Pyrrha's Roman
Pages
title page![[the real Medusa!]](mabig1.gif)
(before the merger with St James's School in September 2006)
CLASSICS DEPT EVENTS 2004 - 2005
Spring, Summer and Autumn Terms 2005
Autumn Term 2005
We had, as usual, a full programme of events for our students last term.
![[languagelab]](jmell.jpg)
We used the Language Lab and the Classics room's new computerised audio facilities as our students prepared for the Gloucestershire CA Latin and Greek Reading Competition which was held on November 22. Our students enjoy listening to their passage and then recording their own version. The standard of all entrants was very high and all our team deserve congratulations for their superb performances. See above for the results.
We took the Upper 6 Classical Civilisation students to four Roman sites in the Cotswolds, to illustrate how Romanisation affected Britain after the invasion.
The newly refurbished
Corinium museum at Cirencester is a real joy, and Chedworth villa shows how well-to-do Romano-Britons would live in the countryside. We admired the reconstructed mosaic from Woodchester which is currently on display at Prinknash Abbey. By the afternoon the students were so steeped in Roman Britain that they were able to give me a guided tour rather than the other way round when we arrived at Great Witcombe villa.
The Lower 6 Classics group will be investigating the sites of the Roman fort, amphitheatre and bath-house at Caerleon as part of their coursework preparation later in November.
Girls have enjoyed two Theatre trips this term - and there was also a Staff outing to the Greek play in Oxford! We all thoroughly enjoyed the performances of 'Medea' and 'Bacchae' at Hereford Cathedral School. The first was a brief run-through of the plot : very useful for revision! - and the 'Bacchae' was a brilliant interpretation which kept us enthralled from beginning to end. Who would expect to find a spoof-version of Gilbert and Sullivan songs in a Greek Tragedy? - but it should not surprise anyone to discover that the god Dionysus is a virtuoso on the guitar!
The Actors of Dionysus put on a thought-provoking version of Trojan Women in Worcester, and students from the Drama Department came with us on this trip.
On November 16th we were delighted to welcome Jeremy Paterson, Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Newcastle University. He gave us a fascinating talk on 'Praising the Autocrat : Virgil and Augustus' and it was good to see fellow Classicists from several schools in the area who joined us for the event.
We are really looking forward to hearing the dramatisation of last term's radio broadcast when it is available on the University of Oxford's website. See above for details.
During the Summer Term we took the Upper Three to the Lunt fort, near Coventry, and the Lower Four and Lower Five to Cirencester (Corinium museum and the amphitheatre) and Chedworth Villa.
A small group of U5 students enjoyed a full day's workshop at the Classics Faculty of the University of Oxford (see above). They studied and dramatised a passage from Classical literature (translated into English!) and their final performance was professionally recorded for eventual publication as a radio dramatisation on the University's website!
Our students enjoyed their usual full programme of events in the Spring term, the highlights of which were the Upper Four trip to Bath and the Lower 6 Classical Civilisation trip to Caerleon to gather material for their AS coursework. We are continuing to digitise our resources so that students can access them on their own laptops as well as utilising the cinema-style screen of the whiteboard, and I have started to make more resources available to our students via this website so that they can revise with them at home.
The Prep Schools' Languages Day was great fun, as usual, and we were very impressed with the standard of Latin reading.
Spring Half-Term 2005
We visited Rome during this short holiday, in co-operation with the Art and History of Art Departments.
The trip was enjoyed by all participants, and we give our thanks to Mr Thomas of the Art History Department for his expert leadership as well as Ms Weissburg and Ms Rhodes.
Easter 2002
![[Delphi tholos]](jmg2.jpg)
We visited Greece during Easter 2002, in co-operation with the Religion and Philosophy Department.
It was a most successful trip, including visits to Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Epidavros and Athens, under the expert leadership of Mrs Beech.
Click here to see a selection of photos.
Autumn Term 2004
Congratulations to Rachel who was awarded a prize for outstanding work in her first year studying Classics at Cambridge.
Congratulations to the members of Greek Club who decided to sit the foundation level EMACT Classical Greek Graded Test last term. They all achieved excellent results!
Mrs Dicks gave a talk to the Three Counties' Archaeology Society at the beginning of September on 'Roman Gardens'. It was a very enjoyable evening.
We entered the Gloucestershire CA Latin and Greek Reading Competition held in October. See above for the excellent results we achieved.
