Q. Favourite Period in history?
A. I’m really interested in the history of the last 100 years. I think it tells us a lot about who we are and where we’ve come from. It reminds us of the great things we can achieve, but also of the consequences of man’s inhumanity to man.
Q. Favourite Character in history?
A. Petr Ginz - he was a Czech boy who was a prolific writer, diarist, artist and budding scientist. I’ve been finding out a lot about him recently and he had a fascinating life, cut tragically short by the unfolding events in Europe in the 1940s.
Q. Why & When did you first fall in love with history?
A. When I was in Year 9 at school – I loved doing a project about William the Conqueror and another one where I had to go and visit the Tower of London. Having a great History teacher helped!
Q. Favourite baddy in history?
A. It has to be Henry VIII. I think he was a mass of contradictions and he caused chaos!
Q. Favourite story from history?
A. I like any stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I think it’s fascinating to wonder what any of us would do if we found ourselves in testing circumstances…???
Q. What tips would you give budding historians?
A. Find out as much as you can. Try not to draw too many random conclusions without having the original evidence to back it up. Think about why people acted like they did and the consequences (good and bad) of those actions. And don’t forget to ask yourself – what would you have done?
Q. Favourite historical websites?
A. I think the BBC website is always a good place to start (www.bbc.co.uk/history). They have a huge archive of original footage events from our recent past to explore. I’ve also been exploring www.historyspeaks.org.uk which is a great resource for students wanting to find out about the events of the Holocaust. The History Speaks website is connected to the Beth Shalom website (www.holocaustcentre.net), which is the website of our national Holocaust museum, near Nottingham.
Q. If you were not a history teacher, what would you be?
A. An RS and Maths teacher, obviously!