The classics department is one of the largest in the region, offering Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation as part of the school curriculum.
Tomorrow’s Classicists
There is a steady flow of classicists applying for places at the best universities in the country and we have regular Oxbridge applicants per year. The department benefits from a wide range of resources – textbooks, library books, past and practice examination material, various ICT resources including abundant online material for our taught courses. Staff readily share resources they produce and there is a systematised bank on our network of home-made resources.
Our curriculum builds strong foundations in Years 7–9 and prepares pupils for success at GCSE and beyond. Through an engaging programme of study, boys develop the knowledge,
skills and confidence to enjoy the subject and achieve their potential.
Year 7 – 9
Latin is taught from Year 7 upwards and is an optional subject from Year 9.
The Classical Society
What we do outside the classroom is very important, and the department has an extensive annual programme to provide a range of enrichment activities to widen and stimulate the boys; interest. The Classical Society includes day trips, plays, residential trips and events:
Year 7
In Year 7, boys are offered a residential trip to Hadrian’s Wall, where they will visit various Roman forts, temples, baths and towns. The boys can also visit museums as well as walking along stretches of Hadrian’s Wall to really get a feel of what it must have been like to be a Roman soldier patrolling up there.
Year 8
Our biggest annual event on site is our Year 8 Classics Taster Day. This consists of a talk on the value of classics by our own Mr. Cooley and a visit from Portals from the Past with their displays on both Greek and Roman society. We also host an annual classical project competition, in which all the Year 8 Classical Civilisation boys prepare a presentation on a classical topic in groups of three to four, which are judged by the Head.
Year 9
All boys studying a classical subject in Year 9 have the option to visit and tour the Baths and Temples of Aquae Sulis and Bath Abbey in Bath.
GCSE
From Year 10, Greek and Classical Civilisation can be studied as GCSE option choices.
Classical Civilisation would suit anyone who is interested in any aspects of the Roman and Greek world and would like to learn more about the relevance of the Romans and Greeks to our own lives. Classical Civilisation will complement English, Theatre Studies, History or Philosophy, but provides a worthy challenge to broaden one’s horizons, whatever other GCSE subjects are chosen.
Greek and Latin both provide a marvelous insight into how other languages work and the foundations of European culture. Not only does it benefit linguists with keen analytical minds, but it can be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the classical world. Only by reading it in the original language, can one truly appreciate the simple beauty of Greek and Roman literature.
We follow the OCR course specification for GCSEs, except for Latin which follows the new WJEC (Eduqas) syllabus.
The Classical Society
The Classical Society provides day trips, plays, residential trips and events to enrich boys’ learning outside of the classroom. For boys studying at GCSE, this includes:
Year 10
A trip to the British Museum to study the artefacts in the Roman and Greek Life Room, the Elgin Marbles and any relevant exhibitions showing. There will also be a talk on at least one of the prescribed texts being studied for the exams. In addition, Warwick School organises an annual trip abroad which is open to any boy studying a classical subject.
