vēni, vīdi, didici – I came, I saw, I learned! Latin Outreach at Shrewsbury School

13 pupils from Shrewsbury Sixth Form College in town crossed the Rubicon (the River Severn, actually!) this week, and descended on the Kennedy Building (where the Classics Faculty is based) to start their Introduction to Latin course.

The course is the latest initiative in the school’s outreach programme to local state schools and is the brainchild of Head of Classics Paul Fitzgerald.

‘Mr Fitzgerald said: "In the past I have organised teaching Latin at local primary schools but this time I thought I’d aim for an older audience; none of the pupils from the college has studied Latin before, but all of them are keen and curious linguists who want to how Latin ‘works’ and how it has shaped and influenced many of the modern languages of Europe, such as Spanish and French."

Amelia H from the College: "I’ve enjoyed language a lot in the past and wanted to take advantage of a good opportunity; it combines with my interest in English literature too."

The course is scheduled to run for an initial period of 10 weeks and marks the second collaboration between the Classics Faculty and the Sixth Form College. Three students from the college have been cast in a production of Sophocles’ magnum opus, the powerful and electrifying tragedy Oedipus the King, which is to be performed on the 25^th and 26^th March in the Barnes Theatre this term.