Students following the QCA KS2 unit Britain Since 1948 might examine the pros and cons of Europe as debated in 1973. They could hold their own 1973 referendum on whether or not Britain should join, and then hold a new referendum today on whether joining was a good idea.

KS 3-4

Students could carry out a local study on monuments and street names and see how many of them refer to wars with European neighbours (eg Trafalgar, Waterloo). A similar approach can be done nationally, using sites such as www.multimap.com to analyse the number, for example, of roads or areas named after Cromwell, Victoria or Waterloo and to assess the relative importance of each in British folk memory.

KS5

The study of the EU could be an important addendum to courses which all too often end in 1945. A task in which Willy Brandt talks to the ghost of Friedrich Ebert, founder of the democratic Germany overthrown by the Nazis in 1933, would be an engaging way for students to develop a bigger picture of European history even if it was not strictly on the examination course.