It’s year 4 of Quinquennium and you’d be right to furrow your brow and ask what happened in year 3. Answer: not much! The HoD’s life claimed me and Ollie, and it’s only now, with feet firmly under tables, that we can turn our thoughts back to Quinquennium.
Most Classics teachers don’t have much time or headspace to spare on blogs: we know that. And so our proposition is clear. We are a listening post for Classics teachers on the ground, who want to think about their practice and their progress in frank but thoughtful terms.
When I prep my Year 11 Latinists for their language exam, I hammer home the importance of the 4 P’s – pronouns, participles, the pluperfect, and the passive: three areas often underestimated and often pulled up by examiners.
In that same spirit, here are 4 Q’s for Quinquennium as we enter year 4:
Quick
The test is this: will a new post deserve the attention of a busy Classics teacher with ten minutes to spare in the middle of the school day?
Some posts will be longer than others, but we’re aiming for an average read time of 4-5 minutes, and our focus is pedagogical: what might actually work when the door closes and you’re stood in front of a class.
We are here primarily for the practitioners. We want to cast new light on experiences or practice which has, perhaps, been taken for granted.
Questioning
We don’t know the answers, but we like asking good questions. The blog’s premise is that teachers get good, evolve, and enjoy themselves when they reflect little and often. And that shouldn’t stop once you’ve hit the ceiling of sufficiency. We’re better than that.
Quotable
We’re a forum for voices within our sector, and the more the merrier. We want to capture and convey the best wisdom and guidance you’ve heard from peers and mentors, and those hand-me-down nuggets are bountiful blog posts in our eyes. We are not an academic journal: we are a trumpet for all that anecdotal, precious experience which makes an everyday impact on what Classics teachers do.
Qreative
Teachers can often find themselves operating in isolation. Planning, delivering and assessing is usually a solo experience. Quinquennium wants to flush out that good practice, creating the confidence to try new stuff and find new momentum.
In my view, there’s one thing that motivates like nothing else – for teachers no less than pupils – and that, I’m afraid, is another P word: progress.
Here’s to another year of learning and listening. If you’d like to join the team and contribute with a post, or simply reach out to share thoughts (even critical!) then just email me or Ollie at quinquenniumblog@gmail.com. Speak soon!
