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Gemma H

@gemmamh.bsky.social
1.3K followers 870 following 405 posts

Deputy Headteacher (Pastoral) / History teacher / Mum / Likes being outside

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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Spent a very happy 90 mins @mrbsemporium.bsky.social in Bath this afternoon having a Reading Spa! The lovely bookseller talked to me about my favourite books, and curated a selection of books just for me. A truly enjoyable and indulgent experience that I would recommend to any bibliophile
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Heading to London with Gordon to talk all things history with @histassoc.bsky.social Secondary Committee. Loving this book so far
A photograph of Gordon Brown Power with Purpose by James Macintyre and a Starbucks coffee cup on a train table. The book has a head and shoulders photo of Gordon Brown on the front
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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum under the Trump administration has deleted its teaching materials about links between Nazi racism and the Jim Crow laws: www.politico.com/news/2026/04...
politico.com
‘Proactively fall in line:’ Holocaust Memorial Museum quietly changed content after Trump returned to office
Two former employees said they believed the museum was altering its content preemptively to avoid unwanted negative attention from the Trump administration.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
This is excellent (so far) #historyteacher
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Fascinating blog from @nickdennis.bsky.social on AI in education here: nickdennisnrd.substack.com/p/who-decide...
nickdennisnrd.substack.com
Who Decides What AI Means for Education?
A question for senior leaders in schools: when your school signed its last AI platform contract, did anyone ask who would own the data you and your colleagues generate?
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Superb blog from @civilwarmemory.bsky.social today: open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle... #historyteacher
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Myth busting @coriniummuseum.bsky.social #historyteacher
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
First time I’ve bought a paper copy of a political magazine in years but gosh it’s good! Thank you @newstatesman1913.bsky.social So important to support journalism too
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Always nice to see my words in print - Thank you @histassoc.bsky.social for the opportunity to update the History teaching community on the importance of supporting pupils with SEND and the resources available #historyteacher #edusky
Historical Association SEND update pages from Teaching History journal
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Great to be part of a DfE SEND reform event today Heard from @tomrees.bsky.social & @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social & met some inspiring parents & community arts groups Felt positive to talk about how we can be ambitious for children with SEND but also honest about challenges facing schools & families
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
I am delighted to be helping Historic Royal Palaces find the UK’s most inspiring teachers of history - I’ll be on the judging panel for the Central region of England. Do you know a teacher who deserves to go down in history? Nominate them now: bit.ly/42yhGZP
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
First book of 2026. Took a while to get in to it - complex but enjoyable
Book cover - seven moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. Title is in white block capitals with colourful devilish / monstrous face in background
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Hey @thetimes.com not sure why this comment got rejected? #everyonewatcheswomenssport
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Delivered a webinar this evening for @histassoc.bsky.social - Supporting the whole pupil: building confidence and inclusion in GCSE history. Always a pleasure and a privilege working with the HA
Open laptop showing slide with title and open padlock. A school library is in the background
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Highly recommend Bolton museum for anyone in the North West - some brilliant local history and Egyptology space. Fab for children and families too
Three banners showing: Egyptology, Art and Local History A photo of back of head of young boy looking in to an Egyptology gallery with mummy and wooden floor
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History Teacher Educators' Network @htenuk.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Great to see Historic Royal Palaces wanting to celebrate the amazing #historyteacher s we have in UK. Get nominating! #TeacherEducation #HistoryEducation #History #UKTeaching #UKEd
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
A great resource from Kyniska Advocacy - may be of use to any coach, #PEteacher or #safeguarding leads
Image shows supportive language to empower athletes to speak up eg Instead of “why didn’t you say something sooner” say: “thank you for trusting me with this. I believe you”.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Still going on my Duolingo French streak… trying to learn something for me and my wellbeing this year Have followed @msquinnhistory.bsky.social and @tpattison.bsky.social - which other #historyteachers are out there?
Orange image with owl showing 14 day Duolingo streak
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Can anyone make use of a ticket to the Black Curriculum conference TOMORROW? We have a spare one due to unwell colleague #EduSky #AntiRacism
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Fun volunteering at Junior Parkrun this morning! #parkrun #loveparkrun
