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We are refreshing our teaching resources and regularly adding new and updated ones. All of our old resources are permanently available in the UK Government Web Archive.

Archives Live

Archives Live is our series of livestreamed events for schools, presented by some of the biggest names in history broadcasting. Catch up with the recordings of sessions on demand.

Catch up on past episodes

Key stages 1 to 3

Archives Live: Great Fire of London with Michael Underwood

Discover the story of the Great Fire of London in this broadcast for key stages 1 and 2. This engaging half-hour episode tells the stories of those who experienced the fire through the documents they left behind. Presented by broadcaster and primary school teacher Michael Underwood.

In partnership with The London Archives and featuring The London Fire Brigade.

Archives Live: D-Day with Dan Snow

Broadcast in 2024 to mark the 80th anniversary of the event, this episode was aimed at key stages 2 and 3 and looked at what documents can reveal about the experiences of those who participated in D-Day. Presented by historian and broadcaster Dan Snow.

Archives Live: Windrush with Baroness Floella Benjamin

Join Baroness Floella Benjamin in this live event for primary schools which marked the 75th anniversary of the arrival of Empire Windrush to Tilbury dock. Floella Benjamin is an acclaimed presenter, actress, author and the first woman from Trinidad to become a member of the House of Lords. Her bestselling book Coming to England can be found on the shelves of many classrooms.

For Archives Live, Floella explored the uniquely personal document that records her arrival as a ten-year-old in 1960.

Key stages 4 to 5

Archives Live: Whitechapel with Jenny Draper

This broadcast was designed for GCSE students with a focus on the Migration to Britain modules across all exam boards as well as the Crime and Punishment modules – particularly the Edexcel Whitechapel c1870-1900 site study. It explored three stories of migration to 19th-century Whitechapel.

The event was hosted by Jenny Draper and included expert guests Sarah Elizabeth Cox, Breda Corish, and Theo Daniels, alongside The National Archives' specialist Joe Couzens.

Archives Live: Tudors with Dr Tracy Borman

This live event, aimed at key stage 5 students explored five significant Tudor documents curated by the esteemed historian Dr Tracy Borman, hosted by Jenny Draper.

Dr Tracy Borman is a Tudor historian, author, broadcaster and Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces.

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