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Department Reviews

CLASSICS

The Classics department has enjoyed another industrious and productive year. Public examination results were excellent, with the vast majority of girls achieving the highest grades and it remains a great pleasure to see our students going on to study Classical subjects at A level and beyond.

We provide girls with a range of opportunities to test their Classical mettle. Lower College, Upper College and SFC pupils were once more awarded prizes for their impressive performances in the Gloucestershire Classical Association Latin and Greek Reading Competition and we were delighted when two LC3 pupils were commended and highly commended in the country-wide Jowett Sendelar Essay Competition. SFC1 pupil Rosalind Cowen is to be congratulated on achieving second prize in both the language and civilisation categories of The Cicero-Europa Competition at Malvern St James. This international competition ran simultaneously in France, Germany and the UK and required participants to translate a passage of Latin and answer questions on the myth of Europa in Classical art and literature. This is the first time that the competition has been staged in this country and competitors were treated to a video clip of Boris Johnson MP, this year's President of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers, who wished them success in the competition.

Girls have participated in a number of enrichment activities. The Classics Society has enjoyed presentations on the epic tradition and engaged in some lively discussion provoked by Pasolini's Medea and Tony Harrison's Oresteia. We continue to make every effort to see live productions of Classical plays and Upper College and SFC pupils were treated to the Actors of Dionysus's interesting interpretation of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Some SFC1 girls attended the Classics Conference for Sixth Formers at Oxford where, as well as visiting Colleges and investigating courses in Classics and related subjects, they attended a talk on Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad given by Fiona Mackintosh of Oxford's Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama. Our trips to the British Museum and the Roman Baths were, once more, beneficial for all who took part, while this year's Project Week extravaganza involved a Classics Day for all LC1 pupils and some visitors from Richard Pate's Prep School. Everyone took part in a number of Classics-related activities, ranging from mosaic making or constructing a planisphere to viewing the night sky in the STARLAB and being drilled by a real Roman soldier.

The Classics staff continue to demonstrate versatility and innovation in their contributions to College life. We have all enjoyed using the Cambridge Latin Course e-learning software with pupils in Lower College and are thankful to have access to an enviable plethora of electronic resources which are both innovative and reliable. Departmental staff have been involved in delivering lessons in ICT and Critical Thinking, one teacher has made a significant contribution to College's successful Young Enterprise programme and another remains a stalwart of the Outdoor Education programme. Apart from being a stimulating subject in its own right, Classics is a truly cross-curricular and international discipline which plays a unique and significant role in preparing students for full and committed engagement with the modern world.

News

Recent Press Coverage

Recent Press Coverage

Vicky Tuck, Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, has recently been published in several leading newspapers. To read a selection of articles, plea...

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A Level Results 2008

A Level Results 2008

Cheltenham Ladies’ College pupils have achieved the best A level results in the county of Gloucestershire with an overall pass rate of 100% and 93.6% ...

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Geography Expedition to Iceland

Geography Expedition to Iceland

In the first week of the summer holidays 40 girls and five staff spent five wonderful days experiencing the incredible geography found in Iceland. The...

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Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh Festival

The Drama Department are again taking a production to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their production of Lust of the Eyes, a new short piece ...

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