The Schools History Project begins its second half century with Leeds Trinity

The conference was founded in the 1980s by teachers to meet the needs of teachers and their pupils – to help modernise the curriculum and create a dynamic learning community. This year it will take place virtually on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 July.

Dan Lyndon-Cohen has also been appointed as the new Director of the Schools History Project. Dan will take up the role in July with a mission to lead SHP into its second half century.

The Schools History Project was established in 1972 and for the last 40 years has been based at Leeds Trinity University. Since its foundation, SHP has put the needs of young people at the heart of history education through its six core principles for history teaching: relevance, enquiry, understanding, diversity, locality, and enjoyment. SHP acts as a professional community for history teachers who share these principles. The network, made up of dedicated and passionate people, seeks to empower history teachers to bring diverse, inclusive and life-enhancing school history to every young person, through conferences, published resources, webinars, and continuing professional development (CPD). 

Incoming Director, Dan Lyndon-Cohen, has spent the last 30 years teaching history in schools across London and is currently the Lead Practitioner for Humanities at Park View School, a diverse 11-16 maintained comprehensive in Tottenham. Dan has been an Advanced Skills Teacher since 2004, he has extensive experience of leading a history department over a 12-year period at two schools and has also been a Staff Governor for a similar length of time. Alongside his teaching career, he has published eight books on multicultural British History and collaborated on many others including textbooks for KS3 and GCSE.

As an education consultant he has also worked with many leading national institutions including the BBC, National Trust Colonial Countryside Project, and the Imperial War Museum for whom he was part of an award-winning team for their CPD films on Empire and Conflict.

Dan Lyndon-Cohen said: “Throughout my entire teaching career, spanning nearly three decades, the Schools History Project (SHP) has been a constant source of inspiration, innovation and above all, community. I am extremely humbled and thrilled to have been given the opportunity to lead the Project. I strongly believe we are on the cusp of a new dawn in History education. There is a growing desire to weave in new narratives into the mainstream; to promote historical thinking that is rigorous, stimulating and relevant to our students’ lives; and to use resources that actively engage participation in the classroom. Under my leadership, SHP will play a key role in realising these aims. 

“My ambition is to harness the guiding principles of the Schools History Project, to reach out across the UK and overseas and grow our community even further, building partnerships between schools, academic institutions, archives and local history organisations. I want to create Fellowships for teacher practitioners or researchers so that SHP can be a beacon of History curriculum and pedagogic excellence. Our conferences and other programmes will continue to be the place for History teachers to come to for the highest quality professional development.”

SHP Interim Director, Katie Hall, will continue to lead and oversee the network and its activity until July. Katie has brought a wealth of experience to the History education community having taught in North Yorkshire for a decade followed by experience in international curriculum development, examining and textbook authoring.

Katie Hall said: “I have been involved with SHP for fifteen years including attending the conference as well as leading workshops. This is more than a network, there’s a sense of community, family and life-long friends. I’m honoured to have been working in this interim position. It’s an exciting time for SHP as it enters a new phase. I’m enjoying working on shaping our virtual conference for 2023 which takes place in July, as well as preparing lots of other opportunities for teachers across the country to become involved with innovative CPD opportunities. I know that with Dan’s direction the future of SHP and its ongoing links with Leeds Trinity University look bright.” 

Leeds Trinity University offers a History PGCE within its School of Teacher Education. Alex Ford, Senior Lecturer on the PGCE course, is a SHP Fellow.

The Schools History Project is open to all History teachers and anyone interested in or with a passion for history. For more information visit the Schools History Project website.

For anyone interested in attending, visit the conference booking page.