Richard Kerridge writes here about his efforts to help students to overcome an experience that was once his own: of being labelled low-ability, with all the attendant lowering of expectations that this entails. He recognises the merits of rigorously ensuring that all students should be able to access their entitlement in terms of what they are learning in history, and that they should all meet appropriate learning objectives, but suggests a different approach. He describes ways of engaging students in lessons and in feedback, from using familiar role-plays to (deliberately) writing on desks, but most importantly Kerridge makes the case for helping students to overcome the negative effects of ability labelling through a programme of study which combines ensuring students' dignity with enhancing their enjoyment of the subject. His approach combines rigorous enquiry-based teaching with a compelling ethical position.