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parents had decided to stay there over the winter rather than returning home after their
summer holiday. The school supported an integrated curriculum, which the interviewee
believed to suit a subject like history. As a member of the school management team they
ensured that everyone taught a history topic and that when this was done 75% of the skills
were specific to history. The interviewee gave priority to skills over content. Their reason for
including an Irish dimension was interesting in that they considered ways that Cornwall was
linked with other Celtic societies:
I think it would be very wrong of the children to think … Cornwall sits on its own … I
want them to realise that you have Brittany, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, and how
these counties have a similar background and why they should be ruled by the
development of England. So I think it is incredibly important not to think that ‘We are
special on our own’ and there is that multicultural aspect [to this in there].
It was difficult to determine how fully the ideas within this statement were developed.
Nevertheless, the examples which they provided, suggest that their approach towards an Irish
dimension was distinctive to say the least. When teaching about ‘Invaders and Settlers’ they
said that since England [Romans, Saxons and Vikings] did not have a great impact on
Cornwall they focused on its Celtic identity. Consequently it drew links with other Celtic
areas such as Brittany, Wales and Ireland. The school promoted this by having had a Celtic
Day, which included identity-enhancing activities such as craftwork and dancing. When
teaching about the Tudor Rebellion they compared Cornish rebellions with the impact of
Cromwell in Ireland. It is interesting to note that they made no reference to Ireland in the
Tudor period, where figures such as Hugh O’Neil and Grace O’Malley may have provided
more direct comparisons with events in Cornwall. Finally, when teaching the Victorians, links
were made between people emigrating from Ireland as a result of the famine with people
leaving the mines in Cornwall.