WCN News Archive
13th December - WIE Collaboration and Co-production fund - Notification of Award
The WCN are proud to announce that Dr Grigsby has secured £3000 from the WIE to undertake a project to strengthen the relationship betwen the Dept of Classics and Warwickshire Museum. The money will be used to develop an engagement project on the Roman coin hoards displayed at Market Hall Museum.
11th December - Ancient Feasts at the Herbert Gallery
Unfortunately our Ancient Feast event had to be postponed due to illness. We will reschedule for the spring, so watch this space for news of the new date and the progress of our giant mosaic.
6th December - new Faculty of Arts Building
We officially moved into our new premises in the fantastic new Faculty of Arts Building. Highlights include some amazing display cases for our antiquities in our new Antiquities room.
1st December - Longsands Talk on Athens and Olympia
Dr Grigsby spoke online to the students at Longsands School, St Neots, about Greek Religion at Athens and Olympia. The school also borrowed the VR headsets, and the online session was imagined as an introduction to exploring the ancient world digitally.
1st November - VR Headsets in Cambridge
Dr Grigsby travelled to Cambridge to lead a session on using VR headsets in the classroom with the Classics PGCE students.
28th October - Go Parks Coventry
Dr Grigsby joined staff from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum for a Roman themed morning at Longford Park, Coventry. Dr Grigsby brought along some real Roman artefacts from the University's collection to show to local school children and their families.
28th September - Greek Religion at Camden LSU
Dr Grigsby led an online session on Greek Religion for students of A-level Classical Civilisation at Camden LSU School.
19th September - Resonate Festival Words and Voices Roadshow
Dr Grigsby was happy to meet the people of Coventry and talk all things Roman at the Words and Voices Roadshow at the Assembly Festival gardens. The event, organised by WCN's Prof Michael Scott, was a fantastic and enjoyable celebration of Coventry's language heritage and diversity.
17th September 2021 - Roman Coventry Project on BBC CWR Radio
The WCN and Dr Grigsby's Roman Coventry project were featured on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio. You can listen to Dr Grigsby and Prof Michael Scott here.
13th September 2021 - Roman Coventry Project Complete Resources released
The WCN Roman Coventry and Warwickshire Project released a complete 13 week course online for local schools. You can access the teaching resources here. If you are interested in learning more, email Dr Grigsby at paul.grigsby@warwick.ac.uk
2nd-6th August 2021 - Sutton Trust Summer School
In the first week of August Dr Grigsby ran another successful Classics strand of the Sutton Trust Summer School here at Warwick. For the third year in a row this joint stream with the Departments of History of Art and Film and Television Studies was a great success and everyone involved enjoyed the mixture of elements from each department that makes this a unique experience. We hope to welcome some of the attendees to Warwick to study with us in the near future.
6th July 2021 - Scanning Artefacts at Lunt Roman Fort with WMG
On 6th July 2021 Dr Grigsby I oversaw the first bit of laser-scanning and photogrammetry at the Lunt Roman Fort with Paul Wilson from WMG https://youtu.be/GTyu5w6bOXM
The aim is to produce 3D models online, and printed 3D models from the artefacts will be used to create lessons in a box for local schools to use. The online sessions will be available to schools across the country.
July 2021 - Traveling Artefacts - Dept Collection
In July the WCN worked with our Head of Dept Prof Zahra Newby to push on with our traveling artefact project. We hired 12 students (both undergraduates and postgraduates) to develop and lead online school sessions with our departmental artefacts. In the end 12 students led 13 sessions with 10 local schools reaching over 300 pupils.
This project together with the Roman Coventry Project show the strength and enthusiasm of our students in their desire to spread the word of Classics in our Warwick Classics community and in our local schools. To support this, the WCN is constantly building contacts and creating a platform for engaging students with local educational and heritage institutions. Dr Grigsby is developing more sessions as part of his Roman Coventry Project and linking in with URSS. One of the URSS students he has supervised (Rebecca Preedy) is creating 4 time-capsules using Roman pottery and the 3D scanned items from the Lunt, each based on a single Roman character.
16th of June 2021 - A. G. Leventis Ancient Worlds Day June 2021
Following on from the huge success of our 2019 A. G. Leventis Ancient Worlds Day, after a delay due to Covid we were pleased to be able to hold an online A. G. Leventis Ancient Worlds Day on Wednesday 16th of June 2021.
With the general theme of 'Expanding Horizons', our focus for this event was to take the topics covered in the Classical Civilisation and Ancient History GCSE and A-level curricula and to expand upon these, looking especially at interactions between diverse groups, but also expanding the horizons of what we think Classics is and what the term 'Classics' covers.
