How I use Classics as a teacher of History & Politics
by There’s no doubt about it – Classics is my passion and the period of history that fills me with the most excitement, firing up my …
Category: Teaching
Can you coach a pupil into Oxford or Cambridge?
by No, thankfully not. But what a Classics teacher can do is offer opportunities for aspirational pupils to find their own critical voice: to respond personally …
Creative ways to use Assassin’s Creed ‘Odyssey’ in your classroom
by Video games in the classroom – surely not? If I’m honest I’m usually the first to roll my eyes during INSET when a new gaming …
How should we teach the new Classical Civilization GCSE?
by This is the follow-up to my recently posted reflections on the new Classical Civilization GCSE. Start here to get some of the background to what …
Prose comp: the case in favour
by I am a convert to prose composition. I did none as part of my own A-level Latin course. I did a lot in Greek at …
Why you should read… Lucretius
by I have a confession to make: I think Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura is the finest work of Latin literature. I’m not some kind of Classics …
The War & Warfare option: why it works for my pupils
by War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. The study of war and warfare does, however, gives great insight into the Ancient World. At least …
How do you get pupils analysing style for themselves?
Set texts and the search for style points can bring many pupils – even good linguists – down to earth with a bump. How exciting, …
New OCR Classical Civilisation GCSE (9-1): the teacher’s view
The OCR Classical Civilisation GCSE (9-1) – J199 is now two years old, and had its first and much-anticipated (and worried-about) round of exams this …
What is differentiation?
by Over the last 18 months I’ve been a part of the team writing a new KS3 textbook, De Romanis. When creating language exercises in the …
What’s the point of a vocab test?
This post is about the power of tests as learning events. But first allow me to share a memory of my very earliest teaching days… …
Why I wrote… Clarke’s Latin
by When asked why I embarked upon writing Variatio: A Scholarship Latin Course – the two-part primer I published in 2015 – I have always had …
Review: Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek (2019)
by The Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, by Evert van Emde Boas, Albert Rijksbaron, Luuk Huitink and Mathieu de Bakker (CUP 2019), paperback, pp xlii + …
Should you give your pupils a translation of their set texts?
Much like Aeneas’ journey into the Underworld, preparing set texts over the summer holiday is a liminal phase between the old life and the new. …
Three tips for teaching Ancient History GCSE
by As schools have just received their first set of 9-1 Ancient History GCSE grades, this would seem an apposite moment to offer some thoughts on …