Classics

Fun, passion, and discipline are the watchwords of Classics at Orwell Park.

Children start Latin in Year 6 and follow a three-year course to Common Entrance and Scholarship level. A series of modern coursebooks is used, which lays emphasis on the acquisition of fluency in the reading of Latin without sacrificing any of the linguistic rigour traditionally associated with the subject.

Those in the scholarship form have the option of studying classical Greek also. Sound foundations are laid here, with an emphasis not just on reading and pronouncing the language correctly, but on writing in it as well.

Classics is an unrivalled medium for laying down solid linguistic foundations which will continue to benefit children in later years, quite apart from its many other spin-offs (for example, encouraging precision of thought, an analytical approach to problem-solving, and discrimination and accuracy in the use of words). Spin-offs aside, being able to read works seminal to European literature in their original tongues and through this window being able to gain an insight into what made the Romans and Greeks tick, is enormously rewarding per se. An interest in Classics, once aroused, is difficult to shake off, and there has been no shortage of pupils from Orwell Park who have gone on to continue their study of Classics to the highest levels.