Salve!
As we settle into the autumn term, we are delighted to bring you the latest news from our schools and regional networks across the country.
In this update, read about:
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Classics in the News: Latin as the Fourth Most Taught Language in Primary Schools
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Spotlight Region: Durham
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Teaching Awards 2023: A Review
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Upcoming events: Overboard! Reverse Balloon Debate; Moot Trial of Cicero
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Big Give 2023: Save the Date
We hope that you'll enjoy hearing about the wonderful work that has been going on across our schools and networks - all of which is only possible because of your generosity and support.
Thank you for supporting Classics for All.
Best wishes,
Cristina
Fundraising Assistant
Classics in the News: Latin as the Fourth Most Taught Language in Primary Schools
Hilary Hodgson, CEO, Classics for All
In 2014, following the government’s welcome decision to make Latin a languages option in primary schools in England, Classics for All started its own campaign to get younger pupils learning an ancient language. The signs are that this move is paying off.
Much to our delight, the recent British Council survey on language trends confirms that the teaching of Latin in primary schools is on the rise with Latin now the fourth most taught language in primary schools after French, Spanish and German.
Although only 2.3% of the primary schools in the survey offered Latin, the rise is a reassuring sign that teachers across England increasingly understand the relevance and value of learning the language for younger pupils.
In 2022 alone, Classics for All trained teachers in 54 new primary schools to teach Latin using the accessible and attractive Minimus and Maximum Classics courses.
Feedback on our training is overwhelmingly positive. Supported by skilled trainers who work with our fifteen regional networks across the country, teachers are consistently surprised by how easy it is to get to grips with Latin and how pupils of all abilities rise to the challenge.
Typical is this response from Hillcrest Primary School in our Bristol and Southwest Network where Head of Languages Helen Wilson took the plunge in 2022:
“I’d never studied Latin before so I was quite nervous, but I love teaching it now. It doesn’t feel hard and students have taken to it. Students are making connections with English and we’ve seen noticeable improvement in spelling, punctuation and grammar”.
Helen echoes the words of many newly converted teachers across the country who increasingly recognise the benefits of learning Latin for literacy skills and as a foundation for learning modern foreign languages at secondary school with young people of all abilities.
With 41 new primary schools seeking our support so far in 2023, the outlook looks positive as more and more teachers make Latin the primary school language of choice. None of this would be possible without the continued support of you, our committed and generous donors who are helping to make our mission a reality.
Classics for All was featured in the news! Read more here.
Spotlight Region: Durham
Dr Laura Hope, Durham Network Coordinator
The North East hub of Classics for All, housed at Durham University, aims to re-unite Northerners with their rich local heritage and widen access across the North East to classical subjects within schools.
Though teeming with museums, ruins and classics enthusiasts, the region offers few avenues for state school students, many of whom live in some of the country’s most deprived areas, to pursue classics either on or off the curriculum.
Nevertheless, opportunities are increasing: the classics and Latin clubs at St Cuthbert’s and St Mary’s secondary schools, supported by Classics for All, visited Vindolanda Roman Fort and Museum and walked along Hadrian’s Wall to investigate Roman engineering and appreciate the beauty and scale of the heritage site. Several of these students used this trip in partial fulfilment of the Olympus Challenge, and several more, appetites whetted, are studying for qualifications in Latin, with sights set on a Classical Civilisation AS for the first time at their school, thanks to the dedication and hard work of their teacher. Students at Berwick Academy will be sitting Latin GCSE for the first time in 2024 and the subject has proven popular amongst subsequent cohorts.
At the primary level, seven schools in three different trusts will be introducing Latin as their KS2 language in the 2023-2024 academic year, while events such as the Primary Taster Workshop held in May and Hadrian’s Wall Primary CPD upcoming in November expand opportunities for educators to engage with available resources.
We are proud to support the fantastic work of network coordinators like Laura in Durham. To help us reach more schools in the North East, please consider donating to Classics for All via our online donation form here.
Teaching Awards 2023: A Review
Nikita Salt, Grants Administrator, Classics for All
On 5th July, we celebrated the outstanding achievements of the teachers and schools we support at our third annual Teaching Awards Ceremony. Hosted by our Chairman, Jimmy Mulville and featuring guest speakers Kitty Low – a classics student and committee member of The Chorus (our youth network) – and Rhiannon Litterick – formerly of the Sir John Soane’s Museum – the teaching awards were a chance to shine a spotlight on the exciting work done in schools across the country.
Schools were nominated by our regional networks, some for their passion and commitment to introducing classics for the first time, others for their long-term commitment to championing classics. All of them, we are certain, will be encouraging classics in the classroom for years to come.
The evening provided an opportunity not only to acknowledge and reward teachers for all their hard work this year but also a chance for each of our winning teachers to express what a Classics for All grant has meant to them.
Teachers spoke about how our grants provided the ‘first ever brand-new set of textbooks’ in thirty years of teaching, supporting pupils’ aspirations and helping them to make important links with the world around them. Teacher Stacey Howe, of Stoke Park School, spoke of the extraordinary cross curricular benefits of teaching classics citing a student who eloquently described classics as being ‘like glue; it makes everything else stick together’. Another teacher, Susan Rowley, Buckie Community High School, spoke passionately about how broadly classics is appreciated by her pupils, ‘[classical] subjects are for everyone, they’re for all pupils, and when you support schools to offer these courses the pupils will choose them’.
Stacey and Susan’s testaments epitomise what we at Classics for All stand for, making the joy and benefits of learning about the ancient world more widely available for all young people.
Congratulations to the winners! See the full list here.
Missed the Teaching Awards? Watch it here.
Upcoming Events
Overboard! Debate
Imagine this: four famous characters from the ancient world are in a boat. The boat is rapidly sinking, and someone must be thrown overboard to save it. Who will it be?
This September, Hadrian, Romulus, Oedipus and Helen will be the passengers, and you will decide who’ll be thrown overboard.
With CfA Chairman Jimmy Mulville and Dr Emma Greensmith as hosts, and Professor Tim Whitmarsh, Dr Gail Trimble and Dr Adrian Kelly and Professor Naoíse Mac Sweeney as speakers, it's set to be a fun, witty and entertaining evening.
Book tickets for the in-person event.
Book tickets for the livestream.
Moot Trial of Cicero
Classics for All will put Cicero in the dock, charged with murder and misconduct in public office.
He will stand trial for acting illegally in the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy when he was Consul in 63 BCE, in particular for procuring the summary execution of five of the Catilinarian conspirators.
The trial will be presided over by Lady Vivien Rose (Justice of the Supreme Court). Richard Whittam KC and Kwaku Awuku-Asabre will be acting as counsel for the prosecution, and Ali Bajwa KC and Polly Dyer as counsel for the defence.
Book tickets for the livestream.
Want to know more about our events? Click here to contact us.
Big Give Christmas Challenge 2023: Save the Date
28 November to 5 December 2023
The UK's biggest match-funded campaign is back again this year, taking place from Tuesday 28 November to Tuesday 5 December.
Last year your support helped us raise over £112,000.
We would love your support this year to help grow our network of schools.
More details to come, but for now: SAVE THE DATE!