Classics at Rugby High School

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Classics Department Vision Statement

Classics is the study of the Romans and the Ancient Greeks. This is via the study of Latin and Ancient Greek and the study of Classical Civilsation. At RHS students study Latin in Years 7 and 8 before having the option of continuing into Year 9 and to GCSE and then A Level. Classical Civilisation is currently also offered at A Level and Ancient Greek is available as an extra-curricular option during a lunchtime club.

The study of Latin encourages learners to improve their knowledge of both the language and culture of the Romans. Students are tested on their background historical knowledge and develop their understanding of language through reading comprehension and translation. In studying the background information in Latin or in studying Classical Civilisation, analysis and evaluation of sources is a key skill at Key Stages 4 and 5. The study of Ancient Greek as an extra-curricular option enables learners to improve their knowledge of the language of the Ancient Greeks and to make comparisons with Latin, English and sometimes other modern languages.

Our key aims as a department are to develop students’ skills in making links between Latin/Greek and English or other MFL subjects, and to be able to make comparisons between the modern and ancient worlds. It is by doing these things that students are better able to understand the world we live in today. We also aim to create passionate enthusiasts for the ancient world and send students off to university to study Classics.

Our Year 12 and 13 students run Classics Club - which explores mythology and the classical world, outside of the curriculum and we have run Classics competitions where students have to research and write about an ancient city of their choice. Finally, we run successful trips including biennial trips to the Bay of Naples and Greece, an annual trip to Bath for Year 10 students and sixth form students attend university study days.

Year 7 Latin

Students will study the Cambridge Latin Course, stages 1 -7. They will be introduced to the Roman family, Caecilius’ house, food and drink, the town of Pompeii and the forum, Roman theatre, Roman beliefs about life after death and the roles of slaves and freedmen in Roman society. 

Topics:

• The rooms and features of a Pompeiian Villa
• Roman daily life
• The layout of Pompeii 
• The forum in Pompeii
• What happened at a day at the Roman theatre
• Roman beliefs about life after death
• About the roles of slaves and freedmen in Roman society
• Person endings for verbs 1st/2nd and 3rd person singular
• Vocabulary up to stage 7
• Word order in Latin sentences, nominative and accusative case
• The differences between the present, perfect and imperfect tenses
• The concept of declensions
• Perfect tense verbs formed with other key letters apart from v
• Derivations of English words linked to Latin words

Assessment

Regular tests on vocabulary and grammar up to at least stage 6 of the CLC by the end of year 7.

Extension activities parents /carers can undertake to support learning

• Offer to test your child on vocabulary  
• Encourage your child to make comparisons between their own home and Caecilius’ home
• Encourage your child to make comparisons between Pompeii’s town centre and the area in which you live
• Encourage your child to use the Cambridge Latin course website
• Encourage your child to compare the ancient and modern theatre
• Encourage wider reading about the ancient world

Year 8 Latin

Topics:

• Different types of gladiators
• The Roman bathing ritual
• The Roman education system
• Politics in the ancient world
• How Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 and what this meant for Pompeii and the surrounding area
• More detailed selection of English derivates from Latin words
• The full set of present tense person endings
• More uses of the dative case
• Different question words in Latin
• The full set of perfect and imperfect
• Person endings, including the verb ‘to be’
• The infinitive form of the verb
• The different forms of nolo volo and possum 
• Vocabulary up to stage 13 of CLC

Assessment

Regular tests on vocabulary and grammar. Assessment testing vocabulary and grammar in Autumn, Spring and Summer terms.

Extension activities parents /carers can undertake to support learning

• Help test vocabulary  
• Encourage reading of the ancient world - for example the Roman Mysteries series
• Encourage your child to use the Cambridge Latin course website for revision
• Undertake a visit to a Roman site in Britain such as Lunt Fort (Coventry), Chedworth Roman villa in Gloucester, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Fishbourne Palace in West Sussex

Year 9 Latin

Topics:

• About farms in Celtic/Roman Britain, what life must have been like for farm slaves versus
• domestic slaves
• New characters such as Salvius and Rufilla. The key figure of Boudica
• About the palace at Fishbourne and the likely occupant
• The city of Alexandria
• The Egyptian goddess Isis
• Medicine in Alexandria in Roman times
• About infinitives, the verbs nolo, volo and possum and the suffix que
• How to recognise adjectives in Latin
• That adjectives agree with the noun they describe in terms of number and case
• The imperfect tenses of nolo volo and possum
• How to recognise the pluperfect tense
• The genitive case
• The demonstrative pronouns hic and ille
• Imperatives in Latin and how to make these plural
• Present participles
• Vocative case
• Pronouns eum, eam etc
• Vocabulary up to stage 20

Assessment

Regular tests on vocabulary and grammar. Assessment testing vocabulary and grammar in Autumn, Spring and Summer terms. 

Extension activities parents /carers can undertake to support learning

• Help with vocabulary testing and links with words in English from Latin
• To use Cambridge Latin course website for revision
• Encourage research skills of library and internet for project

GCSE Latin

Examination Board: Eduqas (WJEC)

Introduction to the subject at GCSE

GCSE Latin involves continuing the study of the Cambridge Latin Course to the end of Year 10 including the background information, and then in Year 11 studying some original Latin literature together with its cultural and historical background.

Why choose this subject for GCSE?

A qualification in Latin at GCSE level commands considerable prestige among both employers and institutions of Further and Higher Education. Fortunately, Rugby High School is still able to offer this course when many schools can no longer do so!

For those who wish to do so, it is possible to continue the study of Latin to Advanced Level GCE and many pupils have gone on to University to study Latin or Classics, with considerable success.

Those with qualifications in Latin or Classics find these of great value in finding employment in a wide range of occupations, including commerce and business, journalism, the law, and computing.

A Level Latin and Classical Civilisation

For details of our A Level Latin course, click here

For details of our A Level Classical Civilisation course, click here