All pupils in the First and Second Forms take Latin. They study the first and second books of the popular Cambridge Latin Course, supplemented by departmental grammar worksheets and digital resources. They learn about the Roman world in 1st Century Pompeii and Roman Britain, while also learning the fundamentals of Latin grammar and vocabulary.
In the Third Form, all pupils who have previously studied Latin continue with the subject. They use the Cullen and Taylor course Latin to GCSE to consolidate their core grammar, and start to focus their vocabulary learning towards the GCSE curriculum. The stories they translate introduce them to the world of Roman myth, especially the exploits of Aeneas, hero of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Latin GCSE is an option that achieves excellent grades at The Oratory, and is a GCSE subject that makes pupils stand out from the crowd in terms of demonstrating a real range of skills and intellectual acuity. Pupils learn to translate unseen Latin passages, and to answer comprehension and grammar questions. They also study set texts in Latin verse, usually extracts from Virgil’s Aeneid and original prose passages on aspects of Roman life.
Latin A Level is a challenging and stimulating option, which really develops pupils in terms of their skill in language and logical approaches to unadapted unseen passages, alongside the development of sophisticated analysis of ancient prose and verse set texts. They are assessed on unseen translation and grammar analysis or prose composition, as well as the analysis, translation, and overall thematic interpretation of their prepared set material. Latin is extremely well looked upon by universities, and complements almost any other set of A Levels, especially the traditional academic disciplines, whether in the sciences or humanities. Pupils who have studied Latin at A Level at The Oratory in recent years have gone on to study Classics at some of the country’s top universities, including Cambridge.