Latin

Overview

Mr A.K.J. Carroll - Head of Classics

We are a Classics Department here at St. Olave’s Grammar School in the sense that all members of the department teach Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation; subjects whose relevance to contemporary Europe are as strong today as when they were made central to the school’s curriculum at its Elizabethan foundation in 1571. This is due to their influence upon modern European languages and global culture. 

Consequently, all pupils at some stage in their careers at this school can come into contact and learn in depth aspects of the Greek, Roman and Near Eastern worlds and their relevance to today’s languages and culture. Yearly there are strong numbers of boys sitting GCSE Latin and many of these continue into the Sixth Form where they are joined by students who have entered the School in Year Twelve.

We offer Greek GCSE and A-Level to pupils with a very strong linguistic inclination, especially those whose aim is to read Classics at university.

The Department has an active Classics Society which meets weekly; it is run by Sixth Formers who give the talks and invite university experts to speak. A Classics Lecture Day takes place annually. This and many other memorable activities, such as visits to the National Gallery, Lullingstone Villa, Bignor Villa, Hadrian’s Wall, Paris (with the French Department) and the Bay of Naples (with the Geography Department), work towards the creation of what is a thriving subject in this school. We also offer the enormously popular Classical Civilisation A-Level in the Sixth Form.

At GCSE we are following OCR’s syllabus until 2024, the current prescribed texts are:-

2020-2024

Prose – Apuleius, sagae Thessalae and Cicero, Canius et Pythius.

Verse – Virgil, Aeneid VI. 295-316; 384-416; 679-712; 752-759; 788-800.

From 2025 we shall follow the Eduqas syllabus (first teaching 2023)

2023-2026

Component 2 (until 2026):-

Theme A – Romans in the Countryside

Component 3A (until 2025):-

Prose – Suetonius, Nero

At A-Level, the current prescribed texts are:-

2021-2024

Prose – Tacitus, Annals IV. 1-4; 7-12; 39-41; Livy Book I. 46-52; 55-56 (English); 53-54; 56-60 (Latin).

Verse – Catullus, poems 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 17, 34, 40, 61 (English), 62, 63 (English), 64 (124-264 & rest in English), 70, 76, 85, 88, 89, 91, 107.

2023-2026

Prose – Tacitus, Annals XII. 25-26; 41-43; 52-53; 56-59; 64-69 (Latin); XIII. 1-5; 10-18; 45-46 (English); XIV. 1-13 (Latin).

Verse – Juvenal Satire VI. 1-113, 242-305, 352-365, 398-412; XIV. 1-33; 74-232; XV. 27-92; III, XIV and XV (English).

Latin Curriculum Summaries

Assessment Process

Assessment and Feedback Process - Years 7 - 13

Wider reading suggestions for our Classics Students

KS3 Classics Reading Suggestions

KS3, KS4, KS5 Classics Reading Suggestions