LATIN
Aims The study of Latin both improves students’ problem-solving and linguistic skills via a systematic study of the Latin language and develops a more general understanding of the ancient world through reading selections of literature by Roman authors. These two aims – increasing students’ understanding of language in general and giving them an appreciation of Roman literature and culture( so crucial to the development of Western society today) – make Latin GCSE a highly respected qualification at university and beyond.
Skills GCSE Latin will therefore enable students to improve, at an appropriate level, competence in reading Latin, and, as a result, develop more general linguistic and grammatical awareness; to read, understand, appreciate and make a personal response to Latin literature in the original language; to develop an analytical approach to language by seeing English in relation to a language of a very different structure and by observing the influence of Latin on English; to acquire some understanding of Roman civilisation, thereby developing a sensitive understanding of the motives and attitudes of people of a different time and culture, as well as Rome’ s influence on the modern world.
Content A substantial proportion of the GCSE grammatical content will have been covered by the end of Year 9. In Year 10, therefore, students will quickly encounter unadapted Latin literature and start to discuss the style and content of what they have read. Prescribed set texts change all the time, but previous GCSE literature selections have included
Virgil’ s account of Dido’ s doomed love affair and subsequent suicide, Pliny’ s letter describing the eruption of Vesuvius, Catullus’ love poetry, and the Druids’ practices of human sacrifice. The final exam consists of a language paper( comprehension and translation) and questions on the literature set texts which students have studied in class. There is no coursework element within Latin GCSE.
Enrichment Although by no means compulsory, students are very much encouraged to take part in the Year 10 Classics study trip to Pompeii and the Bay of Naples, which normally takes place in the Easter holiday or May half term. Students are also encouraged to think beyond the requirements of the syllabus through wider reading and occasional theatre and museum trips. It is necessary to have studied Latin at this level in order to take it in the Sixth Form, where it is an option at both Higher and Standard Level in Group 2( Languages) of the IB Diploma, and can also be taken as a second language in Group 6. However, the skills gained within a Latin GCSE course are transferrable to a huge range of subjects within the IB and beyond. As one employer puts it:‘ Latin and Classics produce a highly ordered mind and the ability to present arguments and cases precisely. Classicists... are proper thinkers.’
THE MIDDLE SCHOOL | AT SEVENOAKS 41