Vision

In Classical Civilisation we want all students to leave the course with a developed understanding and appreciation for the classical world and how certain values and concepts have influenced our modern perceptions of society. An awareness of both classical literature and history allows our students to engage with unique thoughts and ideas which prompts them to develop a unique, compassionate and mindful view of the world.

Curriculum Overview

In Classical Civilisation we want all students to learn from the distant past and appreciate how lessons from the classical period can relate to our present world, with issues around misogyny, enslavement and LGBTQIA+ rights being ever-present in our syllabus. We encourage our students to challenge misconceptions about the past, and critically analyse evidence in a time where reliable information or literary sources are not always extant. We enable our students to be independent learners through our knowledge retrieval homeworks, FLIP learning and wider reading materials to support future learning, particularly university study. The critical analysis, reading and extended writing skills are designed to prepare students for future employment and topic choices are made relevant to this ideal, as identified in the progression-based objectives we set. Our focus on student-led research and presentation-based tasks further emphasises this.  

Sequencing, Setting and Support

There are no sets in classics. Our students tend to be highly motivated and interested in the subject to meet our entry requirements. We provide differentiated resources where necessary to support pupils and expect pupils to be prepared to complete both guided and independent work for the subject.  

Our budget has room to support students who need copies of the Odyssey and The Aeneid. We provide differentiated resources for SEND students, including topic overview sheets, word mats, extra-time for exams and deadlines and can provide large print resources amongst other strategies.  

Alive Themes in Classical Civilisation

We want our students to see the ALIVE values of the school through our choice of both literary and historical analysis, with justice and respect at the heart of all we study. Our subject directly engages with uncomfortable topics such as enslavement, homophobia and misogyny, and it is imperative that our students are encouraged to explore and uphold the core principles of justice and respect in modern society.  

Assessment in Classical Civilisation

Homework and how Parents/Carers Support Learning

All homework is set on Bromcom which is an app and website available to students and parents/carers. Further information is available on our Bromcom parents and carers support page.

These are the principles which underpin our homework.

Our homework will vary in terms of the degree of guidance offered to the students. Some homework will be very prescriptive and will encourage students to reflect and review their learning in class. This includes metacognitive surveys and written pieces encouraging the students to focus n their strengths and areas for improvement following tasks in class. Students may also be given past paper questions to attempt and tests to revise content for. Finally, students may be assigned more independent tasks, such as researching a topic and planning and delivering a presentation on it. Flipped learning is a key feature of the classics course, in which students will be given an article to read and will discuss and debate said article at the beginning of the following lesson. This prepares students for the realities of university-style seminars and tutorials. Finally, our hour for an hour page on Moodle means students always have resources to engage with that will enhance their understanding of the classical world.  

Parents and carers should engage in discussions with students about the topics they are studying, potentially trying to make comparisons to modern day figures or news stories. The ancient world feels very alien and distant for all of us, so engagement with the students and really making the events feel current helps our students to detect key themes throughout the course. Parents can also support by encouraging reading of the set-texts as falling behind on these can cause issues later in the course.  

Useful Classical Civilisation Resources

The most useful resource we have to offer if our Classical Civilisation Moodle page. This contains all of our lessons, resources and reading materials. It is also home to our hour for an hour resources which provide enriching activities and content for students and an inventory of our classics library if students wish to borrow physical books on a particular topic.