This term we took the Upper 6 Classical Civilisation and Latin students on a tour of Roman sites in the Cotswolds. We managed four sites in one day, and still got back in time for supper!
Later in the term we took the Upper and Lower 6 Classicists to a Study Day at Haberdashers' School for Girls in Monmouth.
Amelia Richards Classics Bowl
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The recipient of the Classics Bowl for 2004 - 2005 has shown great flair and enthusiasm for Latin, achieving excellent results after starting as a Beginner last September. She participated with distinction in the Latin Reading Competition last year after only a few weeks' of learning the language.
Well done!
Amelia Richards Classics Bowl
The recipient of the Classics Bowl for 2003 - 2004 participated in all Classical activities - Latin Reading, the Latin Play and Intranet Web Page creation - with great flair and enthusiasm. She also spent a great deal of her own time studying Greek.
Well done!
article in 'Omnibus', September 2003
A 6th Form Classicist who also studied English Literature had an article published in this prestigious Classical magazine which is issued twice a year (with articles written primarily by University lecturers or school teachers). Rachel's article comparing Classical Greek Drama and Post-Colonial drama, with special focus on Euripides' Bacchai and the Bacchae of Wole Soyinka was originally presented as a talk to the MGC English Society last year.
Congratulations Rachel!
Ludi Scaenici Glevi
![[the cast]](jmlud1.jpg)
Our Upper 4 team won First Prize at the Latin Play Competition held at Westonbirt School at the end of May 2003. They wrote their own playlet and won praise from the adjudicators for their stunning visual effects as well as their accurate and clear pronunciation of Latin.
Unfortunately we have been unable to compete this year.
Classics teachers past and present gathered to say goodbye to Judy and wish her well as she leaves to take up an exciting new teaching post in Singapore.
![[lteachers]](jmejudy.jpg)
It was lovely to get so many of the Department together and we all enjoyed a convivial evening at the end of the Summer term 2004.
national publicity
This website was recommended in the first 'Website Watch' feature in 'Omnibus', the Classical magazine and also in the June 4th edition of the Times Education Supplement!
A letter from Mrs Dicks disagreeing with the Education Minister's denigration of Classics was printed in the Daily Telegraph at the end of March and the teaching style of the Classics Dept here at MGC was the subject of an 'Education Mail' article in the Daily Mail on April 1st - showing what a forward-thinking and innovative Classics Department MGC possesses!
Mrs Dicks was also interviewed as 'an expert on Roman inscriptions' by BBC Radio Gloucestershire during the Summer holidays. She was able to explain the inscription on an old map which had been puzzling its owner.
Mrs Dicks' contribution to the debate over the decipherment of an inscription at Shugborough was shown on the BBC Radio Four 'Today' Programme's website in May 2004. This inscription made the national news because of rumours that it might lead to the Holy Grail! Codecrackers from the wartime Bletchley Park were drafted in to try to work it out.
Summer Term 2004
Mrs Dicks was pleased to be back at school following an absence, and would like to thank the three Classicists who covered her lessons while she was away.
Although the Oxford Greek Festival was held during a school Exeat, we took an informal trip to see the production of 'Trojan Women' which was followed by an interesting seminar led by the Director and by the Director of an earlier performance which had a Nigerian background. Our sixth formers were also able to talk to some undergraduates in the Classics Department and look around a few Colleges.
Trips after half term included the
U3 trip to the Lunt fort, the L5 trip to Caerleon and the L4 trip to Chedworth Roman villa - a new venue for us, since the museum at Cirencester, the usual venue for the L4, is still closed for renovation work.
We have every confidence that our students will make their own arrangements to see the film "Troy" so that they can make a careful assessment of how Brad Pitt measures up as Achilles and whether Orlando Bloom is a credible Paris!
(click here for my review of the film).
The Classics Dept is offering prizes to girls who find the most differences between the traditional stories and the story of the film.
Spring Term 2004
The Classics Department, as usual, played a large part in the Prep. Schools' Languages Afternoon. We enjoyed listening to Prep. School pupils reading passages of Latin and the youngsters also took part in language games to complete their afternoon of linguistic fun.
We are enjoying using the excellent facilities of the Language Lab - you will be surprised if you think that it is only modern linguists who can benefit from recording and listening to different languages!
We took our Year 9 students to the Roman Baths museum in Bath so that they could see where the action in their textbook takes place! 6th Form Classical Civilisation students also joined them. Other trips included theatrical productions of plays the 6th formers are studying, and the Hippolytus we saw in March was a particularly interesting interpretation.
