One structural approach to divergence (and to creativity; see below) is cross-curricularity. As we said in Chapter 4, it has a chequered history. It seems to hover as a sort of conscience-appeaser. We know that there should be links between subjects, but we have our expertises and our timetables, so we work out themes and audits. This is often a compromise. It may work, but it may become a nuisance. I remember several years of having to fend off the history department, explaining that children couldn't be taught Shakespeare at a particular time just because they were doing Elizabethan England in history, and that, even thought Year-7 were ready for the First World War, they weren't ready for Wilfred Owen.