Classics for All: Establishing the Classics Hub

Abstract

Five years since its launch in 2010,
Classics for All (CfA)
has an increasingly high profile in schools. For anyone still not in the picture, C
fA
works to increase take-up of Classics (Latin, Greek, Classical Civilisation, Ancient History) in state primary and secondary schools across the UK.

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Journal of Classics Teaching
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Classics for All: Establishing the Classics Hub
Hilary Hodgson and Xavier Murray-Pollock
Journal of Classics Teaching / Volume 17 / Issue 33 / March 2016, pp 48 - 49
DOI: 10.1017/S205863101600012X, Published online: 25 May 2016
Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S205863101600012X
How to cite this article:
Hilary Hodgson and Xavier Murray-Pollock (2016). Classics for All: Establishing the Classics Hub. Journal of Classics
Teaching, 17, pp 48-49 doi:10.1017/S205863101600012X
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The Journal of Classics Teaching 17 (33) p.48-49 © The Classical Association 2016. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of
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Classics for All: Establishing the
Classics Hub
by Hilary Hodgson and Xavier Murray-Pollock
F
ive years since its launch in 2010,
Classics for All (CfA) has an
increasingly high profile in schools. For
anyone still not in the picture, CfA works
to increase take-up of Classics (Latin,
Greek, Classical Civilisation, Ancient
History) in state primary and secondary
schools across the UK.
50 or so new Classics teachers
qualify through the PGCEs at the
University of Cambridge, King’s College
London and the University of Sussex.
Many of them go on to take up first
posts in large departments in
independent schools. It therefore
continues to be challenging to find
sufficient teachers to fill posts in small or
one-person departments in state schools
– despite the numbers of such posts
having increased in recent years due to
Government encouragement of classics
in the state sector. Meanwhile provision
through the UK is patchy, with a
preponderance of schools in London and
the South-East and large areas of the UK
with very little experience of offering any
sort of Classics at all.
It is hard to find more compelling
arguments for the charity’s mission than
statistics from two recent studies. In 2010,
Pembroke College Oxford found that
only 18 state secondary in London’s five
most deprived boroughs offered Latin.
1
Of these, most offered Latin only to KS3;
schools that took Latin to A Level were
very rare. In the same year, the charity
Friends of Classics reported that 47% of
the 3,000 schools surveyed wanted to
introduce Classics subjects but lacked the
resources and support to do so.
CfA was set up to offer grants to
state schools to help support the
introduction of Classics to all pupils,
regardless of their background, ability or
circumstances. It has so far granted over
£300,000 of funding to 300 state primary
and secondary schools to introduce
Classics, reaching 150 teachers, and 6,000
pupils. The work sounds straightforward
but it is not without challenges, including
the above-mentioned shortage of
properly-trained teachers and,
increasingly, an overcrowded curriculum.
Over the last five years, investing in
regional Classics networks or ‘hubs’ has
proved to be CfA’s most effective strategy.
It was one of CfA’s early grants that
influenced the development of the hub
model. In 2010 CfA made a grant to
Rowlie Darby, the Head of English at
Patcham High School in Brighton, to
expand the teaching of Latin in his school
to students from neighbouring state
schools. By January 2011, 74 of Rowlie’s
students had passed the Stage 4 Cambridge
Latin Course tests, and by June, 41 students
took the Level 1 WJEC Latin Certificate.
Buoyed by this success, Rowlie
persuaded more schools to join the
classical bandwagon and is helping to
train other non-specialists to teach
Classical Civilisation and Latin; Classics
now have a place in six Brighton and
Hove secondary schools up to GCSE and
A level, along with plans to work in 10
primary schools.
Recognising the merits of a ‘hub’ as a
way of offering flexible, relevant and
cost-effective local support, since 2013
CfA has supported the set-up of nine
similar networks in both isolated rural and
densely-populated urban areas. These
offer Continuing Professional
Development (CPD), resources and
advice for local teachers at different
points on their Classical journeys.
There is no one blueprint for success
and hubs are clearly most effective when
they draw on regional strengths. In cities
with a reasonable Classics infrastructure,
like Manchester and Liverpool,
partnerships between universities, Classics
Associations and schools offer a powerful
and stable focus for development.
Capital Classics is London’s hub.
Originally funded by the London Schools
Excellence Fund and based at the East
End Classics Centre at BSix College, this
has offered 320 hours of teacher training,
CPD and student enrichment to 60
primary and secondary schools across the
city. Like other CfA city hubs, Capital
Classics has benefited hugely from the
support of first-class academic
institutions including London, Oxford
and Cambridge universities. Among other
things, university partners have worked
with CfA to champion Classics, raise
funds, train teachers and send academics
and students into schools to inspire young
learners about the ancient world.
In rural areas where there is less
infrastructure, it is the schools themselves
or individual trainers that often take a

