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Classical Civilisation
What will your child study?
In the Middle School pupils are able to choose Classical Civilisation as one of their options and follow a course designed to give an introduction to the world of Greece and Rome prior to embarking upon the AQA GCSE Classical Civilisation specification. The department provides a workbook for each module of the course, as well as access to many interactive resources.
The Year 9 Classical Civilisation course looks at the origins of Classical Greece, using the Olympic Festival as an initial focus, then examining the rivalry between the Spartans and Athenians. The diversity of these cultures and their styles of government is explored then contrasted with the rise of Rome as a major power. These topics are studied to give a broad introduction to the civilisations that left such important legacies for western culture. Literature and archaeology are key sources for this course and pupils generally provide a healthy dose of imagination and creativity. Pupils in Year 8 will experience some taster sessions in Classical Civilisation as part of their timetabled Latin lessons.
Classical Civilisation can be studied for GCSE without the prior Year 9 course, though most pupils have studied either Latin or Classical Civilisation in Year 9. Again, there is very minimal overlap with the language courses, so pupils can study both a language and the civilisation topics. Four stand-alone civilisation and literature topics will be studied, one of which is completed as Controlled Assessment in Year 10. The topics being examined from June 2011 onwards include:
- A detailed archaeological review of Pompeii and Herculaneum, exploring the devastating effects of the eruption of Vesuvius and the remarkable snapshot of Roman life that was left for posterity.
- Literary investigation of Homer’s Odyssey in English and the world of heroes that many will know from contemporary representations such as Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy.
- Critical appreciation of Euripides’ tragedy Medea in English as well as familiarisation with the City Dionysia festival at Athens where tragic plays enjoyed their greatest days of influence.
How will they be assessed?
Pupils will be assessed through marked homework, short factual tests and regular marking of their workbooks. In the build-up to GCSE, testing will increasingly include questions in the style of the GCSE examinations. In Year 11, pupils will sit a full GCSE mock examination.
