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<a
href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/ambitious-project-bids-to-bring-latin-back-into-the-classroom.24311783">http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/ambitious-project-bids-to-bring-latin-back-into-the-classroom.24311783</a><br>
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<span><meta charset="utf-8"><h1 class="article-title" style="margin:
3px 0px 10px; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia,
Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 30px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
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width: 355px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing:
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normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ambitious project bids to
bring Latin back into the classroom</h1><div id="article-essentials"
style="margin: 10px 0px; float: right; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);
font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px;
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style="margin: 0px;"><a
href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/andrew-denholm" style="margin: 0px;
color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial,
'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size:
12px;"><img src="cid:part1.02090901.01080101@gmail.com" style="margin:
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height: 60px; width: 60px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></a></div><div
id="article-byline" class="user-name" style="margin: 0px; font-weight:
bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;"><a
href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/andrew-denholm"
property="dc:creator" rel="foaf:publications" typeof="foaf:person"
content="Andrew Denholm" style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);
text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px;">Andrew Denholm</a></div><div
class="user-job" style="margin: 1px 0px 0px; font-family: arial; color:
rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 12px;">Education Correspondent</div></div></div></div><div
class="section-date-author" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size:
14px; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); font-family: Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif; text-transform: capitalize !important; clear: both; float:
left; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; widows: auto;
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color:
rgb(255, 255, 255);"><time property="dc:issued" datatype="xsd:dateTime"
datetime="2014-05-26" content="2014-05-26T00:00:00+01:00" style="margin:
0px;">Monday 26 May 2014</time></div><div id="article-abstract"
style="margin: 12px 0px 0px; clear: both; font-weight: bold; color:
rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;
font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;
letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">ACADEMICS have launched an ambitious
project to spark renewed interest in the study of Latin in primary
schools.</p></div><div class="body-content" style="margin: 0px 0px 40px;
color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;
font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight:
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto;
text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="main-image"
style="margin: 20px auto; padding: 9px; float: none; width: 400px;
background: rgb(239, 239, 239);"><img
src="cid:part2.07020205.05030604@gmail.com" alt="CATCHING ON: Jennifer
Hilder from Glasgow University with pupils from Sacred Heart Primary
School in Bridgeton, Glasgow. Picture: Martin Shields" title="CATCHING
ON: Jennifer Hilder from Glasgow University with pupils from Sacred
Heart Primary School in Bridgeton, Glasgow. Picture: Martin Shields"
class="imagecache imagecache-400xY" style="margin: 0px; border: none;
outline: none;"><div class="main-image-desc image-desc" style="margin:
2px 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); width: 400px; font-size: 0.917em;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span
class="main-image-credit image-credit" style="margin: 0px; font-style:
normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:
0.03em; font-size: 0.917em; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">CATCHING ON:
Jennifer Hilder from Glasgow University with pupils from Sacred Heart
Primary School in Bridgeton, Glasgow. Picture: Martin Shields</span></div></div><div
id="article-content" property="dc:description" style="margin: 0px;
font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:
13px; line-height: 20px; clear: both;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Postgraduate students from Glasgow
University are holding Latin classes at schools in deprived areas of the
city.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height:
20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
lessons seek to bring the history of the language to life, but also
teach basic grammar and vocabulary.</p><div class="roa visible"
style="margin: 0px; display: block;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">After proving successful in the three
primary schools, the project is being expanded to include two more
primaries and a secondary.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funded with a small grant from the
university, the scheme is an attempt to reverse decades of decline in
the study of Latin in Scottish schools.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px
1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial,
'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once a fundamental pillar of
education, the language has declined dramatically since the 1970s and
now very few state schools offer it.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2013 just 218 candidates sat Latin at
Higher compared to 243 the previous year, a decline of more than 10 per
cent.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height:
20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only
48 pupils took Latin as an Advanced Higher.</p><p style="margin: 0px
0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial,
'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">The lack of candidates gaining
qualifications in the subject, combined with the lack of demand for
teachers, has made the situation worse.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px
1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial,
'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matthew Fox, professor of
Classics at Glasgow University, who started the project, said: "Latin
is very patchy across the UK, but there are particular blackspots in the
state education sector in Scotland.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Hanging over the subject since the
introduction of comprehensive schools is the fact that Latin was seen as
elitist and therefore somehow discriminating, but that is a complete
myth.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height:
20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In
fact, a classical education is wonderfully enriching and there are a lot
of people who think pupils should have more access to it."</p><p
style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;
font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr Fox
said one of the things that had been lost since the 1970s in UK schools
was the teaching of grammar.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em;
font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">He added: "You cannot learn Latin without
grammar and it is also a very good way of introducing language
awareness.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px;
line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;">"It is a very enjoyable subject because it allows pupils to
tap into the Roman world, but also the literature and mythology of the
Classical world, which is very exciting to young people."</p><p
style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;
font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jennifer
Hilder, a postgraduate Classics student from the university, who is
co-ordinating the project, said it took a while for the primary seven
pupils to fully engage with the subject, but when they had done so they
loved studying Latin.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size:
13px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue',
Helvetica, sans-serif;">She said: "The main issue for the student
teachers was the range of ability levels within a single class, which
means trying to engage as wide a group as possible by using simple
story boards to tell Roman myths and stories from Classical
civilization.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px;
line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;">"Those stories can also be used to teach pupils simple
vocabulary, the gender of different nouns, sentence structure and
grammar.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px;
line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;">"It has taken them time to get used to the idea of learning
Latin, but now they are used to it, it has become a lot easier to
teach."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px;
line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;">The project will be expanded to five schools in Glasgow
next year and organisers also hope to open a Latin club in St Mungo's
Academy in Bridgeton, so that pupils can develop their studies in
secondary school.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; font-size: 13px;
line-height: 20px; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;">Last year, the study of Latin was re-introduced in six
primary schools in Fife after a similar initiative by staff at St
Andrews University.</p></div></div></div></span><br>
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