It may not seem immediately obvious why it is important to do Latin. So why is it one of the most popular options at WGHS? Most importanlty, our students find it highly enjoyable and secondly, it gives them an enormous head start in terms of literacy, understanding of western culture and in learning modern languages.

We use the Cambridge Latin Course, which guides pupils through the language with ease, helping them to find out about life at Pompeii, in Roman Britain and Alexandria. This work can take us in many directions. For instance, here are two year 7 students displaying the marvellous masks they produced in their work on the Roman Theatre:

Here's what the girls themselves have said about studying Latin in years 7 - 9

Year 7

"The background topics are my favourite aspect and I also enjoyed doing translations into English."

"I have enjoyed learning the new words and finding out the Latin words for English words. The course is about a man called Caecilius and you follow the story of his life meeting people like barbers and merchants on the way."

"I think the course is good at making you understand the basics and then goes at a steady pace ensuring you understand everything."

"It's a fun, interesting course and an opportunity to learn about Rome and Pompeii plus how people lived in the past."

"I have liked gladiators and death!"

Year 8

"(The Latin course provides) very interesting work which uses pictures and characters to help learn Latin."

"(The Latin course is) fun, easy to understand and helps you see where English comes from."

"I found it quite difficult and challenging to begin with, although once you get used to the tenses and vocabulary it gets much easier."

"I particularly liked the work on King Cogidubnus' Palace."

"The Latin course was thoroughly enjoyable; it gets harder as you move on. There are fun, interesting translations and tenses are hard to grasp at first but when you know them they are fairly easy." 

Year 9

"In Latin we study a wide variety in the life of Latin speaking communities. I have enjoyed working on the baths and going on the trip to Bath."

"I enjoyed using the CLC website to learn vocabulary and play on vocabulary quizzes."

"I like researching the background and finding out how (Latin) contributes to the English language. (It was) very useful for understanding the background of English work."
"I liked studying Roman medicine and making a PowerPoint presentation."

"The Latin course offers a wide range of different aspects. It contains different units with exercises, translations, vocabulary and grammar and we can learn the language step by step and have fun."

"You can see how Latin is the father of European languages."

"You need to be enthusiastic as it is hard work!"

"An interesting, fun course. There are some difficult parts and it's not easy to learn endings for verbs."

Departmental Activities

• Classical Civilisation in the sixth form
• Latin in sixth form
• Classics homepage