The day was attended by over 500 pupils from over 30 schools, while the pre-recorded videos and the recordings of the live sessions have since been viewed over 1,500 times. You can access these videos here:
April 2021 Funding secured for next 5 years
We are proud to announce that from April 2021, the WCN will be receiving funding from the A. G. Leventis Foundation and from Graham and Joanna Barker to support the work of the WCN for the next 5 years. Graham studied for his MA in Classics here at Warwick, specialising in numismatics, and we are very pleased to accept his and Joanna's generous gift which will keep them involved in the Dept for years to come. This funding, together with that from Classics for All, will allow Dr Paul Grigsby to continue in his role with WCN as Research Fellow in Outreach in the dept. of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, and will allow the WCN to continue to develop and grow. This generous funding will be used to support our annual Teachers Day and Ancient Worlds Study Day, and to build on the strong ties already developed between the Classics Department at Warwick with local schools and heritage institutions, and with schools across the country. We are excited about what the next 5 years will bring and are honoured to help these generous people support the study of Classics.
23rd March 2021 Digital Welcome Week
In march Dr Grigsby gave a talk on Greek Religion at the online Digital welcome week and in late July I ran the Classics part of the Sutton Trust Summer School with 20 participants from across the country. The bias in attendees is always towards film (the stream is joint Classics/History of Art/Film & TV) so we were very pleased to learn that one of the 2020 attendees will be starting at Warwick Classics this term.
22nd February 2021 - GCSE Class Civ coming to Barr's Hill
WCN received news during yesterday's Word Roots CPD that Barr's Hill are looking to introduce Classical Civilisation GCSE in 2022. Barr's Hill first introduced Classics to yr7's after discussions with WCN and support from Classics for All including training with Steve Hunt. Last year they expanded the offering to include yr7 and 8, and hope to expand to yr9 this coming September, with GCSE the following year. Thank you so much to Cassidy Phillips and the other great teachers at Barr's Hill, and indeed all the Future's Trust schools.
22nd February 2021 - KS3 Word Roots CPD
Dr Grigsby organised a CPD session on Word Roots and Introducing Classics for 30 State Secondary teachers from across the region. Led by Classic for All's Charlie Andrew with information on introducing Classics provided by Steve Hunt, we ended the session discussing the further expansion and introduction of Classics to Finham Park 2 and the introduction of Latin GCSE at Cardinal Wiseman School, both in Coventry.
18th January 2021 - KS2 Word Roots CPD
Dr Grigsby organised a CPD session on Word Roots at KS2 for 50 Primary School teachers from across the region. Led by Classic for All's Charlie Andrew, this enjoyable session was well-received and following this event we are in discussion with Keresley Grange Primary School who are looking to introduce Minimus Latin in 2021 to their yr5 and 6 pupils..
11th November 2020 - Our second Classical Civilization Teachers Day
Following the great success of last July's Teachers Day here at the University at Warwick, on November 11th 2020 we held another Classical Civilisation A-level Teachers Day, with almost 200 teachers signed up for the online day and its resources. Hosted by Dr Paul Grigsby, and with a welcome from Prof Michael Scott, Academics from the Dept. of Classics and Ancient History led sessions on modules from the OCR Classical Civilisation A-level syllabus, focusing on secondary scholarship and new developments, with the aim of sending teachers back with new understanding and strategies to help in student learning. You can read about the event here.
1st March 2020 - Online Resources
In March 2020 the WCN officially launched a set of resources for Ancient History GCSE created with the support of Classics for All and with a team of amazing teachers from across the country. The resources can be accessed here. These resources form just a part of the STOA teaching resources on our WCN site, resources which since lockdown have been viewed over 200,000 times.
11th February 2020 - Introducing Classics to St Elizabeth's Catholic School, Coventry
On Tuesday 11th February 2020 Dr Grigsby visited Head Teacher Michael Doyle of St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School in Coventry to discuss introducing Classics to the St Elizabeth's curriculum. The school is already making great strides in introducing sessions on Rome, Greece and Egypt, and Dr Grigsby discussed the possibilities of adding some mythology to the English curriculum and of arranging visits from the WCN Outreach Group and with the VR headsets. Watch this space for further updates.
6th February 2020 - VR event - a tour of Ancient Athens
On Thursday 6th February Dr Grigsby and Prof Michael Scott took part in an exciting VR event organised by Dr Robert O'Toole, the Warwick Academic Technologist. As part of a diverse programme of VR related events, Prof Scott led the 25 audience members on a guided VR tour of the Parthenon, followed by a discussion on the use of VR in future Classics teaching. Dr Grigsby will be talking about the use of VR in Classics teaching at this year's Classical Association Conference in Swansea this coming April.