The image shows the back of a small boy in a illuminous yellow Parkrun volunteer jacket, navy blue sun hat and blue tambourine. surrounded by grass, a path and bushes in background. A little blue sky is visible on top right corner
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Fab to see a Museum on Wheels from The Wilson museum (Cheltenham) in my local library today. Getting hands on history can inspire curiosity - it certainly did for my son who had lots of questions! #historyteacher #EduSky Blog link below 👇
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Getting those holiday jobs done before the start of term.. #giveblood
An image of my arm with needle in giving blood, a wooden community centre floor and open doors showing picnic benches beyond and the “save lives give blood” logo and #24
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Super proud of my son getting his Half Marathon wristband at Junior Parkrun this morning 😍 #Parkrun #loveParkrun
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 30/07/2025
This is a remarkable document for a mainstream media outlet to publish. (gift link) wapo.st/3IRLZn6
wapo.st
60,000 Gazans have been killed. 18,500 were children. These are their names.
Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of more than one per hour since the war began.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Super proud of a student from my school for writing this blog for @histassoc.bsky.social - onebighistorydepartment.com/2025/07/28/g... #historyteacher #SEND #edusky #OBHD
onebighistorydepartment.com
GCSEs, Neurodiversity and what exam boards can do to help
Written by Fergus, a Year 11 student from a grammar school in Gloucestershire The symptoms started immediately. I felt sick; alarm bells bonged in my head. I also experienced what can only be descr…
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Did a little local litter picking with my son this afternoon. A great free and impactful activity for families My son loves it 😊 🚮♻️🌎
Photo showing my sons feet and a litter picker with him placing a plastic bottle in a carrier bag my left hand is holding
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
An excellent blog for DEI leads in schools - www.diverseeducators.co.uk/what-ive-lea... #DiverseEd #diversity #inclusion #EduSky
diverseeducators.co.uk
What I’ve Learned About DEI and Education Since Founding Inclusion Labs | Diverse Educators
Inclusion is never about just schools. It’s always been about society.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Strong start to this book - evocative language and fascinating to me as a History teacher and veteran #historyteacher #amreading #booksky
Book cover of The Offing by Benjamin Myers showing a coastal village Text from page 7 of The Offing:
It was kept alive in their eyes or hung heavy about their shoulders like a blood-soaked cloak. It blossomed too in their hearts, a black flower that had taken root there, never to be eradicated. The seeds were too toxic, too deeply sown, for the memories to be anything but perennially poisonous.
Wars continue long after the fighting has stopped, and the world felt then as if it were full of holes. It appeared to me scarred and shattered, a place made senseless by those in positions of power. Everything was fragments, everything burnt.
I was neither old enough to have made myself a hero nor young enough to have escaped the newsreel images or the long dark shadows that the returning soldiers dragged behind them like empty coffins. For no one ever really wins a war: some just lose a little less than others.
I was a child when it began and a young man when it ended and in the wake of this conflict visible loss was everywhere, hanging like a great heavy cloud over the island, and no amount of red, white and blue bunting or medals pinned to the sobbing chests of its survivors could change that.
The history books should not entirely be believed:
Allied victory did not taste sweet and the winters that followed would be as frosted and unforgiving as any. Because although the elements care little for the madness of men, even the white virginal snow would now appear impure to those who had seen the first footage of barbed wire and body pits.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Delighted to deliver hundreds of books to the Children’s Book Project today after a hugely successful book donation drive at school! The picture shows less than a quarter of the books we donated altogether 📚 A great charity and super easy to organise a collection - childrensbookproject.co.uk
Image shows my hand holding a couple of books over a trolley full of books and a Children’s Book Project sign in the background
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
This could be really useful for A Level History coursework #historyteacher
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Thank you to Liam from @nacoauk.bsky.social who came to deliver some training to our Pastoral team after school today. Really insightful and practical advice #safeguarding #EduSky
nacoauk.bsky.social
Nacoa UK (@nacoauk.bsky.social)
National charity helping everyone affected by a parent's drinking. A movement for change 💙
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Finally got round to reading Teaching History 198 from March. This piece by Ben Arscott on enquiry questions is great, especially after hearing from Michael Riley @histassoc.bsky.social Conference earlier this month #historyteacher #edusky
Image shows a jungle (left) and maze (right) with text explaining why a maze is preferable to a jungle for pupils navigating an enquiry question in history lessons.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Super grateful to @samcrome.bsky.social for so freely staring his work - used some of his Research Ed slides to deliver Aspiring Middle Leaders CPD last week. Also shared the first slide with SLT today as we discussed leadership styles and values Thank you Sam!
Slides from Sam Crome’s Research Ed presentation about the Power of Teams
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Michael Rosen poem:

