Report
On Monday 8th August, we welcomed students from across eight different state schools in London to a five-day intensive Latin GCSE revision course in Hackney. The East London Classics Summer School is now in its second year and support for our initiative has multiplied, and enabled us to offer further full or half bursaries to our applicants. The teaching format of the summer school this year continued with four language sessions a day; each focused on a separate piece of core GCSE accidence/syntax. The commitment and dedication of the students was really exceptional; they were engaged throughout, disciplined and enthusiastic, so much so that they demanded more Classics at the end of the course! Each day concluded with a ‘Golden Time’ lecture, which this year included a range of guest speakers delivering a talk on different aspects of the Classical world including Ancient Greek (Figure 1). This year's line-up also included:
Dr Andrew Fox, Institute of Classical Studies - ‘The Topography of Rome’.
Dr Talitha Kearey, University of Cambridge - ‘The Past, Present and Future of Aeneid 6’.
Professor Daniel Orrells, King's College London – ‘Ovid's Narcissus’.
‘Golden Time’ lecture
Another new feature of the summer school this year was a visit to King's College London led by the lovely and charming Professor Daniel Orrells. The afternoon involved a personal tour of the university, including exclusive terrace views of London in the sunshine, and a little party at the end to congratulate the pupils on their hard work throughout the week. Our intention was to give the students more exposure to life studying Classics at university level and to promote the opportunities open to them in the future. Our final day at the summer school culminated in a congratulatory video from Professor Mary Beard, in which she explained her many reasons for studying Classics, and that she was the first in her family to go to university (Figure 2). We also awarded our students with achievement certificates to recognise the progress they had made over the course as well as a bespoke valedictory report detailing their strengths. Students and parents unanimously agreed that the summer school had been a very positive experience and, most notably, boosted their confidence in the subject. Some of our students also expressed the intention to continue with Classics at A Level and university which was fantastic to hear!
Video of Professor Mary Beard.
‘Thank you so much for supporting me with my Latin, I thoroughly enjoyed the course and my confidence has increased tremendously.’ Year 11 student.
‘I wish all my Latin lessons were like this. It was great to meet other students studying Latin in London and make new friends.’ Year 11 student.
A heartfelt thank you to the following sponsors for supporting our initiative and providing bursaries for our students:
Professor Mary Beard
Dr John Taylor
Professor Daniel Orrells
The Classical Association
The Hellenic Society
King's College London
The University of Oxford - Outreach
The University of Cambridge - Outreach
Catherine Harvey
We now look forward to welcoming students to our two-day Easter revision course taking place on the 2nd and 3rd April and our summer school in August 2023. For further details please visit our website: www.eastlondonclassicssummerschool.com and if you have any questions, or would like to support us in any way, email us at eastlondoncss@gmail.com.
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