The influence of the Romans and the ancient Greeks on the history, culture, and literature of our own civilisation cannot be overemphasised. We believe that every girl at Queen Margaret's has a right to this cultural heritage. We aim to foster not only an understanding of the Classical languages themselves, but also an interest in, and passion for, the society and thought of the earlier civilisations of Europe, by studying their lives and their literature. We enable the girls to enjoy learning about a wide range of aspects of these civilisations, and we aim to share our passionate enthusiasm for the Classical world with all our pupils.
Trips this year have included visits to:
Roman York with Year II
Hadrian’s Wall with Year III
The British Museum with Year IV
A performance of Oedipus Rex at the National Theatre with the Sixth Form
There is a proposed trip to Athens for the GCSE Greek girls next year.
Livia King (QMS 2001-2006) has graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Classics
Latin is studied by all girls in Years I and II and an overwhelming majority opt to study either Latin or Classical Civilisation in Year III. The department fosters the enjoyment of and an enthusiasm for Classical subjects and it seeks to equip the girls with the skills and knowledge necessary for their study.
Girls follow the Cambridge Latin Course Books I to III for the grammatical aspects of the subject. We also look closely at life in different parts of the Roman Empire: Pompeii, Britain, and Egypt. In Year III, girls studying Classical Civilisation are also introduced to the dark and ruthless world of Roman politics, watching selected scenes from the classic BBC video I Claudius.
Latin, Greek and Classical civilisation are all offered at GCSE level. The Classical Civilisation course focuses on the life and culture of two very different Greek cities, Athens and Sparta, and the girls also read Sophocles’ play Antigone and parts of Homer’s Odyssey. For Latin the girls continue to develop their knowledge of the language, and study short passages of important Roman literature in the original language. Able girls have the opportunity to start Greek in Year IV, and working at an accelerated pace are able to complete the GCSE course successfully within two years.
The OCR syllabuses are studied for all three Classical subjects.
The interest generated in Classics lower down the school continues to flourish in the Sixth form. Latin and Classical Civilisation are usually taught in small but enthusiastic classes, and in recent years a number of academically ambitious girls have chosen to do AS level Greek. A high proportion of those girls who opt for Classical subjects go on to read them at university.
Girls studying Greek and Latin have the chance to study the great authors of the past, such as Homer, Virgil, Plato, and Cicero, and to read their works in the original language.
The focus in Classical Civilisation is also on literature. The girls learn about ancient epic in The Odyssey, The Iliad, and The Aeneid, they explore the darker side of human nature reading Greek tragedies such as Oedipus Rex, and they discover the exuberant and often shocking world of Greek comedy.
The OCR Classics syllabus is followed for all three subjects:
The department is passionately committed to education outside the classroom. Our regular trips include Roman York in Year II, Hadrian’s Wall in Year III, and the British Museum in Year IV. There are also very successful weekend excursions to Athens for girls studying Greek.
Sixth form girls are taken to study days and lectures on a wide variety of topics, and guest speakers are also invited to the school. In addition we take groups out to appropriate theatrical productions.