St Edwards 8 Pages 09 - 25459:Layout 1 - St Edward's C of E School

Excellence and OpportunityThe pursuit of excellence, our third aim, is reflected in our strong recordof academic success over the years and in the university and the collegecourses our students subsequently follow. St. Edward’s is not academicallyselective and so does not top the conventional league tables. However,national statistics indicate that our students, whatever their academicability, tend to achieve more highly than similar students in other schools.Excellence is also achieved through the opportunities which are providedfor other aspects of self-development. There is a wide range of extracurricular activities supported by the enthusiasm, energy and abilitiesof staff and students.Individuals enjoy much success in major sports including swimming,athletics, badminton, hockey, basketball, netball, rugby, football, cricketand tennis. Many of our students play at both county and national level.The school choirs, orchestra, jazz band and individual musicians presentwork of excellence at regular intervals throughout the year, and the annualmusic holiday has, in recent years, given them the opportunity to performat European venues.The school has a strong tradition of drama: many students study thesubject at GCSE and ‘A’ level, and our new drama studio opens up greateropportunities to develop both academic and extra-curricular drama andtheatre work.Visits are made locally and throughout Britain, for coursework, and foreducational visits. Foreign exchanges, activity holidays and ski trips arelong-standing traditions and are supplemented by music holidays, fieldstudies, and social trips. Our tradition of excellence in languages wasone reason we successfully applied to become a language college.We now teach French, German and Spanish throughout the school, andMandarin is now established at KS3 and KS4. Our Global Citizenship activitieshave given us links with schools in these four countries, and also withschools in Cuba, The Gambia and South Africa. Our Internationallinks have been recognised by the British Councilwho awarded St. Edward’s withthe International School’s Award.One of our most famous formerstudents is the Beijing Olympics2008, 400 Metres Gold Medalist,Christine Ohuruogu.6