AN academic from Steeton has been awarded a prestigious honorary fellowship.

The fellowship from the Historical Association has been presented to Beverley Forrest, who is an associate principal lecturer in primary education at Leeds Trinity University.

She has been rewarded for her work with the Historical Association to encourage and help primary school teachers have their voices heard in the world of history education.

She is a member of the association’s primary committee and has recently been part of a team to devise a quality mark to recognise outstanding history teaching in schools.

Beverley was presented with her award earlier this month by professor Justin Champion at the Medlicott Awards evening at the RAF Club, in London.

She said: “I’m thrilled to have been awarded this honorary fellowship. I'm passionate about the work that we do, and I will be continuing to support history teachers to achieve the very best they can through sustained development and guidance.”

As well as being a member of the Historical Association’s primary committee, Beverley has led workshops at national conferences on history teaching in primary schools. She is now a member of the association's editorial team for its journal – Primary History.

She also set up and runs the Northern History Forum, which provides a platform for teachers to meet and be inspired by experts in their field.

Ian Dawson, national teaching fellow and founder of the Thinking History website, said: “Bev’s honorary fellowship is richly deserved. She works closely with her former students, empowering them to teach history in a way that engages and motivates their pupils.”