Abstract
AbstractThis article describes the ways in which four non-specialist Latin teachers are introducing Latin to their schools1. The interviews reported here took place in four secondary schools in London and the South-East in 2019. The interviews were informal and were held with the teachers while I was consultant on behalf of the charity Classics for All while training non-specialists to introduce Latin into their schools, where no classical subjects had been offered previously. Teachers use Latin to meet Ofsted targets for the uptake of the English Baccalaureate (henceforth EBacc2) and to provide a broad and ambitious curriculum for all students. Resources and subject knowledge provide intellectual challenge and also stimulation. In conclusion I recommend greater support from the Department for Education (DfE) working with subject organisations to develop a coherent strategy for introducing classical subjects in state-maintained schools in order to support DfE and Ofsted objectives.
Highlights
The Department for Education (DfE) expects that academies and free schools use the freedom they have from following the National Curriculum as a foundation on which they can build something more ambitious for all students
Amanda Spielman, the Chief Inspector for Ofsted, noted that the ambitions for academies and free schools should apply to all students in every type of school, saying: Our research showed that schools in the most challenging circumstances can build and teach a strong, coherent and well-sequenced curriculum, just as well as any others
Personal experience of learning Latin at school or a belief in the value of the subject, as an aid to improving students’ literacy, is a major concern for the teachers: I wanted to do it as part of a debating thing, but it turned into a Classics thing
Summary
It is the government’s national ambition that 75% of Year 10 pupils in state-funded mainstream schools should be starting to study EBacc GCSE courses nationally by 2022 (taking their examinations in 2024), rising to 90% by 2025 (taking their examinations in 2027). Bea: I was at a comprehensive school 3 miles that way, where I did my training – teaching a group of 30 boys languages is not the easiest thing...But the ones that do [carry on] – I’ve found with the Key Stage 4 classes – they want to work. Louisa: Lots of times it’s always off timetable Last year, it was after school, on Thursday. We are into Stage 3 [of the Cambridge Latin Course], and - Interviewer: - That’s in a month - Dan: Since we came back, since half term, about 5 weeks. For the children that would be a nice goal to get them hooked on
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