The Classics Department 

The classics department at KGS consists of four members of staff. A passionate team of consisting of Emma Pytel, Anna Sayles, Lottie Mortimer and I. As a department we teach a wide range classical skills to our students’ as they progress through their education at KGS.  In the Lower School we focus on predominantly Latin. We also give the students the opportunity to learn Greek and in the Sixth form the students have the option to study Classical Civilization at A Level. 

These subjects allow our students to explore through the lens of the ancient world the importance and influence of people. The students are investigating themes such as gender, religion and conflict resolution. For example, when we are reading the Iliad students can draw parallels to the modern day even though it is fundamentally an abstract ancient text. I think that it is hugely important that students can think through the safety of the lens of the ancient world and consequently can confidently discuss these major issues which are exceptionally relevant to their lives today. This results in students being able to make some big points about identity, religion and what it means to be in this world today because they have the strength and security of the ancient lens. We explore a wide range of texts from the early Greek poems of Hesiod to New Testament in the Bible and the legacy of the Vulgate Bible which we have recently discussed in the Sixth Form. 

My Background  

I was very lucky to be able to study Latin and Classical Civilisation at Nottingham High School. Although I initially intended to pursue History at university, the interdisciplinary appeal of Classics—encompassing the study of culture, art alongside literature—ultimately guided my decision. I studied Classics at the University of Newcastle and completed my PGCE at King’s College, London. I have been a classics teacher ever since and never looked back. In terms of my specialty, my favourite thing teach is prose composition in Latin and Greek. I work closely and with Brenda Macdonald picking her brains about Greek composition when writing into these languages. Prose composition is like the final number of a musical. As you spend years learning case endings, verbs and vocab, and then suddenly you're in an exam and it's just you and this pasture of English. The aim is to successfully deploy everything you've learned over seven years. Additionally, you get bonus marks of being stylish which is a very unusual thing to be able to in a final A-Level. It's not about jumping through hoops. It's about, you know, showing how you go beyond. This ethos we embody is that we can see the basic thinking, consider that that is nice, and then push our students to think beyond that. 

The word Alumni 

The word that I would like to discuss is Alumnus. Now, you will all be familiar with the following words Alumnus, Alumna, Alumni and Alumnae. They all derive from the word Alumnus, which is from the Latin verb “Alere”, which means "to nurture, nourish, support and maintain”. An alumnus is a person who is being supported and maintained.  In terms of the different use of alumnus and the different endings, and alumnus is an individual male, an Alumna is the equivalent feminine term, Alumnae, is for a group of former female students and Alumni is for a group of male students or a mixed group. What is interesting about alumnus is that it is the idea of continuing nurture. It is not a closed book. It is a continuous state of being supported. For example, in the Aeneid texts Aeneas is nurtured by his foster father. It interestingly comes from the same origin is Alma, as an Alma Mater, the American phrase.  So, Alma just means nurturing and It's the other side of the coin of alumnus. It's an epithet. We see it in Latin poetry with Venus, with her nurturing, but also with Ceres, who's the goddess of grain and organised fertility. This is also seen with, Aphrodite and her perhaps a bit more disorganised fertility but, ultimately a sense of the nurturing. This highlights the direct link between Alma mater and Alumnus. Alumni.