The series consists of four webinars. We recommend watching live on the dates below. Recordings will also be available to booked delegates until the end of the term.

Session 1: Embedding opportunities for historical oracy across key stages
Tuesday 20 January 2026, 4pm–5pm
Presenter: Toby Dove

This session will explore how we can find opportunities to get students talking in what are often crowded curriculum spaces. The session will suggest ways that oracy can be integrated into what is already being taught and argue that it isn't a choice between written and spoken work, rather the two can harmoniously complement one another.

Session 2: Using debates to engage students, improve writing and strengthen memory
Tuesday 10 February 2026, 4pm–5pm
Presenter: Dale Banham

This webinar will explore how to:

• • structure effective debates – making sure that they are inclusive and not dominated by a few students
• • use debates to frame a thematic study or depth study at GCSE – aiding recall and helping 'key takeaways' stick
• • use debates between historians to model how to argue effectively and reach criteria-based judgements
• • use 'public' debates to create a real sense of audience and purpose, motivating students to step up a level and maintain focus
• • use small scale, structured debates to help students test out ideas, refine their use of language and gain feedback from peers before they write
• • use debates to develop effective listening skills and model conflict resolution

Session 3: Using oral histories in the classroom
Wednesday 25 February 2026, 4pm–5pm
Presenters: Sally Burnham and Debbie Bogard

In this webinar we will explore how secondary history teachers can harness the power of oral history to deepen students’ understanding of the past and develop their oracy skills in authentic historical enquiries. We will look at:

• • Practical strategies for enabling students to explore and engage with a range of oral history testimonies as historical evidence, helping students critically evaluate voice, perspective, and memory whilst at the same time strengthening their attentive and critical listening skills.
• • Opportunities for students to plan and then conduct their own family or community oral history interviews helping them to build confidence in speaking and listening and also look at ways the experiences of ordinary people or marginalised communities, who are often omitted from history books, can be represented.

Session 4: Assessing historical oracy: the bigger picture at Key Stage 3
Tuesday 3 March 2026, 4pm–5pm
Presenter: Toby Dove

This session will offer a model for integrating oral assessment across Key Stage 3, so that it does not just sit alongside written assessment but in fact complements it. The session will draw upon work that has been (and still is being) carried out in two different history departments. It will offer insights into the things that have and haven't worked, as well as suggestions for exploring synchronising oral and written assessment in your own department.

The course is for anyone who teaches history at Key Stage 3, 4 or 5, including subject leaders and history leads at Multi-Academy Trusts.

This webinar series will enable you to:

• • Discover opportunities and plan for embedding oracy seamlessly in history in an already crowded curriculum
• • Develop your understanding of how talk and writing are intrinsically linked and how oracy can lead to better writing
• • Develop your skills to deliver opportunities for oracy through your curriculum
• • Develop your understanding, confidence and skills for harnessing the power of oral history testimony in the history classroom
• • Develop your understanding and confidence in assessing progress through oracy and how this can complement written assessment

Toby Dove is Head of History at Chipping Campden School. These webinars develop on his contributions to Teaching History and HA conference presentations on this subject, and his contributions to our 2024 webinar series Effective oracy in the secondary history classroom.

Dale Banham FHA is a history teacher in a large comprehensive in Ipswich. He is an author of GCSE textbooks and is an honorary fellow of both the Historical Association and the Schools History Project.

Sally Burnham FHA is chair of the Historical Association’s secondary committee, and an assistant head and teacher of history at Carre’s Grammar School. Debbie Bogard combines teaching A-level history at City and Islington Sixth Form College with working as a Learning Facilitator at the British Library.

All prices are listed inclusive of VAT. Any webinar booked individually on Cademy will incur an additional fee.

To access the member price please provide your membership number when prompted. You must have a valid membership at the time of booking and attending. All webinars in this series are eligible for the corporate member free offer.

The webinars will take place online over Zoom. While we strongly recommend participating live, if you are unable to attend for any reason a recording link will be made available. This will be emailed to all registered participants to access for a limited period until the end of the term.

To book for multiple webinars or request an invoice, please complete the form below.

If you have missed a session, a recording can be accessed using the form. You will be emailed an invoice for the cost of the recording(s) and a time-limited link to access the webinar recording on Zoom.