Classics & Latin

At Key Stage 3, having already studied Latin in Year 7, pupils are introduced to two of the key strands of Classics; Ancient History and Mythology. They study the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through original sources and the works of two of the greatest Roman writers; Ovid and Virgil. They also study Greek mythology focusing on the myths of Jason and the Argonauts and The Trojan War through a combination of ancient and modern sources and ideas.

Teaching is diverse and exciting; pupils may find themselves taking part in a Greek Tragedy, making a map of the stars, competing with a bow and arrows, planning battle attacks or building wooden horses. Teaching is developed and changed annually to complement the peer group and to develop and nurture their specific interests.

Students enjoy the stories and the characters, but it also asks them to reflect on many important and diverse topics from ‘What causes a great empire to fall?’ to ‘What is more powerful Love of Death?’. It is little surprise that half the school go on to study Classics at GCSE.

At Key Stage 4, we follow the OCR course of study along a specifically Greek route. Topics covered are Athens and Sparta, Homer’s Odyssey and Sophocles’ Antigone.

Classics is a popular choice with students for GCSE and in many ways, they get a number of different subjects for their one option as they study culture and society, literature, religion, theatre, history, philosophy and politics. Students learn how to build on skills first practised at Key Stage 3; now they must begin to be more rigorous in assembling and presenting their evidence and views, justifying their citing of sources, making connections in presenting an interpretation of events.

Pupils build on the skills they have started to develop at KS3, looking at sources, exploring ideas and coming up with justified opinions. A personal response is very important in Classics and pupils are encouraged to develop their own ideas and arguments within the context of the questions. The 2,000 word Controlled Assessment is an opportunity for students to develop their essay writing skills which will be hugely important both for A Level and Degree level.

The department not only celebrates exam success annually but also develops the skills necessary for more advanced study. With the annual Greek play and regular foreign trips, pupils find that the classical world that they study is vivid, alive and surprisingly modern.

The OCR A Level course consists of Homer’s Odyssey and Greek Tragedy; Virgil and the World of the Hero and Greek Art and Architecture.

Debate and discussion are key to A Level study where pupils are required to develop well-substantiated, informed and personal responses to works of great literature and of the birth of classical art. Pupils study the first books of Western literature and are required to analyse the core meaning of the texts; they study Greek art, which transformed Western art for all time and they study Greek Theatre – a unique and beautiful art form that questions humanity itself.

Pupils in the Sixth Form are encouraged to write for the Oracle, the departmental newsletter about Classical topics not covered by the exam board, enriching their understanding of the ancient world and preparing them for university. Many also take part in the annual Greek Tragedy – playing the roles that they study in the written texts for A Level and bringing their study to life in a creative and enriching way. It is very clear from the outstanding results that performing in or watching tragedies has a profound effect on pupils’ understanding of the art. Pupils also have the opportunity to travel to the places that they study further enriching their understanding; pupils see the works of art that they study at museums and sites in Greece, Italy, Turkey and London!

Pupils learn to question, debate and use evidence to substantiate their points. They learn to weigh up arguments and to respond to problems. As a course of A Level study at St Mary’s, Classics is very popular and pupils consistently score above their predicted grades. We currently have former St. Mary’s pupils studying and even lecturing in Classics at Cambridge, Nottingham, St. Andrews, Kings College, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Reading and Swansea Universities.

We enthuse our pupils using the Cambridge Latin Course, a famous series which follows a family from ancient Pompeii through the disastrous eruption of Vesuvius, adventures in Egypt, Britain, and eventually in the city of Rome itself. 

Alongside their language learning, pupils are challenged to think about a civilisation very different from the one in which they live. 

Pupils build on the language learned in Years 7 to 9 and follow the OCR GCSE specification to begin studying a selection of original literature by authors such as Virgil, Ovid and Tacitus.

The exam is split into language and literature papers, challenging students to hone their literary, linguistic and analytical skills.

By broadening their Latin and English vocabulary and refining their attention to detail, the GCSE course enables students to develop a strong academic foundation from which their skills can be transferred to a variety of disciplines.

At A Level we continue reading Latin authors, with the aim of developing students’ appreciation of the texts as masterpieces of world literature.

The literature at Key Stage 5 includes the political and forensic speeches of Cicero, the history surrounding Caesar, Tacitus and Livy as well as poetry from the epic poet Virgil, the personal style of Catullus and the quirky Ovid.