Nadia Thomas on Slavery

Chepstow student Nadia Thomas gives a very personal insight into the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot: The Trial of Guy Fawkes

After studying the 'Gunpowder Plot' year 8 students chose to put Guido 'Guy' Fawkes on trial. The aim was to find out once and for all if he was guilty of attempting to blow up parliament and murder the king.

Here are the results of that trial:



If you'd like to find out more about Guy Fawkes and the 'Gunpowder Plot' have a look at these links below:

http://www.gunpowderplot.co.uk/plot.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/gunpowder_robinson_01.shtml

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/gunpowder_plot_of_1605.htm

Or this video with Nick Knowles is an entertaining overview!

Kony 2012: Should we donate to InvisibleChildren?

The latest viral fauxtivist (faux activist) ad sweeping the interwebs is the Kony 2012 appeal by InvisibleChildren Inc. An extremely shady American nonprofit organisation aiming to wipe LRA leader Joseph Kony from the face of the earth.

IC has received widespread criticism from academics and press alike. The group currently has a low two out of four star rating from Charity Navigator (an international organisation that rates charities) as they won't let their finances be independently audited. Of the money that IC receive from donations, just 31% (by their own admission) goes directly towards helping those displaced by LRA operations across Central Africa. The IC advocate direct military intervention against the LRA through increased American aid for Ugandan armed forces. (President Obama has recently agreed to send 100 special-ops troops into Uganda to hunt down Kony.) The problem with this is that the Ugandan army itself has a poor record in terms of human rights abuses over the last 30 years.

Most shocking of all, perhaps, is a photograph of IC founders posing with weapons and personnel from the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

InvisibleChildren Inc have released a statement of retaliation on their blog - worth a read.

That is not to say that the LRA are not an evil, genocidal organisation and Kony a war criminal. However, it is important to remember to research your causes thoroughly - before being swept away in the media/twitter/facebook hysteria (take that Rhianna).

KEQ: Should we support Invisible Children? on Prezi

What the Tudors/Stuarts/Victorians did for us...

I've just discovered that Adam Hart-Davis' series have all been uploaded to YouTube.

They are an intriguing and engaging look at how people lived under some of our most famous rulers - and they are about the length of a 'Simpsons' episode.

Divorced, beheaded and died...

Dissolution of the Monasteries

Mr Perkins on the Dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII...

New Navbar

You can now navigate between Key Stages on the navbar at the top of the blog - so you can quickly find what's relevant to you!