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Our new World War Two site is now online and it's one of our biggest and best ever. Featuring nine animated maps to show the progress of the conflict across the world, twenty classroom investigations for key stage 3 written by top history guru Ben Walsh and hundreds of documents, sound files, video clips and photographs, World War Two is the ultimate classroom resource on the conflict.
The site is divided into six theatres of war (two in Europe, Atlantic, Pacific, Asia and the Mediterranean and North Africa) and aims to explore not just the most well-known aspects of World War Two like the Battle of Britain or the D-Day landings but also the fall of Singapore, the experience of living in occupied Europe and Monty's double. If you thought you'd seen it all on World War Two, we hope you'll think again.
Two new podcasts we've produced in conjunction with the Historical Association are available this month, aimed specifically at A-Level students studying the 1930s. Professor David Stephenson from the LSE and Geoff Stewart of Edexcel look at the appeasement of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. How far was the British public in favour of appeasement? And when did the cost of war begin to seem to outweigh the cost of peace? Find out how students commonly tackle the question in exams and how historians have been grappling with it over sixty years.
Over the next few months we will also be producing podcasts on UFOs, Henry V and the Berlin Airlift 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 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.
Phase 1 is now online and brings together documents from 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.
Look out for further updates to this exciting new site over the course of the year. In phase 2, students and teachers will be able to access powerful new tools in order to build their own online resources and presentations from an expanded selection of film clips, photographs and documents.
Following on from success at the BETT Awards, Focus on Film received a Focal Award in May. The site triumphed over the multi-million pound BFI Mediatheque and Digital Learning from Film Australia in the category Best Use of Footage on Non-Television Platforms. Focal International is the trade association of film and video archives worldwide.
Rob Roy - A Victorian Railway Accident 
Now completely redeveloped, this snapshot is designed to support literacy teaching at key stage 2.
A Medieval Mystery - Can you decode the dark secrets of this cartoon?
Putting antisemitism in context, this revised snapshot for key stage 3 History and Citizenship looks at a darker side of medieval England.
Learning Curve is changing. From this month we are beginning a year-long process of completely redeveloping the site, aiming to make it easier to find things, improve the design and pull in content that in the past has been scattered across The National Archives site. We'll keep you posted on how it's all going.
In the meantime we want your views on the redevelopment. What do you like about the current Learning Curve? What don't you like? How could things be improved? Drop us an email at education@nationalarchives.gov.uk
June
6th June 1942: Battle of Midway in the Pacific ends in a decisive US victory over Japanese forces. The Japanese lose four of their vital aircraft carriers. Follow the progress of World War Two in the Pacific in our new website.
20th June 1837: Princess Victoria is woken early to be told that her uncle King William IV has died in the night and that she is now queen. Victoria was the first female ruler of England in over 120 years but how equal were men and women during her reign?
21st June 1904: Midsummer's Day. Hopefully the weather's holding. If it isn't you can at least watch someone enjoying themselves in our 1904 footage of Edwardian Folkestone. Don’t sing along with “Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside” though - it wasn't written until 1907.
July
4th July 1776: The Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopts the Declaration of Independence from Britain and sends it to be printed. But why did Britain get involved in North America in the first place?
11th July 1804: American Vice President Aaron Burr meets his political rival Alexander Hamilton for a duel. Burr shoots and kills Hamilton but never stands trial. Listen to how to win a duel from our Past Masters podcast series.
August
8th August 1918: The British Army makes major advances at Amiens. 1918 was a year of appallingly high casualties but it also brought victory. Learn more about the triumphs of the last hundred days on our Great War site.
25th August 1665: Samuel Pepys leaves London with his household as plague worsens in the city. How did other Londoners respond?
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For a free guide on Learning Curve and ICT in history, download our updated Teacher’s booklet.
