MAKING CLASSICS AVAILABLE TO ALL

NEWSLETTER
CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL CLASSICS PROJECT

ISSUE 2, Easter Term 2004

Salvete!
Contents
Website News
Museum & Classics
Days
Post-GCSE Course
Classics for Gifted &
Talented Students
School Visits to
Cambridge
CSCP Annual
Conference
Classics Goes to
Hollywood
CSCP on the Move
Fun Corner

WELCOME FROM THE CSCP TEAM. We

are delighted to find out that more and
more people are making use of our
online resources. Over the last few
weeks the number of visits to our
website, www.CambridgeSCP.com has
risen from 12,000 to 20,000 per week!
We would like to thank you for your
appreciation of our work and for your
very positive comments. We are
constantly working to improve our
facilities and enrich the free resources
you can find on our website.
Sorting words is a simple but useful
tool for practising language skills.

Sorting takes place by case,

declension, tense, person and so
on. More than 50 of these exercises
are available for Book I and
exercises for Books II and III are
well under way.
New support materials for Book IV
have also been added, including
'quick-click' texts for all stories, and
web-links.
Finally, if you would like to find out
your birthday under the Roman
dating system or the date for any
day of the year, then look no
further than the Roman Dates
section of our website.

Museum and Classics Days

WHAT DO THE CAMBRIDGE LATIN
COURSE, the CSCP website, CLC Elearning materials and
videoconferencing all have in
common? No matter how bright,
colourful, interactive and whizbang they are they are resolutely
two dimensional.
To restore some sort of kinaesthetic
balance, and in recognition of the
efficacy of the multi-sensory
approach to learning, the Project is
devising museum based activities to
support the Cambridge Latin Course
and to stimulate an imaginative
approach to Roman life topics or
coursework for both Latin and
Classical Civilisation GCSE using
artefacts. We are working cooperatively with the British Museum
but we also respond to local
demand by working with local

museums. Where travelling is

problematic for schools we also do
museum days in the classroom to
minimise disruption to the school
day. If you would like to book an
activity day at the British Museum or
a classroom Classics day, do contact
us at
ClassicsDays@CambridgeSCP.com.

Post-GCSE Latin Reading Course

IT IS THE PROJECTS DECLARED AIM to widen
access to the language and civilisation of the
Classical world. Some students, such as former
CLC independent learners, mature students
who did O level years ago, or students who
have recently acquired GCSE, have asked for
guidance to continue their studies and develop
more sophisticated Latin reading skills. The
Project is therefore developing a post-GCSE
Latin reading course delivered via e-mail with
some face-to-face sessions via web-cam where
available. We have devised the e-course to
maintain Latin learning momentum, develop
reading competence and nurture informed
personal response to Classical literature.
There is an opportunity for students to sit AS
exams if they wish.
For the first few months of the course,
students use the Cambridge Latin Anthology.
With its easy-to-use parallel vocabulary and
notes and its excellent Teachers Handbook
the Anthology provides a gently supported

post-GCSE route through a stimulating variety

of prose and poetry by major voices from the
Roman world. Recently set GCSE passages are
avoided. In addition, students are encouraged
to examine other related material comparing
English reworkings (by real poets!) of Latin
verse, for example.
Having experienced this variety, students then
look in depth at two authors chosen from the
AS poetry and prose authors (e.g Martial and
Livy) but read beyond the prescribed passages
as appropriate.
The course costs 150 pounds per year for each
12 session block, which includes marking and
feedback. Each session invites the student to
undertake specific tasks on the texts
(translation, comprehension and critical
analysis) and takes our current students
between 2 and 4 hours to complete. If you are
interested, do contact us at
STO@CambridgeSCP.com for more
information.

National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth

HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK, THE NATIONAL ACADEMY FOR GIFTED AND
TALENTED YOUTH (NAGTY) aims to co-ordinate the development and delivery of education for
the top 5% of the school population. School or college students aged 11-19 can become members
of NAGTY. NAGTY students receive most of their education at their normal school or college but
they have access to a wide range of additional opportunities, facilities and support services.
CSCP and the University of Cambridge Faculty of Classics are working with NAGTY to offer these
students access to online study fora on a variety of aspects of the ancient world. Students with no
prior knowledge of the ancient world will explore online discussion topics which elucidate both
the ancient and modern worlds. Examples of these discussions may include: 'Is democracy the best
constitution?', 'What is a hero?' and an investigation of Xeno's paradox.
This year, the University of Exeter is building on the success of its experiences in 2003 and holding
a summer school for NAGTY students entitled Viewing the World through Ancient Eyes.
For more information about NAGTY and how to join, please visit www.warwick.ac.uk/gifted.

