CLASSICS FOR A CS R ALL

A National Charity for Classics in Schools

Newsletter 2 Autumn 2011

From Chair of Classics for All, Sarah Jackson OBE Welcome to the second Classics for All newsletter. In our previous edition you may recall that, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we were able to invite applications for our first round of funding. I am delighted to announce that eight projects have now been selected that will enable hundreds more students to explore the delights of learning about the Classical world. Our First Grant We received 37 first stage applications; 19 applicants were invited to submit developed proposals, each of which was then reviewed carefully by our Grants Advisory Committee. The successful applications (totalling 92,628 in funding) all meet our strict criteria: of raising awareness of the benefits of studying Classics; of widening access to Classical subjects; and of supporting the highest standards in teaching and learning. They also offer value for money: both in terms of the number of students reached and in the quality of the teaching they will receive. Critically also, these are projects that can provide a model for others in the future, that will show the way for the revival of Classics nationally. None of this would be possible without your generous support.

The Successful Projects

An Inner-city school where we are helping to build on success We have given a three-year grant to a large Inner-London Girls school which has already introduced Latin to A level with great success. Teachers at Burntwood School in Tooting want to build on this remarkable achievement and asked for our support. They plan to introduce an afterschool Ancient Greek class for 20 enthusiastic Year 9 pupils, leading to GCSE; they plan then to embed Greek as a permanent part of their curriculum. This is a school where 60 languages are spoken and 20% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Granted 5,954 over three years.

Rural schools in Norfolk embedding Latin in primary schools Approximately 100 state school pupils will benefit from our two-year grant to the Primary Latin Project to introduce the Minimus Latin course into eight primary schools in North Walsham, Norfolk. So that the children have the option of continuing their studies beyond primary level,the grant will also support the introduction of the Cambridge Latin Course at the main local high school. This project should provide an excellent case study for how Latin can be introduced sustainably in a consortium of local schools. Granted 20,500 over two years.

Creating a hub spreading good practice Despite having an above-average number of pupils eligible for free school meals and being classified as special needs, Patcham High School in Brighton has offered its pupils the full range of Classical subjects for the past eight years. This makes it unique in the Brighton and Hove area. Our oneyear grant will enable Patcham to develop their plan to become a Classics hub for eight local state secondary schools who also want to offer a wider range of classics subjects. It will also allow the School to extend its twilight Classics teaching to encourage more students to take these subjects and to build the demand from the other schools for GCSE Latin and Ancient History from 2012 onwards. Our funds will allow one inspirational teacher to be released from the schools timetable to work on the scheme. Granted 5,000 over one year

Learning Latin from a Roman soldier The opportunity to meet a Latin-speaking Roman soldier or a retired General may just be the enjoyable introduction to Classics that inspires a life-long passion. This is why we will be funding two special days at Norwich Castle museum next year (for 80 primary school children each day) from rural schools across the county. Children will be able to handle Roman artefacts and take part in a Roman play and poetry session. The project is coordinated with the plan to introduce Minimus in North Walsham, so that pupils have a clear route for taking their interest further. Granted 1,000 over one year.

University Challenge Successful proposals from Bristol and Liverpool Universities tackle a fundamental issue we face in the Classics world: we need to train and inspire the next generation of specialist teachers, and we also need them now! Bristol Universitys Institute of Greece, Rome and Classical Tradition will receive a two-year grant to provide teaching bursaries for four postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students to teach 60 Year 7 9 pupils in local state senior schools. The students will offer taster sessions to younger pupils, moving on to preparation for GCSE study for the year 9s. The students will teach four courses each year for ten weeks, one hour per week. Bristol has already established a good reputation for its work in the community and with local schools. Granted 6,224 over two years. At Liverpool Universitys School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology working under the supervision of the Universitys Classics Outreach Officer, two Graduate Teaching Fellows will undertake up to six hours teaching a week in partner schools, where provision in Latin and Greek is limited or non-existent at present. The project aims both to embed Classics fully in the schools curriculum and to direct a new generation of Classicists towards teaching in the state sector. The department already runs several projects in Merseyside schools, including language taster days and a summer school, working closely with Liverpools Educational Opportunities department. Granted 16,450 over one year.

Latin and Greek Literature in the English curriculum The Grants Advisory Committee welcomed this innovative way of weaving Classics into the broader National Curriculum. We are giving one years funding to the Cambridge Schools Classics Project to research and develop the inclusion of the epic story-telling tradition into the English curriculum at Key Stage 3. Works such as Ovids Metamorphoses, the Iliad and Odyssey will be used in three modules designed to enhance childrens speaking and listening skills. The new modules will be trialled on more than a thousand 7-9-year olds in four schools where CSCP is already working in partnership.

The team anticipate that in two years, the modules will be used in a further fifty schools, reaching 14,000 pupils. Teaching support resources will also become available on the CSCP website. Granted 25,000 over two years.

Training non-specialist teachers and building resources Non-specialist Classics teachers often work without any practical support. This is why we chose to fund a project presented by the Cambridge University Faculty of Education: to develop and publish digital Continuous Professional Development. Examples of best practice by state school Classics teachers will be captured via video and podcasts. Topics will include such knotty problems as teaching comprehension and vocabulary. Granted 12,500 over one year.

We are certain that, thanks to your support, these projects will inspire a new generation of young people and teachers. We have been hugely encouraged by the focus and detail of these successful applications and we will keep you in touch with their progress on the Projects page of our website and in our future newsletters.

The Next Steps

Our work does not end here, however. Indeed it has only just begun. From the level of initial applications we received, we know that there is a growing appetite among teachers and pupils alike to study Classics. To have funded every project for which we received an application in the first round would have required over 400,000. Our ongoing challenge then is to raise up to 500,000 per annum to be able to support further projects, with multi-year grants where appropriate, to ensure that they have a real chance of successfully and sustainably establishing Classics within the state education system. We are working hard to expand our network of funders and hope that you will consider renewing your support so that, together, we may maximise the impact and reach of your donations. We continue to keep our core costs to an absolute minimum so that your donations are concentrated towards funding projects. On behalf of my fellow Trustees, and of the recipients of your funding and the hundreds of students they will be reaching, I should like to thank you sincerely for your support. We very much hope that you will continue to support us, not just financially, but by helping us to grow our network of donors and to raise awareness of the work that we are doing with your help. It is quite remarkable to think that we are able to fund such a breadth of projects at the end of our first year. Just think how many more we will be able to help next year and in the future! As ever, your feedback is very valuable to us, so please do get in touch if you have any queries about Classics for All, about the projects we are supporting, or if you want to help us expand our network of supporters. Please email us at contact@classicsforall.org.uk Do visit www.classicsforall.org.uk to keep up to date with our news, to see our list of supporters, to make a donation or to download a copy of our 2010 accounts. And if you would like to raise funds by having fun, like our Bristol Classicist runners, please do use our JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/classicsforall Thank you. Principle Corporate Sponsor Corporate Sponsors
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