It's always awkward to introduce a resource which you have written yourself, but here goes. The origins of this activity lie in my time as a Head of History. The Coalbrookdale census data always sat on a departmental shelf looking accusingly at me, but I confess I never did anything much about it. Some time after I left the school, the IT Co-ordinator put this data file to me as a challenge - how do you use a census data file without terminal boredom or rampant pointlessness setting in? The result is this activity.

I think it is an important approach for several reasons:

• It is easily adaptable to any census data and could be used as a template for any local data file.
• It has the potential to raise the profile of history as a vehicle to improve the quality of IT in schools.
• It provides a vehicle for history, citizenship and ICT to come together naturally without being pressured or forced.