30th-31st January 2020 - Ancient Drama Festival
On 30-31st January the Classics Dept and Classics Society held their annual Ancient Drama Festival, this year's production being Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. With music by Kirk Hastings and directed by Max Stapleton, this was a truly memorable event. Watch this website for links to the recording of the performance.
30th January 2020 - VR Session with La Sainte Union School
On 30th January 2020 Dr Grigsby led a session with students from La Sainte Union School, Cambden, focussing on Greek Religion. Dr Grigsby answered the pupils' questions and introduced them to Ancient Athens via the VR headsets.
14th January 2020 - VR Session in Cambridge University
On 14th january 2020 Dr Grigsby was invited to lead a session with the new Classics PGCE students at the University of Cambridge Institute of Education. Following a brief tour of Athens, the PGCE students came up with their own ideas of how VR could be used in the school classroom to help with Classics teaching and learning.
7th January 2020 - Classics for All 'Midlands Classics Hub'
On 7th January Dr Grigsby visited Leicester University to discuss the creation of a Classics for All Midlands Hub - an umbrella group comprising of the WCN and the Birmingham and Leicester Classics hubs. Such a grouping will allow us to shared resources and make the most of our network of contacts. Watch this space to see how this project develops in the coming months.
21st November 2019 - Warwick Classics 'Ancient Worlds Study Day'
On Thursday 21st November the WCN and Dept of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick held its 2019 Warwick Classics Network Study Day entitled ‘Ancient Worlds’.
Organised through the generous support of the A. G. LeventisLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window Foundation, the day was aimed at school children from KS2-KS5 and for members of the general public and will be organised to suit each audience. A full report of the day can be read here.
Top authors such as Natalie Haynes, Emily Hauser, Caroline Lawrence, and Alexandra Sheppard gave talks on the ancient world, myths and story-telling. Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman Mysteries series spoke on Myths, Movies and Storytelling - What do Paddington and Aeneas have in common?, and fascinated the audience with her version of the hero's journey. Alexandra Sheppard, author of Oh My Gods gave a talk on ‘21st Century Gods - exploring the role of mythology in ancient Greece, and imagining a new set of gods relevant to our modern world. Emily Hauser author of the best-selling Golden Apple Trilogy spoke on ‘Rewriting AncientGreek Myths in Fiction’ - How do we go about remaking ancient Greek myths for a modern audience? And how can storytelling open up new perspectives on the ancient Greek myths we thought we knew so well? And Natalie Haynes, author of The Amber Fury, The Children of Jocasta, and creator of BBC's Stand up for the Classics gave a talk entitled Troy Story, about all things Trojan, and gave a bravura performance summarising all 24 books of the Iliad in 25 minutes! The authors also signed copies of their books which were on sale during the event, thanks to Blackwell's booksellers.
In addition, our Warwick Classics Academics led sessions on their own interests and specialities in the Ancient World: Eric Csapo on ‘Stories about Achilles' birth and death’; Alison Cooley on ‘The Stones of Pompeii tell tales’; Victora Rimell and David Fearn on ‘Four Classical Poems: The Wow of Narrative’; and Michael Scott on ‘Heracles – he does get around’.
A video of the days lectures will be available soon.
12th November 2019 - Introducing Classics to Finham Park 2 School, Coventry
On Tuesday 12th November 2019 Dr Grigsby visited Headmaster Russell Plester at Finham Park 2 to discuss the introduction of Classics at FP2. We came up with an ambitious long term plan, delivering enrichment sessions in Classics in Sept 2020, offering ancient history for enrichment (12 week course) to years 7 & 8 and possible enrichment to year 12, and with the possibility of introducing ancient history/Latin GCSE in 2021/2022. We are hoping to include other schools in the academy chain in this ambitious project, so watch this space.
5th October 2019 - Connecting Cultures/City od Culture Open Showcase, FarGo Village, Coventry
On Saturday 5th October 2019 Dr Grigsby took our VR headsets to the Connecting Cultures/City of Culture Open Showcase at the FarGo Village in Coventry, where he spoke to members of the public about the WCN GRP Connecting Cultures Project 'Coventry: A City of Cultures' [see below], a project which brought together academics from both Warwick and Coventry Universities, the Coventry cultural institutions the Herbert Gallery and Museum and Lunt Roman Fort, and local Coventry schools. The headsets were a huge success with the big and small alike.