49
Classics for All: Establishing the Classics Hub
leadership role. In Norfolk, where the
distance between schools is a barrier to
networking, freelance trainer Jane
Maguire offers both central group and
one-to-one training for non-specialist
teachers. Over time, this has led to the
introduction of Latin and Classical
Civilisation as part of the mainstream
curriculum for over 600 pupils in 10 local
primary and secondary schools.
It is still early days, but there is
significant evidence that the hub
approach has:
• Promoted peer-led training led by
teachers that is sensitive to local needs
• Fostered new approaches to teacher
training, including the integration of
Classics in primary PGCE courses
• Encouraged the pooling of resources
and the exchange of good practice
• Strengthened levels of mentoring and
volunteer support
• Saved time and money on travel and
resources.
Establishing such connections
between local schools is part of a
longer-term strategy that is likely to make
Classics more sustainable – creating an
environment where schools can build on
local expertise and help one another to
embed Classics in the curriculum.
Slowly but surely we hope that such
structured support will enhance teachers’
subject knowledge and equip them to
approach the teaching of Classical
Civilisation, Ancient History, Latin and
Greek with confidence, whether the
challenge is enhancing the study of
Roman culture at Key Stage 2 or
navigating the GCSE or A Level
specifications.
A further argument supporting a
cluster or hub approach is the
introduction of Latin and Greek as
options for compulsory language study in
the KS2 and KS3/4 curriculum. Growing
interest in Latin, stimulated by this policy
change, offers opportunities to work
across primary and secondary phases,
building a pipeline of pupils studying
Classics from primary to secondary
school. In the longer term we envisage
that primary school Latin will increase
demand for Classics in the secondary
schools, enhance literacy and offer a solid
foundation for studying modern or
ancient languages at Key Stage 3.
In summary, fostering regional
partnerships is key to reviving Classics in
state schools and stimulating further
demand.
Classics for All is keen to hear from
schools, Classics organisations,
universities and individuals with ideas for
strengthening Classics teaching in their
area. Whether you have contacts, time,
local knowledge, Classics expertise or are
looking for funding support, we
encourage you to get in touch with us,
care of hilary@classicsforall.org.uk
Hilary Hodgson is currently Schools
Adviser to Classics for All (CfA). She was
previously Director of Ormiston Trust
and Director of Education at Esmee
Fairbairn Foundation; she started her
working life as a teacher and arts
practitioner.
Xavier Murray-Pollock co-ordinated
Capital Classics, CfA’s London Classics
programme from the East End Classics
Centre in London from 2014–2015. He
previously ran Latin programmes in
London primary schools for the Iris
project and now conducts postgraduate
research in Classics at Jesus College
Cambridge.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you
might also like to read
Maguire, J. and Hunt, S. (2014) The
North Walsham Latin Cluster Group:
two case studies. Journal of Classics
Teaching, 30.
Maguire, J. (2012). North Walsham
Cluster Latin Project. The first year
(2011–12). Journal of Classics
Teaching, 26.
Hilary Hodgson and Xavier
Murray-Pollock
hilary@classicsforall.co.uk
1
The London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham,
Hackney, Havering and Redbridge, Newham, and
Tower Hamlets.