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Newsletter 6 January 2013 | ||
| Project updates In this, our second year of grant-giving, we at Classics for All have really seen our funded projects bearing fruit. A central aspect of our grant-giving has been to support individual schools and colleges, giving initial funding for extra-curricular clubs in Latin, Greek, Ancient History or Classical Civilisation and then supporting them—for example through teacher development—to embed those subjects as part of their standard curriculum. This model is proving effective in projects CfA has funded in several parts of the country, from Tooting and Walthamstow to Sheffield. Alongside this model, we have also been developing a number of larger-scale networks as a means of developing Classical provision on a sustainable basis. Liverpool and Bristol Universities have both continued their work introducing Classics to new schools in their regions, whilst our project based at North Walsham High School in Norfolk has successfully introduced the study of Latin language and culture into all primary schools in the area. Project leaders are also developing a pool of Modern Foreign Languages teachers who will be trained to teach the subject in the longer term. We are now looking to develop the project in more schools across Norfolk and to replicate the model in other regions of the country. A development grant given to Patcham High School in Brighton has established Patcham as a hub for the majority of state secondary schools in the Brighton area, with schools now moving from after school courses to the introduction of Classics to the mainstream curriculum. In the North West, King George V College in Southport has now successfully introduced Latin and Ancient History to two neighbouring schools in the Southport area, Greenbank and Stanley High School. Finally, other projects funded by CfA have been looking at innovative ways of bringing Classics into the classroom, or supporting teachers. For example, a grant to the Cambridge School Classics Project has funded the development of a course on Classical epic as part of the Key Stage 3 curriculum in English; this has already been successfully trialled and looks set to be introduced to over 1,000 pupils in four state schools in the Cambridge area. The Faculty of Education at Cambridge has developed digital Continuing Professional Development (CPD) materials, crucial for teachers of Classics who often work on their own. In the coming year, with your support, we will continue to address the strategic issues facing Classics (not least the central question of the training and support of sufficient teachers to meet demand) and to look at ways of replicating any successful projects more widely across the country. If you would like to learn how you can fund a particular piece of work or a specific geographical area of our work then please do contact Melanie Nightingale on melanie@classicsforall.org.uk Professor Tom Harrison, Chair Grants Advisory Committee |
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| Changes at Classics for All |  |
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 As some of you will be aware, Maxwell Singh our Director of Development recently left Classics for All.This has given us an opportunity to review our progress. Since its inception, CfA has been run by a group of enthusiastic and passionate volunteers and the only paid member of staff has been our part-time fundraiser. We have brought together a generous and committed group of supporters, and our first rounds of grants have been taken up with enthusiasm in schools from inner city London and Liverpool to rural Norfolk. We now need someone who can take a brilliant idea and turn it into reality, to reach our goal of establishing Classics in 1,000 schools by 2020. The Board has therefore agreed to seek a new Executive Director. This individual's primary responsibility will be the vital work of continuing to develop our fundraising. They will also take on responsibility for other aspects of the Charity, from overseeing our grant making to engaging with all our many supporters and patrons. We have been impressed by the calibre of candidates who have come forward, and hope to make an appointment before Easter. In the meantime, we have engaged an interim Director of Development, Melanie Nightingale, who will be with us until this recruitment process is successfully completed. With over 14 years experience in the sector, we feel confident that Melanie will continue to develop our supporter base to ensure we continue to embed the financial stability that allows Classics for All to continue to invest in the many fantastic projects that are proposed to us. Sarah Jackson OBE, Chair |
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| New Year’s Honours List |  |
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| We are delighted to report that our Patron Professor Mary Beard received an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list for services to Classics. We are also delighted to report that David Wootton, who was so supportive to Classics for All when he was Lord Mayor last year, has been knighted for services to Legal Business, Charity and the City of London. |
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| House of Lords Debate |  |
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| On 6 November there was a short debate in the House of Lords, in response to a question put down earlier this year by CfA supporter Lord Aberdare: “To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to promote the teaching of Classics in schools”. For an hour, Classical peers displayed both their erudition and their enthusiasm for our subject. Replying for the Government, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Hill of Oareford, said “I feel strongly that we should want the benefits of learning Classics to be extended more widely… I very much agree with all noble Lords this afternoon that the case for Classics is strong. I applaud the work that is being done by its champions. I celebrate the encouraging signs that I think there are of quickening interest in the Classics and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, for bringing this matter to our attention this afternoon.” As indeed do we, and we should acknowledge too the sterling work of our Advisor Dr Peter Jones, who sprang into action to support the debate and provided an excellent briefing for many of the speakers. If you would like to read the full text of the debate, we have posted the Hansard transcript on the CfA website click here. |
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| Classics for All Patron, Ian Hislop writes… |  |
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| “I was hugely encouraged by a visit to my old school, Ardingly College, last year to film some sequences for use in my recent documentary The History of the Stiff Upper Lip. I sat in on a Latin lesson and was impressed not only by the skill and engagement of the teacher but also by the enthusiasm and knowledge of the pupils. We looked at Virgil and, in particular, a passage where Aeneas is displaying a stoical approach to misfortune. I was not asked to read, which was fortunate given that all the pupils read beautifully and I think that the accepted pronunciation of Latin has changed since I was last sitting in the classroom, and I did not want to look a complete fool. We then discussed what parallels the Victorian public school boys might have been expected to draw from this example of fortitude and restraint, and today's pupils had no problem pointing out that the young men being sent abroad to face dangerous challenges in the British Empire had been given some very clear role-models from the Roman world in their school curriculum. Aeneas is said at one point to 'bury his feelings' so that he could act effectively as a leader which was rather brilliantly rendered by one student as the need to 'man up'. I know I was at a public school and I know that this was a very privileged environment, but when I left the lesson I had only one thought. Shouldn’t this experience, this constantly rewarding encounter with Classics, be, yes, for all?“ |
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| Watch out! There’s a Greek mouse about | |||
| Following in the tiny footsteps of Barbara Bell’s creation, Minimus, a Classics teacher in Morpeth, Northumberland, is working on a new character who will bring the world of the ancient Greeks to life for younger pupils. Mikromus, like Minimus, is a little mouse, but he lives in 5th century Athens rather than at Hadrian’s Wall. Dr Peter Jones explains. |
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| How you can make a difference |  |
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| Classics for All was overwhelmed by the response to our two published grant programmes in 2011 and 2012. On both occasions we have received many more applications for funding than we could support, showing clearly that teachers and schools have the drive and enthusiasm to make a real difference to children’s lives by introducing them to Classics. We believe that giving a gift to Classics for All, is like giving someone the gift of that much loved book. You know the difference it can make and the pleasure it can bring. If you are able to give a gift, complete a direct debit or hold a fundraising event for Classics for All then please contact melanie@classicsforall.org.uk or visit our donation page. |
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| Our Honorary Patrons |  |
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| Our Sponsors | |||||
| We are grateful to our corporate partners who are generously supporting Classics for All in a variety of ways: |
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| Principal Corporate Sponsors | |||||
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| Contact us |  |
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Telephone: 0845 601 3739 • Email: info@classicsforall.org.uk • Website: www.classicsforall.org.uk |
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