History
The aim of history teaching here at St. Edmund's is to stimulate the children's interest and understanding about the lives of people who lived in the past. We teach children a sense of chronology, and through this they develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage. In this way they learn to value their own and other people's cultures in modern multicultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today. In our school history makes a significant contribution to citizenship education by teaching how Britain developed as a democratic society. We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives today; we also teach them to investigate these past events and, by doing so, to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem solving.
The teaching of History contributes to many other areas of the curriculum, but it makes significant contributions to the teaching of English, Mathematics, ICT, Personal, Social and Health Education and Citizenship. The Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development of pupils are also enhanced through the study of the past.
There are sufficient resources - including software - in the school to undertake all history teaching units. Most of these resources are kept in a central store. The library also contains an excellent supply of books and reference materials to support children's learning.