 2009
Duration: 2 hours. Two sessions per day. Morning 10:00 - 12:00. Afternoon 13:00 - 15:00
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: year 7, maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
QCA links: History Unit 2: How did medieval monarchs keep control?, Unit 3: How hard was life for medieval people in town and country?
Year 8: The British Empire
This workshop is based on resources in the British Empire exhibition on Learning Curve, the National Archives website for schools. It is designed as an extension activity for Gifted and Talented pupils with activities designed to help pupils reach the higher National Curriculum levels. The workshop aims to develop the students knowledge of the British Empire, as well as helping them to develop important skills such as the use of sources and being able to analyse, explain and evaluate different historical interpretations.
During the workshop, students use a variety of different documents about the British Empire including posters from the Empire Marketing Board, letters, pictures and Government Reports. They will use these documents to find out more about the British Empire and the activities also place a heavy emphasis on considering the background and limitations of the documents. Students will then look at the different interpretations of two famous historians, Simon Schama and Niall Ferguson, who have different views on whether the British Empire was a force for good or not. Students will use the different documents to find evidence that can be used to support the two different interpretations and we will then consider how and why the historians may have different views.
To draw the workshop to a close, students will use what they have found out and they will summarise their own view on the British Empire. This will give them practice at using evidence to support their answers as they will be selecting, organising and deploying relevant information to produce a well-structured explanation.
Availability: Any time of year
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: year 8 maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
QCA links: Unit 14: The British Empire how was it that, by 1900, Britain controlled nearly a quarter of the world?
Year 8/9 Special event: Slavery - Resistance and Rebellion
This workshop takes pupils back in time to the 1780s, where they meet and listen to the arguments of a Slave Trader, before being introduced to Olaudah Equiano (played by a costumed interpreter). Equiano tells students about his experiences as a slave, how he bought his freedom and how he is fighting for the trade´s abolition. Students are asked to support Equiano in his quest.
Using original documents held here at the archives, students are given the opportunity to find evidence that will support Equiano´s argument for abolition. Documents include the Barbot Journals from 1681, providing a wealth of information about Africa before the Atlantic Slave Trade, Treasury records from the 1780s and Colonial Records that provide evidence of resistance and rebellion amongst the enslaved.
At the end of the session, pupils will discuss their findings with Equiano; what life was like for the enslaved, how slaves rebelled and how they resisted slavery. At the end of the session, pupils will have the opportunity to see a letter written by Equiano to Thomas Hardy in 1792.
Availability: 28 - 30 April 2009
Duration: 2 hours. Two sessions per day: morning 10:00 - 12:00, afternoon 13:00 - 15:00
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: year 8 or 9, maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
QCA links: Unit 15 Section 4: Sold into slavery: what was the reality of the Atlantic slave trade?
Year 10 / 11: Jack the Ripper
One of the 'Jack the Ripper' letters
This workshop is designed for those taking the Edexcel coursework option on this topic. It provides students with a rare opportunity to see the original ´Jack the Ripper´ letters, which are usually only made available to academic researchers in special circumstances.
Through a study of original correspondence taken from the Metropolitan Police Letter Books and the ´Jack the Ripper´ letters held here at the National Archives, students will investigate why the police were unable to catch the murderer. They will research the different methods employed by the police in their efforts to apprehend Jack the Ripper, as well as those suggested by members of the public, to question whether or not the police were to blame for not bringing him (or her!) to justice. The ´Jack the Ripper´ letters will also be examined to understand the impact they had on the police investigation of the case, and what they reveal about society´s attitudes to the murders.
In addition to this, students will examine original census returns from 1881 to build up a picture of Whitechapel at the time of the murders and consider how this evidence can also help us to understand the difficulties faced by police in their investigations into the case.
New Extension Activity: If you wish to stay on and make a day of your visit, students can take part in an afternoon workshop, focusing solely on the ´Jack the Ripper´ letters. Working with transcripts and facsimiles, students will have the opportunity to examine the letters in close detail, comparing styles of writing, language used and the way in which the different letters are presented. At the end of the session, students will feed back their findings to the rest of the group, before seeing the original volumes of the ´Jack the Ripper´ letters.
Availability: Any time of year
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: Year 10/11 maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
Year 10 / 11: Bloody Sunday
This workshop aims to help students investigate and understand the events of Bloody Sunday, and the different interpretations regarding what happened and who was responsible.
Preparation materials for this workshop are available on our website www.learningcurve.gov.uk/workshops/sunday.htm
If you have problems downloading the preparation materials, contact us and we will post them to you.
The workshop will begin with a discussion based on the preparation materials to see what conclusions the students have already drawn from the script of the TV programme and their prior knowledge of the topic. We then go on to develop students' research skills and knowledge of the subject through the following activities:
'Dear Mr Maudling, TWELVE DEAD!...': a study of letters, reflecting varied responses and reactions to the events of Bloody Sunday, sent by members of the public, official bodies and organisations to the Home Secretary, Reginald Maudling.
'What Happened in Derry...': students work on a selection of published documents, including press photographs, republican newspapers and official government reports to examine in more detail the two sides´ own interpretations of the events.
Availability: Any time of year
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: Free of charge
Suitability: year 10 /11 maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
Forthcoming Workshops
Year 10: Medicine through Time
This workshop focuses on early nineteenth century Public Health and in particular, the cholera outbreaks in Britain. Reports produced by the Board of Health in the 1800s, describe a fever prevalent in Spain and Gibraltar, and list government action to prevent the spread of the fever to Britain. Students will have the opportunity to study minutes taken from the Board of Health during the Cholera epidemic of the 1830s, providing insight into the government´s response to the crisis and methods suggested for control of the outbreak. The Education Officer will also show students records created by the Health of Towns Commission, and discuss the recommendations and implications of these, and how they led to the passing of the Public Health Act in 1848.
Availability: any time of year
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: free of charge
Suitability: year 10, maximum number of pupils per workshop 30