I lay in bed hardly able to breathe
but there were people to sedate me, pump air into me 
calm me down when I thrashed around hold my hand and reassure me play me songs my family sent in turn me over to help my lungs shave me, wash me, feed me check my medication perform the tracheostomy
people on this 'island of strangers' from China, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland India, USA, Nigeria and Greece.

I sat on the edge of my bed and four people came with a frame and supported me or took me to a gym
where they taught me how to walk between parallel bars or kick a balloon
sat me in a wheel chair
taught me how to use the exercise bike how to walk with a stick how to walk without a stick people on this 'island of strangers' from China, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland India, USA, Nigeria and Greece.

If ever you're in need as I was 
may you have an island of strangers
Like I had
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Still feeling positive & inspired after histassoc.bsky.social conference yesterday. Thank you HA team! On my run this morning I passed through Cheltenham Racecourse and Michael Riley’s closing lecture really resonated - about how sense of identity and connection to nature is so important #HAConf25
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
Well this was excellent! Love the idea that “unsettling many unsettled facts” is the job of the historian. What a great start to #HAConf25
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Great to be involved in a fantastic webinar with Sally and Lucy from The Milestone School for @histassoc.bsky.social Making History Accessible series today Some really inspiring teaching and learning happening in this special school. Hope the attendees found it useful! #historyteacher #SEND
Image from PowerPoint showing makaton for history, soldier, kings and queen Images from a PowerPoint showing students doing outdoor learning in a special school with cards showing different kinds of homes, and looking at similarity and difference in art work building house Slides from PowerPoint showing some student work on why Mary Seacole was significant, and Christine Counsell’s 5Rs of historical significance
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Useful blog here from Susi at @norfolkrs.bsky.social - Lots for leaders to think about in terms of accessibility, privilege, recruitment and retention www.diverseeducators.co.uk/diversity-eq...
diverseeducators.co.uk
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Leadership: Shaping the Future of the Teaching Workforce | Diverse Educators
Without deliberate attention and change, we risk perpetuating a cycle where leadership remains uniform.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Anyone still considering coming to @histassoc.bsky.social next month? This is my session on the Saturday! Would love to see lots of people there 😊 #historyteacher
Finding fragments of change on Endell Street: an interdisciplinary approach
Gemma Hargraves


The first page of Endell Street by Wendy Moore states that 'they had been living in a world peopled by men. Now they entered a world run solely by women.' Building on other interpretations of the First World War and women’s suffrage campaigns (including David Olusoga and Fern Riddell), this session will discuss how Moore's interpretation of a First World War hospital in London can be used to teach Key Stage 3 and 4 students about change and continuity. The story of the 'trailblazing' women of Endell Street, alongside contemporary artwork, will be explored to show how students can both appreciate and write meaningfully about 'the brilliance and bravery of an extraordinary group of women'.

