Yarm School Classics Department

Trips and Plays: There have been several trips to Italy or Greece over the last few years. The photos of the Theatre at Delphi and the Lion Gate at Mycenae were taken on a trip to Greece in October 2000 when we also visited Athens, the Meteora Monasteries, Olympia, the theatre at Epidavros and Ancient Corinth. Nearer home, in 2003 a small party of staff and students tackled the Hadrian’s Wall walk and covered the 84 miles in six days. First Year pupils have the opportunity to visit Hadrian’s Wall in the summer term, maybe looking round Housesteads Fort and then walking along the fine stretch of wall westwards to Steel Rigg; and GCSE groups also visit various forts along the Wall to gather material for coursework. The School has also put on productions of the Aristophanes plays Frogs, Birds and Wasps, and The Rope by Plautus; and we have hosted professional performances by the Actors of Dionysus.

	Classics
	Years 1-2: Latin is taken by all pupils, using the Cambridge Latin Course. Caesar no longer leads his troops out of winter quarters or divides all Gaul into three parts. Instead the setting is Pompeii shortly before the eruption of Vesuvius. Progress with the language is fast, and there is plenty of background information on houses, slaves, gladiators, the baths and so on. Year 3: Latin and Classics are optional. The Classics course includes topics like the Greek theatre, the gods, the alphabet, Athenian democracy and the Spartan army.
Years 4-5: Latin and Classical Civilisation GCSE courses (using the OCR syllabuses) are chosen by good numbers of pupils. Those taking Latin can also do the Classical Civilisation GCSE at the end of year 4. This is an excellent foil to their Latin course, and high grades are generally attained. The Sixth Form: From 2006 all courses are using OCR syllabuses. If there is sufficient demand, Latin and Greek can be laid on at this level. The Latin course includes authors like Virgil and the historian Livy, and in recent years three pupils have started Greek from scratch alongside their A Level Latin course, reaching AS Level in two years. But it is the JACT Classical Civilisation course which is usually the most popular. The Lower Sixth study three topics:
Greek Epic – Homer’s Iliad or Odyssey Roman Satire – two out of Pliny letters, Juvenal satires, Horace satires and Petronius’ hilarious account of Dinner with Trimalchio (did they really have such extravagant dinner parties in those days?) Greek comedy – three plays of Aristophanes, who was surely one of the wittiest, most outrageous comic poets of all time. They then move on to Roman Epic, more Roman Satire and further Greek Comedies in the second year of the course.
Trips and Plays: There have been several trips to Italy or Greece over the last few years. The photos of the Theatre at Delphi and the Lion Gate at Mycenae were taken on a trip to Greece in October 2000 when we also visited Athens, the Meteora Monasteries, Olympia, the theatre at Epidavros and Ancient Corinth. Nearer home, in 2003 a small party of staff and students tackled the Hadrian’s Wall walk and covered the 84 miles in six days. First Year pupils have the opportunity to visit Hadrian’s Wall in the summer term, maybe looking round Housesteads Fort and then walking along the fine stretch of wall westwards to Steel Rigg; and GCSE groups also visit various forts along the Wall to gather material for coursework. The School has also put on productions of the Aristophanes plays Frogs, Birds and Wasps, and The Rope by Plautus; and we have hosted professional performances by the Actors of Dionysus.
	Why Classics? Study of the Greeks and the Romans is interesting, enjoyable and intellectually demanding. It provides the key to understanding many aspects of the modern world, and opportunities to read and respond to some of the world’s greatest literature. Latin can help you to spell better; to understand the structure of English; to penetrate the mists of technical language (so many of our medical terms come from Latin or Greek!); to learn French, Spanish or Italian more easily; and to grasp more of the history and evolving civilisation of Britain and Europe. Classics will bring you into contact with two great civilisations without the language barriers. Both Latin and Classics combine well with History, English and Modern Languages; and past Classics students have gone on to many different careers in industry, law, accountancy, banking, the civil service, teaching and publishing.