Disability History Month

24 Nov 2023

November is national Disability History Month in the UK. In light of this month, Mrs Fallon, Teacher of History has written a blog on the focus for this month in particular, during History lessons at St. Mary’s:

In the History Department, we have tried to incorporate lessons which recognise Disability History in our Key Stage 3 curriculum, looking at social history in the Middle Ages and Tudor periods. Happily, these are taught in November!

In Year 7 we study what life was like for people with ‘impairments’; not only disabilities but diseases and injuries from war. We study how these people with impairments were viewed in society; either as something to be hidden away or to celebrate those inflicted as ‘living saints’, living their purgatory on earth so they could go straight to heaven.

In Year 8 we have learnt about how the Dissolution of the Monasteries had a huge impact on people who were sick and disabled, as the monastery hospitals were forced to close. In Tudor society, they were left to either be helped by the Church, or forced on to the streets for a life of homelessness, which was punishable by death!

We aim to keep weaving in the history of people with disabilities in to our curriculum; if you have any ideas of what to include please let us know!