School Visits to Cambridge

Classics Goes to Hollywood

ON MARCH, 16 STUDENTS FROM THE ANGLOEUROPEAN SCHOOL came to Cambridge as part

of our school visits programme. Students,
teachers and parents visited the Museum of
Classical Archaeology, where they had the
opportunity to browse through fine reproductions
of Greek and Roman Art. They were also told
about the myths and stories associated with the
works of art and learnt about pottery in a 'handson' workshop led by Jacqui Strawbridge, the
Museum's Education Officer.

CLASSICAL STORIES HAVE ALWAYS INSPIRED

Hollywood with their fascinating plots and
intriguing characters. With two films about
Alexander the Great currently being made and
Troy featuring Brad Pitt as Achilles and Orlando
Bloom as Paris about to be released there is
certainly a revival in interest in classical films
of epic proportions!

They then had lunch at one of the beautiful

Cambridge Colleges and a short tour round
Cambridge. In the afternoon, Rosanna
Omitowoju, from the Faculty of Classics, talked
to them about studying Classics at Cambridge.
Pupils also met undergraduate students of the
Faculty and they were able to get answers to all
their questions about life as an undergraduate in
Cambridge.
Patcham School in Brighton and schools from the
Barking and Dagenham LEA have also arranged
trips to Cambridge. If you are a partnership
school and you would like to bring your students
to Cambridge we can arrange a day out in
Cambridge for you too. Please contact the
Project Office on 01223-330579 and we will be
delighted to be of assistance.

CSCP Conference on
12th June
This year's annual CSCP conference will be held
at the University of Cambridge Faculty of
Education on Saturday 12th June. Sessions will
include:

hands-on use of the new e-learning resource

grammar and the Cambridge Latin Course

organising a school trip abroad

making good use of museum visits

the Cambridge Latin Course for new users

using web-based activities in teaching and
learning.
The conference fee of 25 pounds includes lunch
and refreshments and the Hellenic Book Service
will be in attendance.

In an interview given to BBC, David Benioff, the

screenwriter of the film Troy said about the
pressure of re-telling one of the greatest
stories of western literature:
I can't measure up to Homer. His composition has
survived for nearly three millennia and remains the
world's most beautiful and mournful depiction of
war. But the story of the Trojan War does not
belong to Homer. The characters he employs were
legendary long before he was born. Dozens of
different versions of the War have been told, and
my script ransacks ideas from several of them. The
script is not, truly, an adaptation of The Iliad. It is
a retelling of the entire Trojan War story. So I'm
not worried about desecrating a classic - Homer will
survive Hollywood.

As you may already know, CSCP has produced

its own retelling of the Iliad, based on the
storytelling of Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden.
This initiative has been very well received by
primary school teachers and students alike. If
you would like to order your own copy, visit
www.cambridgescp.com/publications/myths_p
/pd_mp_intro.html

CSCP is on the move!

As the University is reorganising its
accommodation, CSCP will be on the move at
some stage between Sept. 04 and Jan. 05.
Exactly when we will be moving, and where to,
is as yet uncertain and depends upon the
progress of building works elsewhere in the
University. When further details are available,
we will write to all colleagues and post
information at www.CambridgeSCP.com. For
the moment, however, please continue to
contact us at our usual address.

Fun Corner
Cambridge School
Classics Project
3 Bene't Place
Lensfield Road
Cambridge, CB2 1EL
Director: Will Griffiths

PUBLICATIONS
Phone: 01223-361458
E-mail:
Office@CambridgeSCP.com

ONLINE SUPPORT
Phone:01223-330579
E-mail:
OSM@CambridgeSCP.com
FAX:
01223-330584

Visit our revised website

for a wealth of FREE
online resources
Visit us at:
www.CambridgeSCP.com

Design & Production: CSCP

THIS SPACE IS DEVOTED TO STUDENTS. In this issue you can find a poem written in
'Langlish' (i.e. Latin and English) and a word search to test your knowledge of Latin
vocabulary. If you are using some fun activities with your class that work really well,
please let us know. We would like to include your ideas in this area too!

An Anglo-Roman Visit
This was originally published in the Carlisle Grammar School magazine in
the 60s. We would like to thank Pat Buckley for offering this to us.

Ad murum Hadrianum yesterday they went,

To be precise, Cilcernium, ut ruinas viderent.
Sed ubi advenerunt, to their surprise they saw
Militem Romanum propping up the door.
A little boy said Salve! sed ille nihil dixit,
Amicum appellavit quo in parvo hastam fixit.
Tumultu tunc coortu as to what they do,
Romani came up omnes and killed the others too.

Word Search
You can look for words horizontically, vertically & diagonally. You can also use
the same letter twice. All words are in Latin and from Book I of the CLC.

one (feminine)
again
bedroom
gladiator(fighting beasts)
generous
candidates
almost dead, dying (singular)
fire

shadow
feels
empire
with you
stands
knows
where
useful

nose
them
is
day
dinner
him, it
mother
frightens