Several articles in previous editions of "Teaching History" have touched on the themes of cross curricularity, Assessment for Learning and the most able. Tony McConnell and Mandy Monaghan bring these themes together in describing how the English and history departments in their school have taken advantage of a natural area of overlap to deliver jointly planned lessons for a very able Year 9 group which they share. They have brought in elements of their wider roles within the school. McConnell, the Gifted & Talented Coordinator, has been considering models of cross-curricular planning, while Monaghan, who has been part of the group implementing the Assessment for Learning Strategy, has been considering how best to use objectives and outcomes to motivate students. They conclude that cross-curricular planning works best when taking care to remain true to the original subjects, and that the Assessment for Learning Strategy is best served by Michael Riley's enquiry model. The goal of the enquiry question, they suggest, is to encourage and motivate students, but also to relate chunks of content to the fundamental principles of the subject. The most able pupils might be able to do this on their own. [A combined list of notes and references is provided.]