Education

History is sometimes regarded by students as one of the "boring subjects" within the school curriculum and this is often, in our opinion, due to a perceived lack of relevance to the individual student and a failure to realise that it is all around them in terms of buildings and road layouts and inside them due to genetic and dispositional traits inherited from ancestors. We want to try and make the history of Oatlands come alive for local children...

It is intended to produce a series of educational materials relating to the history of the village. The first of these (currently in progress), is being produced specifically for Oatlands School and is based around the statue of Caroline Stephens which stands within the school grounds. This tells her story and sets her and her family in the context of the times in which they lived.

In the future we would like to be able to play a regular part in the lives of local schools by means of school visits and guided walks in an attempt to make the local history better known and understood, encourage children to look at things, ask questions, investigate and interpret, to realize that all history is about people and not simply dates and 'great events', and to understand that yesterday is as much about history as a day in the middle ages.

We don't want to limit this solely to schools, though that is our first priority - other groups have as much to learn and, as the age of those groups increase, as much to give back to us in terms of personal memories.

It is hoped that we may be able to produce materials suitable for a wider range of schools and include all age ranges within the educational curriculum and, as we are able, to expand this outwards to a much wider audience.

If you have teaching experience, have been involved in the production of this type of material, or are a graphic artist and would like to become involved, then please contact us.