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Classics

Classics at Clifton is flourishing. The numbers choosing to study to GCSE are increasing annually, and the volume of pupils taking AS and A2 is larger than ever before. This perhaps reflects the desire for pupils to attain a qualification that combines intellectual rigour with the enriching experience of reading classical authors in the original language. The help that a Latin GCSE has given to pupils in their future studies is incalculable.

Resources

The Classics Department has a full and extensive library, encompassing every Latin and Greek author of note and many books on the civilisation and history of the ancient world. We also have videos, DVDs, film-slides and photographs to aid understanding. The Department is very well represented on the college intranet with notes, translations, vocabulary lists and aids to learning.

Trips

The Department takes the pupils out of the classroom for visits to the great museums at Oxford and London, and on conferences relevant to their studies. We also attend performances of Greek Tragedies whenever they are performed. We regularly embark upon trips to Greece and Italy to visit the major classical sites.

Teaching

We follow the specifications from OCR in Greek, Latin and Classical Civilisation at AS and A2, with the pupils seeing as many of the teachers as possible and allowing for a particular teacher to teach the subjects which he/she finds enjoyable. The intention is to encourage pupils to learn with precision and great detail and to explore in depth any subject that may interest them. A sixth form pupil will be expected to organize him/herself with maturity and maintain a constant approach to study.

GCSE Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation (OCR) are examinations that most pupils find highly rewarding, allowing for a brief study of some of the great authors of the ancient world.

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