Department Vision
We strongly believe that Latin is a subject for everyone, and we encourage all our girls to engage with it in a range of ways. Our courses cover the language, the literature and the civilisation, drawing constant links between the Romans and the modern world, and making it accessible, relevant and intellectually stimulating.
Our aims are to give the girls the tools they need to be able to translate Latin accurately and thereby engage with the Roman world on a deep level. We want our girls to recognise and understand the enormous impact the Romans had on the modern world.
Pupils acquire a strong understanding of Latin vocabulary and grammar, so that they are able to translate stories accurately and confidently. By comparing words with other European languages, we demonstrate the value of Latin for any linguist. Our choice of textbooks enable our girls to enjoy learning about Roman society alongside the language, and we later introduce Roman literature to further engage them with this civilisation. Older students reading Latin literature also acquire the skills of analysis, interpretation and persuasion as they discuss and debate the ideas and values of these texts.
Years 7-9
Everyone at Queen’s Gate studies Latin in Years 7-8. Whether they have done it in their Junior School or not, we all start at the beginning to ensure everyone has a chance at learning this fascinating language. We provide additional activities to challenge girls who have studied it before, but we quickly get everyone at the same level. We use a textbook called Suburani, which has a wonderful blend of linguistic learning and cultural context. This ensures that all our students are fully engaged with the range the subject offers. Topics include famous myths, like that of Romulus and Remus, civilisation topics like Roman entertainment and religion, and places of interest such as Roman Britain. The textbook also offers a range of digital resources which we utilise to ensure our girls are confident in the use of technology to enhance their learning.
In Year 9, students either continue with Latin, or switch to studying Classical Civilisation. Those continuing with Latin, develop further linguistic skills and follow a bespoke course on the eruption of Vesuvius. In it, we consider both the events of the eruption and how it is depicted in Latin Literature to introduce them to genuine, unadapted Latin as well as the skills of literary analysis used at GCSE.
GCSE
Exam board: OCR
The Latin GCSE consists of two halves: language and literature. While the language requirements are the same every year, the literature options change every two years. Students read prose and verse literature, from a range of authors including Virgil, Ovid, Tacitus and Pliny. Having the opportunity to read such high-level ancient literature at such a young age is truly a privilege.
We believe the OCR course offers the most comprehensive and rewarding experience to our students. It enables our girls to learn and enjoy the subject, preparing them superbly for the A-level and beyond, while still engaging them with the range of literature and themes of ancient Rome.
QG Super Curriculum
Latin at Queen’s Gate is for everyone and we develop a range of extra activities and opportunities to explore this. We have regular trips, sometimes very local, visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum to see their cast of Trajan’s column or sculptures of ancient gods and myths, or a bit further to the British Museum. We offer year competitions, often based around creative writing retellings of ancient myths, which frequently link to national competitions run by the Classical Association. We host an annual Classics Evening, where girls from all ages in the school present on topics relating to the ancient world that they enjoy. Recently, our Latin sets have compared modern love songs to Catullus’ love poetry, and chastised Cicero for his horrific, misogynistic treatment of Clodia in his Pro Caelio. We offer a year 9 Ancient Greek club to introduce this other fascinating language to our students. Our sixth form also run a weekly mythology club for the younger years, encouraging links between our year groups.
