Studying the past may brighten your future!
History continues to be a very popular subject in the College, with it being the most chosen ‘option’ subject at GCSE level. St Edward's is blessed to be steeped in history - see images above, below and our history page.
The popularity stems from the highly motivated and experienced staff who, with their innovative teaching methods, help in producing consistently excellent GCSE results. As part of broadening the learning experience, the department regularly takes pupils on trips to the Battlefields of Belgium and France and to Auschwitz, and encourages pupils to take part in History competitions such as writing responses to History magazine articles.
Pupils have the opportunity to hear talks from visitors to the College and receive advice from Old Edwardians about coursework and exams.
Our Learning Journey
We hope you enjoy reading our infographic; below the image we have hyperlinked all the key terms to exciting learning resources such as YouTube, Bitesize, and bespoke school assets - they all open in a new window.
We hope you enjoy working through these, discussing them as a family and supporting the learning journey.
Your child will also have access to our excellent in-school virtual learning environment - that is critical to academic success. The resources here don't replace this, they just add value for families to get involved and hopefully create a sense of fun and intrigue. Many of the links below are full documentaries that can be enjoyed as entertainment over several evenings - with popcorn! Our amazing Food Technology curriculum will equip students with the skills to make popcorn the old fashioned way - Miss Gilbertson can point you in the right direction for details (she has been known to look the other way over the use of microwave ovens!).
Research from the Education Endowment Foundation found that parent engagement in their child's learning has an average impact of four months' additional progress over the course of a year - an exciting prospect. Also, a large-scale study by the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) found that studying history through document-based inquiry and source evaluation significantly improves students’ critical thinking skills - important for life in a world of social media, higher education and professional development in all sectors. Source: Wineburg, S., & Reisman, A. (2015). “Disciplinary Literacy in History: A Toolkit for Digital Citizens.”
You can download the infographic as a PDF to print and display in a prominent position as a reminder - and make good use of those fridge magnets.
Hyperlinked family learning resources
Year 7
History of the Roman Empire (you'll need the popcorn mentioned earlier - and YouTube can cast to many televisions)
What was life like in Medieval Society
The Church's role in England's medieval life
The most important contribution parents can make to support history education is to assist in developing an active interest in the world around them.
Outside of these resources, consider the daily news as a conversation point - is migration still a hot topic, does slavery still exist, where is the world still at war...?
Please ask your child to let us know about your history adventures, discussions and online collaborations as a family. There's nothing that gives us more pleasure.
Kind regards,
Mr Evans - Head of History