Tips & Tools for Promoting History in your School!
Meaghan Ryan and Kirk Thomson, St Bede’s College

This workshop will focus on ways to promote History in your school, starting with what you can do in your classroom and in your learning area teams through to ideas you can work on with leadership to create a culture shift! We will share ideas ranging from those that are free or low budget and also share how we managed to organise a European History Trip too!

From excursions to model-building, elective subjects, engaging assessment, themed weeks and opportunities for students to excel, we’re passionate about history, and hope to share these ideas with you!

Meaghan Ryan is the Learning Area Leader for Humanities (Cross campus) at St Bede’s College where she has taught a variety of History classes from Years 7 – 12. Meaghan has co-authored several Oxford Humanities textbooks and has presented at HTAV and GTAV conferences. In 2024/5 Meaghan pioneered a European History tour at her school and was in Villers-Bretonneux for ANZAC Day. This tour was a culmination of hard work in promoting history engagement and enthusiasm in her school.

Meaghan is passionate about promoting History in her school and has developed a range of ideas teachers can implement in their classroom as well as whole school initiatives!

Meaghan was the recipient of the HTAV Award for Excellence in History Teaching by a Secondary Teacher in 2025.

Kirk Thomson is a History teacher at St Bede’s College and is currently the Teaching and Learning Leader for Pedagogy and Professional Development. He teaches VCE History: Revolutions, and has taught a range of History subjects, including electives, for the past ten years. Since 2019, he has presented at a variety of HTAV and GTAV Conferences, and is a proud co-author for both the Year 9 and 10 Oxford Humanities textbooks series.

From 2022–2024, Kirk was the Learning Area Leader of Humanities for the Bentleigh East Campus. During this time, he worked cross-campus to align curriculum and assessment, as well as organise events such as Medieval Days and a European History Trip in both 2024 and 2025. He received the HTAV Award for Excellence in History Teaching by a Secondary Teacher in 2025.

A Pathway to History Growth and Student Engagement
Declan Butler and Lindsey Vaughan, Hoppers Crossing Secondary College

Do you want to create skilled History students from year 7 onwards who see the value of the subject for their senior years, future life and career choices? Do you want to enable all of your multi-disciplinary Humanities team to be able to teach quality, engaging History lessons? We will demonstrate the journey we have been on at Hoppers Crossing Secondary College, to create not only well-equipped future citizens but also competent and academically able students, who actively choose History as part of their VCE program. The workshop will look at both structural changes made as a Head of Department and teaching and learning improvements from a classroom teacher perspective.

Lindsey Vaughan has been teaching Humanities and Social Sciences in the UK and Australia since 2006 and is currently the Director of Humanities at HCSC, holding this position since 2023. She has a background in Sociology, teaching VCE Sociology and 7-10 Humanities subjects at HCSC since 2016. She recently joined the board of SEV (Social Education Victoria). She is passionate about creating a knowledge rich, engaging Humanities curriculum which uses an equity lens to prepare all students with the cultural capital and critical analysis skills to enable them to fully play their part in our society.

Declan Butler has been teaching Humanities at HCSC since 2022. Having taught Levels 7–10 History during this time, he has developed a broad range of both knowledge and teaching strategies for the diverse needs of his classrooms. Additionally, he has taught VCE History: Revolutions for three years and adapted his teaching practice to not only improve engagement but support students in achieving their academic goals. Declan is enthusiastic about improving students’ historical skills to supplement their overall ability in the Humanities.