3rd October 2019 - Introducing Classics, Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby
On 3rd October Dr Grigsby led an enrichment session at Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, on the acropolis in Athens and the Parthenon. Pupils used our WCN VR headsets to walk around Ancient Athens and step inside the Parthenon as it was in the first century AD. This was part of a classics enrichment programme run in tandem with Classics for All.
25th September 2019 - Fifth #AskAnAcademic video to be released - Prof Michael Scott on Greek Religion
In this three-part video, Prof Scott introduces us to the complexities of Greek Religion, to the festival of the Panathenaea and the Mysteries of Eleusis, and to the Greek concept of Miasma [pollution].
29th July - 2nd August 2019 - Sutton Trust Summer School 2019Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window
The WCN was involved in the organisation of this year's Sutton Trust Summer School here at Warwick. We created an exciting course for interested pupils working together with the departments of History of Art and Film and TV. During the week we examined how Classics has been a constant theme throughout art history, and how classics is used in modern film and TV media.
8th July 2019 - Coventry: A City of Cultures - Herbert Gallery and Lunt Fort Visit
On 8th July, 60 students from Barr's Hill School and the President Kennedy School, both in Coventry, visited the Herbert Gallery for talks by academics from Warwick University and Coventry University; a special museum tour of the Medieval Galleries and Art Gallery; and artefact handling sessions with some of the Museum's rarely seen pieces. In the afternoon the pupils were given a guided tour of Lunt Roman Fort. A report of the day can be found here.
7th July 2019 - Dr Grigsby speaks at CA/FIEC 2019Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window at UCL London
On 7th July Dr Grigsby spoke about the work of the WCN at the Classical Association/FIEC Conference at UCL, London. Dr Grigsby was part of a panel organised by Prof. Edith Hall and Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson of Advocating Classics Education. You can read Dr Grigsby's blog of the event hereLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window.
1st July 2019 - Warwick Classical Civilisation A-level Teachers' Day
This day was organised by Dr Paul Grigsby of WCN and Dr Emmanuela Bakola and Prof. Zahra Newby to cater for the needs of teachers of the A-level Classical Civilisation syllabus. You can read our report of the day and find out more about resources from the day here.
19th June 2019 - Building links with Local Museums
On 19th June Dr Grigsby organised a cheese and wine get-together at the Oculus Building on campus between members of the Dept. of Classics and Ancient History here at Warwick, academics from Coventry University and Museum staff from the Herbert Gallery in Coventry and the Warwickshire Museum in Warwick. The meeting was a great success and connections were (re)forged that will continue to build connections between Warwick and its local community. We are especially excited about the idea of collaborative exhibitions to be organised in out planned Antiquities Room.
10th June - Introducing Classics at Higham Lane, Nuneaton
Dr Grigsby visited Higham Lane School and spoke with the Deputy- and Assistant-Head teachers, and staff from History and English about how to introduce Classics to Higham Lane. They are very excited about rolling out some classics in the next academic year and helping the older pupils spread their classics-enthusiasm to the younger pupils. Watch this space!
4th June 2019 - Stratford Latin Club
Dr Grigsby met with Judith Affleck of King Edward VI School in Stratford to discuss how the WCN could help with Judith's plans to set up an extra-curricular Latin club, teaching Latin to GCSE, for school children around Stratford whose schools do not teach Classics. We will be providing support alongside Classics for All to help set up and promote this brilliant scheme, and are working with Judith to create a series of Classics lectures in Stratford for the wider public, led by Judith and her King Edward's staff.
4th June 2019 - Living Latin
Dr Grigsby met with Clive Letchford of the Classics dept. here at Warwick to discuss the creation of a Living Latin group here at the University. We will be planning an event for local teachers and are especially keen that we can develop a group going forwards who might include local teachers brushing up their subject knowledge in order to introduce some Latin into their schools.
1st June 2019 - Fourth #AskAnAcademic video to be released - Dr Clare Rowan on Imperial Image and Coins
In this two-part video, Dr Rowan discusses coins in the age of Augustus, particularly focussing on the coins studied as part of the OCR Classical Civilisation A-level module 'Imperial Image'. Topics include Divi Filius, Imperator, Augustus, Culture Hero, Later Representations, and Pater Patriae.
15th May 2019 - Introducing Classics to Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby
Dr Grigsby and Steve Hunt from Classics for All once again visited Nick Wharton to discuss the creation of resources for the Lawrence Sheriff Classics enrichment. We have now resolved on creating a short course on Greece, focussing on the Acropolis as a central motif, and one on Rome with the Colosseum as central. These short courses will allow pupils to engage with diverse aspects of history, politics, religion, drama, society, the military and empire. More to come.