U5 Latin students will be able to see their own research on Roman tombstone inscriptions on this website later in the year.
The Languages Faculty noticeboard is encouraging girls to read Homer and Virgil before watching Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom in 'Troy' - will Hollywood get the story right? (!)
Autumn Term 2003
Congratulations to the members of Greek Club who decided to sit the foundation level EMACT Classical Greek Graded Test. They all achieved excellent results!
The Language Lab proved particularly useful for students preparing for the Gloucestershire CA Latin and Greek Reading Competition which was held in October. We have recorded the prizewinners on this website : do listen and enjoy!
Our trips this term included
a theatre trip to Worcester to see Sophocles' 'Oedipus'. The 6th Form Classical Civilisation group visited the fort and amphitheatre and the two museums at Caerleon to enable them to prepare for their coursework on the archaeology of Roman Britain and the GCSE and AS Latin groups attended a study day at an Abingdon School where they heard lectures given by Oxford dons and took part in a 'University Challenge' - type quiz - one of our students was a member of the winning team!
Summer Term 2003
Trips included the
U3 trip to the Lunt fort, various 6th Form theatre trips and the L5 trip to Caerleon - they were joined by the L4 this time, since the museum at Cirencester, the usual venue for the L4, is closed for renovation work.
U4 Latin students were able to see their own Web Pages on the MGC Classics Dept Intranet this term. They created these pages after their visit to the Roman Baths at Bath last term, and we have been very impressed by the creativity and level of ICT skills they have displayed in addition to their understanding of the Roman site.
This term the U4 practised hard on their entry for the 'Ludi Scaenici' - the Latin Play Competition held annually at Westonbirt School. Two playlets were produced at the end of last term and the girls included elements of both in the version they chose to enter in the competition. This involved practices outside lesson time - a great team activity.
You can imagine their delight when they were awarded First Prize! See the photo above.
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This year's party for the U6 Classics Leavers took place on the lawn at Greenslade House. Notice the Classical touches of parsley and rosemary garlands and the thyrsus!
We wish all our students well as they move on to the next stage of their careers.
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... and the party continued as more guests joined in the fun!
Spring Term 2003
The highlights of this term were the U4 trip to Bath and 6th form trips to productions of Greek plays. We enjoyed the performance of Aeschylus' Agamemnon at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury, being joined by A level Drama students for this trip.
The Classics Department took its customary leading role in the Languages Afternoon when we heard Prep School pupils reading Latin passages and enjoying languages-based activities. We recorded some of the best performances and you can hear them if you click here.
The Languages' Faculty noticeboard challenged students this term with a quiz showing how many words relating to computers are derived from Greek and Latin. You can see the online version of this quiz by clicking here.
Autumn Term 2002
We organised the usual full programme of events for our students this term as we celebrated our students' excellent results in last summer's public examinations. Good luck to all those who have moved on to the next stage of their education!
Girls at all levels have been working very hard practising for the Gloucestershire C.A. Latin and Greek reading competition during the term. The enthusiasm of the girls makes this a most pleasurable activity and it was difficult to choose the final team to represent us at Cheltenham. See the section above for our results.
Students who saw the Hereford production of Aristophanes' Frogs at the beginning of term were impressed by the lively presentation. We joined forces with the Sixth Form Drama students for a performance of Euripides' Electra in Tewkesbury. This was a most interesting production which used a new translation by the Actors of Dionysus.
Sixth Form Classicists enjoyed the Study Day at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls on 7th November for lectures on their A level topics.
Our staff members have been busy over the summer : Mrs Dicks gave a talk to the Birmingham Classical Association on Classical website-making and Mrs Nesbit has been very involved in the public examinations in her role as Principal Examiner. They both attended a recent talk by Martin Thorpe on Homer and Virgil at Monmouth in September and participated in the Worcester teachers' conference in November. Mrs Dicks has been invited to speak on the 'Classical Gardens' panel at the annual Conference of the Classical Association at Warwick next Easter.
Summer Term 2002
Here you can see some Upper 4 (Year 9) Latin students performing the play they wrote (in Latin!) at last year's Ludi Scaenici - Latin Play Competition at Westonbirt School.
Who has stolen the offerings for the goddess Isis? - clue : look for the character with the mask in the next picture!
