Latin

Latin provides the opportunity for pupils to develop their linguistic capabilities whilst also acquiring the ability to think logically and deal with challenging linguistic puzzles. Pupils are encouraged to strive for accuracy and clarity of thought and to enjoy and appreciate the intellectual demands of Latin.

Latin is a core subject for pupils in the First Form (Year 7) and the Second Form (Year 8), and an option from Third Form (Year 9). In First Form, they study the Cambridge Latin Course, which teaches comprehension of the language for reading purposes and an appreciation of the culture of classical civilisation. As pupils progress, they move on to the new Latin course Suburani, where the students are introduced to a more diverse range of characters from the Ancient world, while improving upon their strong linguistics foundation.

There is a thriving extra-curricular programme within the Classics department. Greek is taught off timetable, and many pupils enjoy attending the new Classics Club: &&, where we have thought-provoking discussions in the round, as the Ancient Greeks famously did.

Trips are run to complement background topics where possible. Previous excursions have included visits to Fishbourne Palace and Bath, as well as trips abroad to places of relevant historical interest, such as Rome and Pompeii.

At GCSE the course provides a detailed linguistic study of the Latin language in its historical context. The study of Latin also has an extremely positive influence on pupils’ written English by expanding knowledge of both vocabulary and syntax. Pupils study both language and literature from a range of classical authors such as Pliny, Tacitus, Virgil and Ovid in their historical context. The course is assessed by three written papers, which cover vocabulary and grammatical constructions and selected Latin Literature texts.

At A Level, the course develops further competence in the Latin Language which enables pupils to read, understand and appreciate the literature of Roman prose and poetry in its original form. They also gain an understanding of the civilisation within which the literature was written. The poetry of Virgil is studied in some depth along with the prose literature of Cicero.

The teachers in the Classics department have a large variety of expertise between them and aim to make Latin as enjoyable and relevant as ever. Come and visit us in our beautiful new classrooms, decorated with Ancient columns and a theatrical fresco of a gladiator fighting a lion in an ancient arena!