29th April 2019 - Introducing Classics to Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby
Dr Grigsby visited Nick Wharton at Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby to discuss the creation of Classics resources for the school's enrichment sessions. The plan will be, working with Steve Hunt and Classics for All, to create 8 1-hour sessions which will give an overview of the variety of topics covered under 'Classics' and 'Ancient History',, and which will then be made available for other schools as teaching resources.
24th April 2019 - Third #AskAnAcademicLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window video posted - Prof. Michael Scott on the Ancient Greek Symposium
In this two-part video, Prof. Scott introduces us to the Ancient Greek Symposium through his Undergraduate Symposium seminar, where students recreate the drinking party (with ribena, not wine) in our Experimental Teaching Space. Prof. Scott discusses how the symposium was set up, what drinking-ware was used, and how the images on these vessels were experienced at the drinking party.
10th April 2019 - Introducing Classics at Cardinal Wiseman School, Coventry
Dr Grigsby visited Cardinal Wiseman School in Coventry where he discussed the introduction of classics and Latin with Vice-Principal Matt Everett and the Headmaster Tom Leverage. Keen to introduce Latin to help their leavers with their UCAS applications - they have been introducing Latin via an online course - they were interested to learn about what WCN and Classics for All could do to help them introduce taught Latin at the school. They have three or four teachers with some Latin (GCSE standard) and are very keen for these to be trained up in order to teach at school, probably to teach in normal school time. Firstly they are interested in providing GCSE, but almost as an enjoyable extra. The headmaster Tom Leverage is keen to get classics in somehow as well, and is aware of the beneficial knock on effect of learning Latin and classics.
Dr Grigsby also made plans to organise a school classics day with VR headsets for this coming July.
3rd April 2019 - Second #AskAnAcademicLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window video posted online - Prof. Zahra Newby on Myth, Art and Architecture
In this 3-part video, our Head of Department Prof. Newby discusses the use of Greek Myth especially in later Roman Art and Architecture, discussing the use of myth in funerary art as well as ancient examples of iconoclasm.
2nd April 2019 - Introducing Classics to Ashlawn School, Rugby
On 2nd April Dr Grigsby visited Headteacher Siobhan Evans of Ashlawn School in Rugby to discuss the ways in which classical subjects can be added to the Ashlawn curriculum. Ms Evans has been in position only 10 weeks, but is keen to start something. We decided that maybe some classics linked to history and also after school clubs might be the best way to start. Again, she will meet with the potential history teacher and SLT and will get back to me, but again she was very keen, and also keen that this should be rolled out to the new school in the chain that is being built, and which she will be head of as well.
2nd April 2019 - Introducing Classics to Hartshill School, Nuneaton
On 2nd April Dr Grigsby visited Assistant-Principal Sam Behan of Hartshill School in Nuneaton. Sam and her staff are very keen to introduce some Latin and classics, first in MFL but eventually possibly across the whole curriculum. It is hoped we can do something similar across all four schools of the Academy chain - Hartshill, Nuneaton Academy, George Eliot School, and Heath Lane. Fingers crossed we may be looking at a possible September start.
1st April 2019 - Dr Grigsby talks to the High Attainers at President Kennedy School, Coventry
On Monday 1st April Dr Grigsby introduced the High Attaining Yr 7 students of President Kennedy School to the ancient world and to Roman Coventry. The pupils especially enjoyed the VR headsets and the tour of Athens and are keen to help the WCN with their ongoing project 'Coventry: A City of Cultures'.
6th March 2019 - Ancient Images, Modern Eyes: The Classical World in Modern Advertising and Media
This event involved a series of interactive talks and activities on numerous themes pertaining to the depiction of the ancient world in modern media – including issues of diversity, gender expectations and beauty ideals - hosted by researchers from Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick University, culminating in participants designing their own advertising campaign inspired by an aspect of ancient society. The day got young people engaging with Classics and Ancient History in a way that was purposeful and strongly relevant to them – not just as students, but also as consumers of modern media.
This event was created to provide a stimulating vehicle for putting into practice some of the wider aims of the various GCSE syllabi, helping to inform students’ critical understanding of the role of the media on its contemporary society, but also using classics to discuss topics such as gender and race. We were especially pleased that a number of our local schools were involved with this project.
Some of the feedback collected on the day reflected the importance of these visits on pupils’ perceptions of university:
Q. Has your experience today at Warwick changed your opinion about the possibility of coming and studying at University?
‘It has made me more eager to join Uni as there are many chances open for everyone’ – Tasneem Rahal, Year 9 President Kennedy School.
‘Yes, I think I would definitely want to go to university in the future’ – Nida Mansoor Year 9 President Kennedy School.
25th March - