Latin
Latin is taught to Common Entrance and Public School scholarship standard and, all children in the school from Year 5 upwards learn the language.
The Common Entrance paper incorporates three different levels ranging from the simplest to the relatively advanced, thus catering not only for those who have reached a high standard by the time they leave KS but also for those who have only studied Latin for a short time or find the subject difficult. Senior schools usually specify a certain level of paper in their entry requirements.
We place great importance on instilling a proper understanding of grammar and syntax so that this can lead to accurate comprehension and translation, but the principal Greek myths and many aspects of Roman Life and Civilisation are also included in the syllabus.
The first course used to introduce Year 5 to Latin is ‘Minimus’, supplemented with exercises from other sources. Pupils move on to the Cambridge Latin course, again supplemented with other materials from ‘Latin Practice Exercises’ by R C Bass and ‘So You Really Want to Learn Latin Prep’ by Theo Zinn. In Year 7, ‘So You Really Want to Learn Latin’ by Nicholas Oulton is introduced and in Year 8 there is plenty of examination practice using past papers. At all stages, there is plenty of scope for background studies.