Latin

Whilst pupils in Form 6 are able to study Latin informally during Friday Activities, formal teaching of Latin does not commence until Form 7.

Pupils study both Latin and Classics during the Michaelmas Term of Form 7, before being placed in either Latin or Classics sets for the remainder of Form 7 and Form 8.

In Latin, students study the Cambridge Latin Course, leading to an in-class assessment at the end of Form 8. As part of their Latin studies, students develop their translation and comprehension skills alongside completing fundamental grammar and vocabulary exercises. There is an option of continuing Latin to GCSE for those students who are interested and demonstrate an obvious proficiency; the study of Latin at GCSE is by invitation only. A distinctly separate GCSE from Classics, the OCR Latin syllabus encourages a meticulous approach to translation and literary criticism through close study of extracts from ancient Roman texts, as well as a range of other literature used to develop translation skills. Students who have studied Latin in Forms  7 and 8 may choose Classics as their GCSE option as the GCSE syllabus does not commence until Form 9. Students of Latin GCSE are also invited on the Rome/Athens trip.