The EACH historical fiction project


The EACH historical fiction project began in 1993. It is concerned with developing the effective use of children's historical fiction in the teaching of history in schools. The essence of the work has been for secondary school students (aged 11-16) to read children's historical fiction set in an historical period in order to explore the writer's techniques, to research aspects of that same period and then to write their own historical fiction. The project began with medieval history and has since worked in other historical periods.

In each case the use of historical fiction gives purpose to students' research and requires them to write for a real audience, themselves and their peers. It forces them to try and get under the skin of people in the past. In essence to undertake a study in depth into the lives of ordinary people. Moreover the final writing enables students to express the range and subtlety of their historical understanding. This has been described as empathy with edge. History teachers have been struck by the depth of historical understanding their students show and by how much their students enjoy the writing. With the introduction of the new history curriculum in England historical fiction also offers a great opportunity for cross curricular work with English.

This site aims to help you to do this in your own school. There are teachers' descriptions of their use of historical fiction, especially the work of Nigel Watt, with stories set in Renaissance Florence; Geraint Brown, with stories set in First World War trenches; and Gary Hillyard, with stories set in the Industrial Revolution. See examples of students' historical fiction, recent book reviews and lists of relevant titles under historical periods.

The secret of successful work is to choose a good book, one your students enjoy reading. Some titles are rated TOP BOOK CHOICE as they are so good for classroom use. Most recently Crusade by Elizabeth Laird, Gatty's Tale by Kevin Crossley-Holland and Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve have all been nominated for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, a testimony to the quality of historical fiction writing for children. Some of the older titles are now out of print but often second hand copies are available via your local charity shops or via Amazon.

Another place to look for good titles is in your own school library. To see good practice visit the web site of Gillingham School library. http://www.gillingham.dorset.sch.uk/  The school librarian Emma Vallendar has provided excellent curriculum support to history. She gives reading guidance on historical fiction for students of all ages. Once you have accessed their website under Curriculum go to history and then select course outline for any year group. Or go to Library and then Recreational Reading then Reading Trails for Historical Happenings or Waging War.

Most recent reviews: Bearkeeper, Josh Lacey (Marion Lloyd Books, 2008) and The Sword and Shield of the Realm, Florian Stone Wells, (Sapientus, 2008).

New teacher competition. Can you recommend a good historical fiction title for use in the classroom? If so email the site and you could win a copy of White Rose Rebel by Janet Paisley (Penguin, 2008). This title set during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 has been described by a reviewer in the Sunday Times as 'Pacey, racy ... a claymore-swinging, heather-igniting, historical adventure'. So ideal reading for the summer holiday or as an antidote to the back to school blues of September.

Write Your Own Historical Story Competition 2008 Results

The competition this year has been very successful. We have received 113 entries from 51 schools across England and Wales. These break down into 53 stories from Year 7 pupils, 40 from Year 8 pupils and 20 from Year 9 pupils. Their stories come from all periods and places in the past; they range from Ancient Egypt to post war Europe and America after 9/11. In some cases pupils have clearly worked as a Year group writing stories set in a particular period, in others as members of a history club whilst some have written entirely on their own. All have been remarkably creative.

In the best stories pupils have deliberately drawn upon the historical fiction writer’s devices, that they have been explicitly taught, to write well. And then they have gone on to root their interesting characters and plot convincingly in the past. They have drawn upon their historical knowledge and understanding to establish a sense of period, but without the history becoming obtrusive.

Each of the winning students, two from each year group, will receive a cash prize of £25 and an engraved Bath Aqua Blue glass paperweight. Their teacher will receive a year's free subscription to the Historical Association. All winners and highly commended entries will also receive a certificate.

Winners
Year 7
The Family Battle by Maliq Holden, St John’s School, Episkopi, Cyprus.
Rose’s War by Aneira Evans, Lordswood Girls’ School, Birmingham.

Year 8
The Plague: a Doctor’s Journal by Sam Pritchard, Bishop Vaughan Comprehensive School, Swansea.
Slave Autobiography by Alexander Jarvis, Aston Comprehensive School, Sheffield.

Year 9
Refugees Grace by Gene Carini, The John Fisher School, Purley.
Mengele’s Children by Luke Rollason, Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham.

Short listed /Highly commended
Year 7
The Pilgrimage by Hannah Judge, Ilfracombe Arts College, Devon.
The Story of Bardulf the Axe Lover by Pip Liggins, Holyrood Community School, Chard.
Everlasting Love by Amy Lauren Timms, Lyng Hall School, Coventry.
Aemilia Geminus by Emily Shaw, Lordswood Girls’ School, Birmingham.

Year 8
Field of Reeds by Raina Victor, Swavesey Village College, Cambridgeshire.
As the Sun Sets by Ankita Rana, Parmiter’s School, Garston, Hertfordshire.
Innocent Enemy by Thomas Swainston, Carmel Technology College, Darlington.
Under the King’s Horse by Chloe Morris, The Marches School & Technology College, Oswestry.

Year 9
Madness Takes Hold by Jack Parkes, Caedmon School, Whitby.
Saving Myself by Sophie Brinsmead, Davison C.E. High School, Worthing.
The Sky is the Limit by Ali Vyvyan, Marlborough College, Wiltshire.
Anastasia by Amy Finch, Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham.

Entry was limited to three stories per school and had to be received by Friday 23rd May 2008. Entry forms are available to download from the Historical Association website or from here Entry Form (This is a Microsoft Word .doc file. To save this file to your computer, right click and choose 'Save Target As'). Or simply email this site and ask for one.

And look out for details of the competition for 2009 which we hope to confirm soon.

Titles concerned with Irish history on this site have been provided by the organisation ‘Ireland in Schools’. For more information on their work visit their web site.http://iisresource.org