The Learning Curve is launching its new podcast series with two new podcasts. In the first Dr. Jane McDermid of the University of Southampton discusses the Stalinist Terror of the 1930s, in a lecture delivered in conjunction with the Historical Association and aimed specifically at Sixth Formers. In the second, our Past Masters team uses documents from the Archives to follow Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle. They'll be finding out about shipboard life in the 1830s and trying to understand how Darwin was influenced by the voyage.
Keep an eye on the home page for more details. Over the next three months we will also be covering UFOs, duelling and the Tudors so there should be something for everyone. Drop us an email if you've got a topic you think we should cover or to tell us what you think about this exciting new series.
The National Archives has joined forces with South East Grid for Learning to redevelop the ever-popular OnFilm section of the Learning Curve and provide an enlarged archive of original film clips with full background information, newly developed classroom activities and a stunning online video-editing tool that will allow students to work directly with the materials.
In December 2007 Focus on Film was shortlisted for a BETT award which recognise excellence in digital learning resources. The winners will be announced in January.
"Say Cheese!" - Queen Victoria's Family Photograph 
Revised and updated this classic snapshot now has a fresh look, expanded background, links and guidance for teachers along with a new glimpse into Queen Victoria's later family life.
What was it like to be an airman in WWII? - Gordon Ford’s Story
New Zealand Squadron 27 wireless operator Gordon Ford describes a WWII bombing mission
to Dortmund in this snapshot mixing a recent video interview with documents from the National Archives. Suitable for Key Stage 2.
This year we are joining forces with the South East Grid for Learning (SEGfL), English Heritage and the British Film Institute to deliver a powerful new combination of archival materials for schools. Unlocking Archives is a project that encourages teachers to combine different types of archival material for pupils to use in the classroom.
The new portal will bring together documents from the Learning Curve, photographs from English Heritage's Heritage Explorer and film from the BFI's Screenonline to provide teachers with an unparalleled online resource for the History and Citizenship classroom at key stages 2-4..
The Unlocking Archives project will be launched at BETT Show, the education technology exhibition at Olympia, in January where all four organisations will be exhibiting on Stand T14. Come and join us during the show and look out for the website in the New Year.
Our massive new Second World War online exhibition. Explore seven theatres of war spanning the whole of the conflict with twenty different investigations for students and hundreds of documents, sound files and film clips.
Poppy Simpson is currently the Education Online Developer at the British Film Institute, working on the Screenonline website and the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank. Prior to working at the BFI, Poppy wrote for the Guardian newspaper's Learn newsdesk. She was a secondary History teacher and Head of KS3 History at St Marylebone School in London between 2002 and 2005.
Working with original sources can really inspire students to work like professional historians - adopting an enquiry based approach that stretches their analytical skills.
In my own teaching, I always found the Women, Society and the Vote gallery (within the Britain 1906-1918 exhibition) a popular resource with pupils. The combined sources offer an accessible way in to the various and often complex arguments employed by the proponents and opponents of female suffrage. Plus, there are some individual gems - it's a treat to read John Stuart Mill's 1867 speech in favour of women voting but my personal favourite has to be Gwladys Gladstone Solomon's letter to Lloyd George in which she implores the future PM to take upon his 'stronger shoulders' the burden of government, writing: ' I am too thankful to pay my taxes in return for your protection...'. Thankful? For taxes?
The structure of this gallery lends itself to group work and allows students to navigate through the material at their own pace while the range of source material means the it can be used with both Year 9 and GCSE students.
When it comes to the Snapshots, I'm particularly interested by Bussa's Rebellion in 1816, not least because I have Caribbean roots myself. The documents on offer illustrate the authorities' perspective on the insurrection and, again, provide the basis for some detailed source work. However, I'm also interested by the sources that aren't in the resource - why don’t we know more about Bussa and the way in which this rebellion was planned and organized? Perhaps an easy question to answer, but the kind of question that students must, nonetheless, learn to ask.
Lastly, my job involves watching a lot of films and I couldn't not mention Focus on Film and the practical activities in Editor's Room, which are really useful in developing pupils' understanding of how film needs to be interrogated as a source.
December
13th December 1577: Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth on a voyage to circumnavigate the globe. It's his second try in a month after strong winds blew him back to port. Was the wind also behind his Armada victory?
24th December 1914: Candles are placed in German trenches as an unexpected Christmas truce breaks out along much of the Western Front. The truce holds, along much of the line, until Boxing Day and offers a brief respite from the daily grind of bombardment.
January
1st January 1660: Samuel Pepys begins keeping a diary which he will continue for the next nine and half years covering everything from his jealousy of his wife's dancing teacher to the plague and Great Fire of London.
15th January 1929: Martin Luther King is born in Atlanta, Georgia. Find out more about his role in the struggle for equal rights in our Heroes and Villains exhibition.
30th January 1649: King Charles I is executed in London. He had ruled England for almost a quarter of a century but what kind of king was he?
February
8th February 1906: Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Liberal party wins a landslide majority in the General Election. The election was mainly about free trade so why did the new government begin a sweeping programme of social reform?
12th February 1936: Adolf Hitler consults his War Minister and members of the German High Command over his plan to reoccupy the Rhineland. How did the British government react to this breach of international law?
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