On all three days we provide a full Living History programme delivered with expertise and a fresh interactive and immersive approach. This year periods and areas covered will include Medieval, Tudors, Crime and Punishment, Middle East 1908-2011, Second World War, Cold War and American Civil Rights. There will be a huge amount for pupils to see and do which will help bring the past alive in a unique and exciting way.
We will have plenty of new living history including Roman encampments, an Iron Age and Medieval settlement, a new 1940 trench, a range of historical specialist skills, and a large array of historical artefacts, including a fully working Russian WWII-era T-34 tank.
The Festival is about getting out of the classroom and bringing history alive in new and exciting ways. We are proud that a large cross-section of schools attend from all over the country. We will announce details of specific historians speaking in due course.
With over 12,709 children having attended since launching, the Festival for Schools makes a major contribution to history education and brings history alive in new and exciting ways. We hope you will attend!
“The Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools gives students a fantastic and unique opportunity to engage with world-class historians in a way that we could never achieve in school. The speakers and topics are carefully chosen to meet the requirements of a number of GCSE and A Level courses which really engages and inspires students. One of the highlights of the festival for me has to be the reenactors who have such a wealth of knowledge and in-depth understanding of their eras, those with things that go bang are always a hit with the students!”
£27 per
independent school pupil for the day
£17 per
state school pupil for the day
£5 per
pupil on Pupil Premium for the day
We are conscious that for some schools, budgets for school trips are very tight. The Chalke Valley History Trust has a limited amount of funding available to help as many schools as possible to experience the Festival. For further information please contact us on 01722 780793 or schools@cvhf.org.uk
There is plenty of parking for both coaches and minibuses and access to the site in Broad Chalke village, 25 minutes from Salisbury, is easy. Pupils can either bring a packed lunch or take advantage of the food stalls that are based at the Festival throughout the week.
THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF BRITAIN SHOW: IN 45 MINUTES
THE REFORMATION:
WHY DID RICHARD WHITING DIE?
BRUNEL: THE LIFE, TIMES AND DISASTERS OF THE GREATEST ENGINEER-CUM-SHOWMAN
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
SCOTT, AMUNDSEN AND THE RACE TO THE SOUTH POLE
THE CRUSADES
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR
LOVE, BETRAYAL, ASSASSINATION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN LENIN’S RUSSIA
ELIZABETH I, WILLIAM CECIL AND THE AGE OF LEADERSHIP
A HISTORY OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST
SLAVERY AND EMPIRE IN THE AGE OF REFORM 1820-1860
VICTORIAN MEDICINE
THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE PEACE SETTLEMENT
SHAKESPEARE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE WARS OF THE ROSES
THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
THE FIVE: THE UNTOLD LIVES OF THE WOMEN KILLED BY JACK THE RIPPER
THE COLD WAR ARMS RACE AND THE EVOLUTION OF U.S. COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
For our two days for eleven to fourteen year-olds, there was a fully immersive and interactive programme of wide-ranging subjects from which teachers could choose. Using expert historians and living historians together with a mass of genuine historical artefacts, pupils were able to learn about day-to-day living and lifestyles, as well as exploration, in a way that complements and expands the history curriculum.
Periods covered included: Vikings through to the Age of Chivalry and the Tudors and on to the Second World War. There were encampments for each period. There was also a brand new, immersive Second World War trench experience based on Normandy, June 1944.
We were pleased to welcome back Martin Brown, the illustrator of the phenomenally successful Horrible Histories series. His performances at the Festival have always been hugely entertaining and engaging. The author Chae Strathie joined us for the first time. He has recently written, So You Think You’ve Got It Bad? A Child’s Life in Ancient Egypt. Historian and curriculum adviser, Chris Culpin, talked about Living in the Iron Age and acclaimed historian James Holland spoke about the Second World War.
Additionally, the well-loved History Tellers brought strange and incredible stories from the past back to life with their unique blend of show and tell, and there were also live demonstrations of the History of Falconry.
This day included a range of immersive living history but also an incredible line-up of leading historians and academics covering and expanding many of the principle GCSE and A-level history topics:
THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY
Professor Olivette Otele
THE PLAGUE: 3000BC TO 3000AD
Tim Mason
THE ILIAD
Tom Holland
POMPEII
Dr Sophie Hay
THE CRUSADES
Professor Jonathan Phillips
HENRY VIII AND THE MEN WHO MADE HIM
Dr Tracy Borman
ELIZABETH I AND MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Professor Kate Williams
THIS IS SHAKESPEARE
Professor Emma Smith
THE 1917 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
Dr George Gilbert
APPEASING HITLER: CHAMBERLAIN, CHURCHILL AND THE ROAD TO WAR
Tim Bouverie
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
James Holland
STALIN, CHURCHILL AND ROOSEVELT
Professor David Reynolds
THE RISE OF AMERICA’S NATIONAL SECURITY IDEOLOGY: LESSONS FROM WW2 AND THE CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR
Dr Chris Fuller
VIETNAM: AN EPIC TRAGEDY, 1945-1975
Sir Max Hastings
LIFE, LOSS AND HOPE IN WARTIME SYRIA
Rania Abouzeid
There was a full Living History programme delivered with expertise and a fresh interactive approach covering the Vikings through to the Age of Chivalry and the Tudors and on to the Second World War. With themes of exploration through history, the story of the home and many real historical working artefacts. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, we introduced a brand new WWII trench using a scenario from Normandy, June 1944.
On all three days we provide a full Living History programme delivered with expertise and a fresh interactive and immersive approach. This year we are covering the Vikings through to the Age of Chivalry and the Tudors and on to the Second World War. With themes of exploration through history, the story of the home and lots of real historical working artefacts. There is a huge amount for pupils to see and do – and which will help bring the past alive in a unique and exciting way.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, we will be introducing a new WWII trench using a scenario from Normandy, June 1944.
Please note – no children will be allowed into the event site unless accompanied by an adult or within a school or college group; this means anyone under 16 years of age. There will be a clearly demarcated Lost Child Point in the Ticket & Information Tent.
WINKLE AND THE JETS21st February 2020 - 9:39 am
🎧 Lenin’s Train20th January 2020 - 2:41 pm
🎧 Young Churchill27th November 2019 - 1:56 pm
🎧 THE MAYFLOWER GENERATION: THE FAMILIES, THE VOYAGE AND THE FOUNDING OF AMERICA19th November 2019 - 10:56 am
🎧 WE SHALL GO TO THE MOON: THE ADVENTURE OF APOLLO15th November 2019 - 11:49 am