![[latin play]](jmew2.jpg)
We always look forward to entering - we appreciate all Helen's hard work in organising this event which enables young Classicists to meet and see each other's performances.
![[latin play]](jmew1.jpg)
Our Sixth Form Classical Civilisation and Greek students thoroughly enjoyed a lecture by Jasper Griffin in Cheltenham on the Odyssey and we took our Upper 3, Lower 4 and Lower 5 (years 7,8 &10) to the Lunt Roman fort near Coventry, Corinium museum (Cirencester) and British Camp, and the museums and sites in Caerleon this term. (Click here to see photos from field trips). We are lucky to have easy access to these Roman sites and the visits provide a very worthwhile enhancement to the girls' classroom studies.
Spring Term 2002
We organised a joint trip with the English Department to the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford and the British Museum to explore aspects of colonialism, including the acquisition of artefacts from other countries. This was a great success and enabled the girls studying each subject to share their knowledge with each other and to make connections.
We took our Upper 4 girls to the Roman Baths in Bath to see the archaeological evidence upon which their study of Latin this term is based. They then worked on making Guide Books to the site, using their ICT skills.
Some members of the Department went to see the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, at the Forum Theatre in Malvern. This was performed by a local amateur company and was great fun!
We took 18 girls to see Euripides' Medea performed in the original Greek at the Oxford Playhouse. This was a most impressive performance, with the translation set out in surtitles above the stage. The students who performed this invested it with so much energy and emotion that it was a feast for the eyes and ears! It was enjoyed by all of the group, the majority of whom have no knowledge of ancient Greek but read the plays in an English translation.
Our Lower 6th Greek students saw Euripides' Bacchae, which is an A Level set text, again in the original Greek, in London on Wednesday 6th February. This was performed by students of King's College. We were particularly intrigued by the pronunciation of Dionysus and Pentheus, characters played by students who were Greek themselves!
David West's evening lecture on 'The Aeneid as Satire' had to be postponed, but our 6th Form Latin students enjoyed the study day on the A Level Latin set texts organised by the Oxford Classical Association at Stowe School.
The Classics Dept contributed to the Lower 4 's long weekend in London, when we took the girls to the British Museum as part of an action-packed cross-curricular weekend.
Our Harry Potter Latin Quiz proved popular and we awarded prizes in Junior, Intermediate, Senior - and Staff sections!
Staff activities
Together with staff from other Depts in the Faculty of Languages we organised a Languages Afternoon for Prep School children with language-based games and Reading Competitions in English, French and Latin on Wednesday 27 February. This was great fun for all concerned and we were most impressed by the standard of reading of all the children who participated.
Two teachers from the Dept joined other Classics teachers from the Midlands at a Conference at Worcester Sixth Form College during September, and at the end of November we hosted a Classical Civilisation INSET session which was led by Mrs Beech, our Art and Architecture specialist.
Mrs Nesbit, in her role as Principal Examiner for the OCR AS examinations, had a full programme of planning meetings and staff training around the country. Mrs Dicks was a guest speaker at last year's IAPS conference (Prep School teachers) and also addressed groups of adult students on Latin inscriptions and Roman Gardens. She has been invited to speak at Classical conferences during 2002 and 2003 on 'Making a Classical website' and 'Roman Gardens'.
All members of the Dept keep our interest and enthusiasm for Classics fresh by attending relevant INSET courses and Classical events.
Autumn term trips
On Thursday 15 November students of Greek, Latin and Classical Civilisation went to a performance of Sophocles' Oedipus at the Swan Theatre in Stratford. This was a very powerful performance given by the Northern Broadsides Company, its light-hearted touches making the tragedy more poignant as the play progressed.
The Actors of Dionysus entertained us on Friday 23rd November at Warwick with their adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone. The acrobatic antics of Teiresias as he stressed the importance of 'balance' will provide a talking-point in many of our future lessons, I think!
Classical Civilisation students participated in a very worthwhile Study Day at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, where we listened to lectures on a variety of topics by some very distinguished speakers.
Our Upper 5 Latin students attended a Study Day at the Oxford High School for Girls on Thursday 22 November and also spoke to tutors at St Hilda's College, Oxford.
Classics Club
Look at the Classics noticeboard and the year-group boards for details of meetings and trips.
Amelia Richards Classics Bowl
The recipient of the Classics Bowl for 2001 - 2002 has worked with great enthusiasm in both Latin and Greek as well as participating in the Gloucestershire Classical Association Reading Competition
Well done!