Learning outcomes:
to share practical strategies to promote analysis of interpretations, and change and continuity (which could be useful from Key Stage 3 to 5)
to take home ways in which to enable participants to develop an interdisciplinary or cross-curricular approach within their existing curriculum

Saturday: 11:15–12:15
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Thank you @thatpovertyguy.bsky.social - your email this morning really resonated. Looking forward to reading your book next week too!
Screenshot of an email newsletter from Sean Harris entitled Is it a ‘good’ Friday? With a large image of a daffodil against a black background
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Off to Devon for the weekend after a long half term. Happy Easter break all! #EduSky
A book - thunderclap by Laura Cumming, a bunch of red grapes and coffee cup on a train table.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Anyone still considering coming to @histassoc.bsky.social next month? This is my session on the Saturday! Would love to see lots of people there 😊 #historyteacher
Finding fragments of change on Endell Street: an interdisciplinary approach
Gemma Hargraves


The first page of Endell Street by Wendy Moore states that 'they had been living in a world peopled by men. Now they entered a world run solely by women.' Building on other interpretations of the First World War and women’s suffrage campaigns (including David Olusoga and Fern Riddell), this session will discuss how Moore's interpretation of a First World War hospital in London can be used to teach Key Stage 3 and 4 students about change and continuity. The story of the 'trailblazing' women of Endell Street, alongside contemporary artwork, will be explored to show how students can both appreciate and write meaningfully about 'the brilliance and bravery of an extraordinary group of women'.

Learning outcomes:
to share practical strategies to promote analysis of interpretations, and change and continuity (which could be useful from Key Stage 3 to 5)
to take home ways in which to enable participants to develop an interdisciplinary or cross-curricular approach within their existing curriculum

Saturday: 11:15–12:15
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
📢 Webinar: Showcasing History in Special Schools 📅 Tues 29 April - online Join @histassoc.bsky.social for this specialist webinar in the Making History Accessible series I saw the slides for this today and it’s looking brilliant! Book here: historical-association.cademy.io/ha-webinar-s...
historical-association.cademy.io
HA Webinar: Showcasing history teaching and learning in special schools by Historical Association on cademy.io
Historical Association webinar series: Making history accessible Presenters: Gemma Hargraves and Sally Lonsdale From a special school perspective, Sally Lonsdale will explore how history is encountere...
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Really enjoyed delivering this @histassoc.bsky.social webinar last week and looking forward to the next one - next month - showcasing History teaching in a special school #EduSky #historyteacher #SEND #MakingHistoryAccessible
A PowerPoint slide entitled: Making History Accessible session 3 - Teaching neurodivergent students to succeed at GCSE History and beyond. There is also a picture of an open padlock and Historical Association branding and history.org.uk at the bottom
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
An excellent blog: www.diverseeducators.co.uk/world-book-d... Really progressed my thinking about inclusion and belonging #EduSky #inclusion
diverseeducators.co.uk
To Belong Is Not Enough: Why We Must Move Towards Mattering | Diverse Educators
It is not enough to simply belong; you should also matter.
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Happy #IWD2025 - here’s an article I recently wrote for @teachsecondary.bsky.social on the importance of teaching a diverse and representative past #InternationalWomensDay #historyteacher
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
There are some great podcasts offering insight it to the events in the Whitehouse this week - recommend @overunderpod.bsky.social and @newsagents.bsky.social
Under the radar - Trump, Starmer and Vance screenshot The News Agents podcast screen shot - Trump ticks Zelenskyy out of Whitehouse
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Excited to get stuck in to this by @funkypedagogy.bsky.social this weekend
The Metacognition handbook book cover by Jennifer Webb. Described as a Practical Guide for School Leaders
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Historical Association @histassoc.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
On the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine we have made out Historian 'Ukraine edition' open access - learn about culture and history as well as politics of conflict. www.history.org.uk/publications...
history.org.uk
The Historian 163: Ukraine
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Gemma H @gemmamh.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
My latest article for @collegeofteaching.bsky.social Impact journal here: my.chartered.college/impact_article… #safeguarding #EduSky
my.chartered.college
Building a safeguarding culture of professional curiosity : My College
GEMMA HARGRAVES, DEPUTY HEAD (SAFEGUARDING, INCLUSION AND WELLBEING), THE CRYPT SCHOOL, UK Professional curiosity is vital to keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and to help them to thrive at s...
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