iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Day 2 of @jamesnaish.bsky.social Summer School with our students, exploring careers in politics and media today with @therestpolitics.bsky.social owners Goalhanger and the Houses of Parliament

What does an MP do? In the committee room at Westminster Palace

Statue of Cromwell outside the Palace of Westminster

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Great day yesterday accompanying students on @jamesnaish.bsky.social summer school. Lots of great advice on accessing a wide range of careers. London today to visit @ukparliament.parliament.uk

A new presenter for BBC Politics East Midlands

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

It certainly seems that way…

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

School rules from the Qing dynasty c1800. Big fan of ‘love their books and keep them from harm’

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Great piece in @nationaltrust.org.uk magazine. Would be great to get this story into our y8 unit on Georgian Britain

T he year is 1789. In London, pens scratch out early petitions for the abolition of slavery. In the Caribbean, whips crack out over plantations. But in Bath, a lone
11-year-old lifts his violin, letting his music speak louder than either words or force.
It's hard to say exactly when George Bridgetower first arrived in England with his violin, or quite what his heritage was.
His father claimed to be an African prince, but it's now thought he was
from Barbados. But one thing for certain is that George's first concert at Bath Assembly Rooms in December 1789 would change his life for ever.
Almost overnight, George became an instant celebrity, his musical genius making him the darling of Bath. Relishing the fame and success, George and his father promenaded daily through the city, greeting their fans while wearing costumes of turbans and foreign robes. After selling out a string of shows at the Assembly Rooms, George soon earned international fame, performing across Europe alongside such luminaries as Beethoven and Haydn.

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Excited to dig into this properly when exam prep is all over

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Along with the description

The Codex Fejérváry-Mayer: history
Before the Spanish invasion, Mesoamerica was known as the land of codices or books. From Mexico to Nicaragua, this type of folded book on deerskin or paper with its characteristic way of writing and its own calendar, was well known.
This codex is one of the most precious and remarkable artefacts to have survived from the time before Hernán Cortés destroyed the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, in 1521. It was named after a Hungarian collector (Fejérváry) and a Liverpudlian benefactor (Mayer).

A window onto another world
Invading Europeans burned whole libraries of books in huge bonfires, fearing their intellectual power. Today, only two dozen or so screenfold books in the Native tradition are known to have survived. Of these, only half - among them Fejérváry-Mayer - are likely to be pre-Cortesian (before 1521).
The Fejérváry-Mayer Codex offers us a chance to look through a rare and privileged window onto the world of Native America.

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

This may be of interest to you, if you’ve not seen it before.

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Every workshop I went to was brilliant, it was a career highlight for me to be a part of it and present our work on Hong Kong. A quick visit to the World Museum too which is packed with amazing objects from the Qing dynasty, as well as an Aztec Codex.

Jardine Matheson’s silk factory in Nagasaki

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

What an amazing and inspiring conference #haconf25! Particularly enjoyed @fredoxby.bsky.social session today and will be thinking more carefully about planning to teach sensitive histories.

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Train read, making some late additions to my workshop at #haconf25

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Hugely enjoying @empirepoduk.bsky.social at the moment. An amazing story of Great British Twitishness in the latest episode

Screenshot of Empire Pod -latest episode

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Had a great break this week. Now it’s time to get absolutely steaming

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

So great to get a new series 🤩🤩

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

新年快樂 🐉 Great to celebrate Spring Festival with all our college students today 🐍

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Top tip for parent’s evening: bring a book

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Very excited and honoured to be presenting at this year’s #HAConf25. The line up looks absolutely incredible!

First page of Teaching History article on Hong Kong from TH196 (page 19)

A range of images relating to Hong Kong history

Countdown until HA conference. 118 days to go

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Spent thanksgiving at an awards evening for our trust tonight. Although we didn’t win, it was great to hear so many positive ways that our schools are changing lives

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

We have a winner 🐍🐛🪳

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Good to be back for tonight’s Subject Interest group with @victoriacrooks.bsky.social

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Year 13 when they learned how Lord Darnley died today:

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Really enjoyed The Watchers by Stephen Alford - looking to use it to add intrigue to my year 13 lessons this term.

Extract from The Watchers by Stephen Alford

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 05/11/2024

Still time to sign up - I’ll be talking about Hong Kong’s colonial past and why it should be considered as a case study for the British Empire.

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

History teachers, any recommendations for historical socks? Christmas is coming up and I’m building a collection.

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

Very much enjoyed being a tourist and exploring the Tower again yesterday. Back to it tomorrow 💪

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

Another great day in Westminster with year 12. Supreme Court and Parliament tour were both brilliant as always

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 24/09/2024

@helenpins.bsky.social thanks for the recommendation, arrived today 🥳

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 20/09/2024

Such an exciting delivery! It was a pleasure to work on this with @arthurjchapman.bsky.social, would recommend contributing to TH to anyone

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 30/08/2024

Putting the finishing touches to our new study of Georgian Britain with year 8. Wonderful historical narrative and description from the great Ian Mortimer here to give a sense of living conditions #historyteacher

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

My favourite was this Japanese textbook page from 1929, showing the longlasting significance of a rescue on a remote island off the coast of Northumberland. Well worth a visit

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

The artefacts in the museum were narrative rich, with clear care and attention given to how they were preserved and presented

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

In the museum was the boat used to make the daring rescue, along with a video telling the story…

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

With her father, she set off in a small rowing boat to rescue them. They rowed through rough seas to save the stranded crew and passengers. An act of heroism which was recounted in newspapers across Victorian Britain.

A painting of Grace Darling and her father rowing to save the crew and passengers of the steamship Forfarshire

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

On 6th Sept 1838, a steamship ran hit Harker Rocks, about 1 mile from Grace’s lighthouse. At daybreak she noticed 9 people in distress, still clinging to the rock…

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

She lived with her family in a lighthouse on the Farne Islands. The museum had an amazing light up model of the lighthouse with buttons to press. My daughter loved the interactivity and was thrilled when she got the light to flash on top…

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

So I didn’t know much about Grace before going to this place. My niece had learned about her at school and told me a few stories. She was born in Bamburgh in 1815 and died in the same town, aged just 26…

Stained glass of Grace Darling and her family gravestone

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

🧵 on why the Grace Darling museum is the best free museum I’ve been to for a long time…

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 21/08/2024

Marc Morris has to be one of the best narrative historians out there

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 21/08/2024

Any idea how we start a petition to extend the summer holiday? #historyteacher

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 19/08/2024

If you want to learn to breach a castle properly, you gotta start young

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 18/08/2024

Enjoyed exploring Bamburgh with a longer run around the coast today #TeachersWhoRun #EduRunners

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 15/08/2024

#EduRunners #TeachersWhoRun At the end of September I will be running the Robin Hood half marathon in aid of Papyrus. September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day and I would love to reach my fundraising target by this date! Please sponsor if you can www.justgiving.com/page/oliver-...

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 09/08/2024

Or Hungarian Olympian Karoly Takacs, who was not allowed to compete in 1936 due to the fact he was not an army officer, was shot in his right hand during WWII but taught himself to shoot left handed, winning gold in the 1948 olympics. A story of adapting to challenge

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 09/08/2024

Finished reading this excellent book. It is very sport focused but it’s given me so many ideas about how to use stories to craft a positive culture with my new year group in September

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Ollie Barnes @obarnes.bsky.social · 09/08/2024

Great immersive experience at the Titanic Exhibition at the NEC

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