The 2015 UCL Centre for Holocaust Education Research Report highlights a significant lack of student knowledge and understanding surrounding British responses to the unfolding genocide. The most popular thinking amongst students surveyed, for example, was that the Holocaust was the trigger for Britain’s entry into the Second World War. This session models lesson ideas and resources based on archival material to engage students and help them construct a better understanding of events and the issues involved.

The core session has a historical focus, encouraging students to construct an understanding of Britain’s role as events unfolded. A key element of this is hands-on use of archival evidence to give voice to the responses of a range of groups within Britain; The National Archives, The Weiner Library, Mass Observation, the Ben Uri Gallery, the Churchill Archives Centre, and the Imperial War Museum all provide evidence of how different groups responded in different ways at different times. Around the core session there are also optional approaches developed for History, around the historical skills involved in looking at archival evidence, for Citizenship around issues of realms of responsibility, and for approaches in assessing student understanding.