Oxford Latin and Greek Reading Competition
Congratulations to our L6 team (three girls studying AS Latin), who entered the Senior Verse reading class on March 21st, 2001. They were awarded First Prize, and Joint Second Prizes.
Very well done!
The Classical Association Virgil Reading Competition 2001
Congratulations to all of our entrants, who recorded tapes to be sent for judging in this national competition.
One of our girls was awarded second prize in the Junior Section, and two of our Seniors were Commended by the judges.
Very well done!
my website
My students have told me to congratulate myself, since this website has been recommended and linked by the Channel Four programme 'Time Team', following their programme about making replica Roman mosaics!
CLASSICS DEPT EVENTS 2000 - 2001
Gloucestershire Classical Association Latin and Greek Reading Competition
Our team won first prizes in all the sections we entered this year :
Senior Greek : First Prize
Senior Latin : First, Second and Third Prizes
Junior Latin duologue : First Prize
The standard of all entrants was particularly high. Well done!
Trinity College, Oxford
Congratulations to a former student who left MGC in 1997, for being awarded a scholarship for her final year studying Classics (known as Literae Humaniores) at Trinity College, Oxford.
Jowett-Sendelar Essay Competition winners
Two U4 girls won prizes in the Junior section of this national competition for their illustrated guides to the Roman Baths and Temple complex at Aquae Sulis (Bath) following their visit during the Spring term.
Well done!
November
6th Form Latin students to a lecture organised by the Gloucestershire Classical Association on the style of the historian Livy.
6th Form Classical Civilisation students to a 6th Form Study Day at Haberdashers School in Monmouth.
Our trip to see a performance of Euripides' Bacchae at the King's School, Worcester, had to be cancelled due to flooding in Worcester.
January
U6 Classical Civilisation students to the British Museum to attend lectures as well as view the Greek sculpture and pottery.
February
U4 Latin students to Bath, the Roman Aquae Sulis, for an action-packed day handling artefacts, listening to a talk and looking round the Roman baths and temple complex.
(And the guidebooks they produced back in the IT suite at College were superb pieces of work!)
6th Form Latin students to a Study Day at Radley College on Vergil and Ovid.
March
6th Form Classical Civilisation and Greek students to London theatres to see a stupendous performance of Euripides' "Medea" and a very good performance of Aristophanes' "Frogs".
Participation in the Oxford Latin and Greek Reading Competition. (See above for our prizewinners!)
We have recorded taped entries for two classes in the national Virgil Reading Competition and we look forward to finding out our results during the Summer Term.
Easter Holiday
![[Ostia theatre]](jmeeto.jpg)
A group of Classics students visited Florence and Rome with students of History of Art. Mrs Beech says :
We spent two days in Rome, visiting as many sites and museums as possible, including the Vatican, St Peter's, Colosseum, Forum, the Capitoline museums and the Pantheon. Highlights were the recently re-opened Galleria Borghese and the beautifully decorated church of S. Maria in Trastevere. We spent a wonderful morning at Ostia, a fascinating site comparable with Pompeii, but much less busy, before moving on to Siena and Florence. Here there are fewer Classical sites, but the influence of the ancient world (and myth) is always very evident in the art, while the Archaeological Museum in Florence is a gem. It was so good that we've already started planning our trip abroad for next year!
Summer Term
U3 went to see the reconstructed Roman fort at the Lunt, near Coventry, on such a cold, rainy day that the custodians took pity on us - even going out to buy hot chocolate to revive us on our return to the reconstructed granary which is now used as a museum! Despite the weather and the restricted access to the fortifications (due to the heavy rain making them unstable) we all had a wonderful time.
L4 went to the British Museum, where our visit was enlivened by a fire alarm just as we were sitting down to eat our lunch (!) and to the Museum of London.
L6 visited the Ashmolean museum in Oxford to view Greek vase-painting the the copies of important Greek sculptures in the Cast Gallery.
L5 enjoyed their visit to Caerleon, visiting the amphitheatre, baths and fortress museum.
L6 Classical Civilisation students went to an excellent lecture, which was relevant and fascinating, on Homer, the last books of the Odyssey, at King's School, Gloucester.
The 'Ludi Scaenici" at Westonbirt School were unfortunately concelled this year, and we were disappointed that we could not enter our Latin play. (We were awarded second prize last year). U4 students always enjoy the opportunity to write and perform their own play in Latin.
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