Latin
introduction
In an increasingly multi-cultural and globalized society, it has never been more relevant to learn about ancient societies. Through the study of Latin in its cultural context, we aim to provide a foundation from which pupils may enlarge their linguistic skills in English and other languages. Ideally, pupils will come to appreciate that their study of Latin does not stand alone, but has benefits across their subjects. We aim to improve pupils’ logical reasoning and lateral thinking, enabling them to appreciate the structure of sentences. To support learning and to stretch and challenge our pupils, we run a wide variety of trips and extension activities, including an annual Classics Trip in October to Greece, Italy or further afield. We also offer Middle School pupils (those in years 7 to 9) the opportunity to study Classical Greek in lunch-time classes, aiming for the OCR Entry Level qualification (R446).
Form 3 to Upper 4th(Years 7 to 9)
Latin is currently compulsory in Form 3 and Lower 4th (years 7 and 8). Pupils use the Cambridge Latin Course and make full use of its excellent on-line resources. At the end of Lower 4th, pupils may opt to continue Latin into the Upper 4th (Year 9), where there is an increased focus on linguistic skill and precision of thought and expression.
GCSE
The focus in Lower 5th (Year 10) is on linguistic skills: by the end of the year pupils will be up to GCSE standard and have learned all the GCSE vocabulary. After the Summer Examination in Lower 5th, pupils will move on to studying their set texts, original Latin literature in both prose and verse.
A level
Students in the Lower 6th (Year 12) improve their linguistic skills, whilst reading a variety of Latin texts for pleasure, breadth, and to hone the translation and interpretative skills required for the set texts. In the Upper 6th (Year 13), they study extracts from Vergil's Aeneid and Cicero's great courtroom speech Pro Milone.