Classics is a popular and highly regarded subject at King Edward's.

The department aims to give students an appreciation of all aspects of the classical world; the dialogue that exists between modern literature and the writings of the classical period as well as providing an insight into the dependence of many institutions in modern western society on models from the ancient world.

Latin is offered at GCSE and AS/A2, Classical Civilisation at AS/A2 and Classical Greek at GCSE and AS/A2

Professional story-teller Daniel Morden will be visiting the school on Friday February 10^th to entertain our Year 7 pupils.  Over the years, Daniel has toured the country in a variety of shows and is always popular.

He will spend an hour telling the children stories from Classical Mythology and talking about the meanings behind them.  He has visited the School three times before and his performance captivated children and staff alike on each occasion. 

King Edward’s School’s Classics Department has won the 2011 Good Schools Guide A Level Award for achieving the best point score for boys at A Level Latin at an English Independent School.

This is the second year running that the Classics Department at King Edward’s School has achieved this accolade.

The Good Schools Guide makes the award on the basis of performance results over the last three years, the popularity of each subject relative to similar schools, and the success that pupils achieve in relation to the other examinations that they take.

The editor of the Good Schools Guide, Ralph Lucas, says that the aim of the award is to “highlight excellent teaching in individual subjects and if a school has won one of our subject awards, it has outranked all other English schools in its category”.  

Mr Martin Boden the Headmaster said, ““We were delighted to hear about the award. Whilst we have many high performing departments at King Edward’s School, I think I am on safe ground in saying that the Classics Department is a centre of excellence at a national level. It’s something of which we are very proud!”

Mrs Finch, Head of Classics, commented “This is marvellous news. This accolade is testimony to the hard work and dedication of both staff and pupils and further recognition of a Department which has already established a formidable track record for comparing outstandingly well against national benchmarks. The Classics Department is flourishing and is now offering Greek at AS and A2 in the Sixth Form. We have a steady trickle of students who go off to read Classics at University, usually Oxford or Cambridge. They are now able to go with A levels in both classical languages.”

All students take Latin in Years 7 and 8, using the Cambridge Latin Course. The course is designed to promote not only a sound linguistic grounding but also an introduction to the history and culture of the ancient world. At the end of Year 8 pupils opt whether to continue with Latin. About two thirds of the year group will continue, with the ablest linguists also taking up Greek; these pupils are then able to study both classical languages through to GCSE in Year 11 and AS/ A2 in the Sixth Form.

To complement the courses, trips are run at all levels of the school. Year 7 are entertained by the story telling talents of Daniel Morden; Year 8 visit the Roman Fort of Caerleon and Year 9 the Roman Baths. In addition there is a regular Middle School trip to Rome and the Bay of Naples and the Sixth Form attend lectures by eminent academics on the texts they are studying at AS/A2 level.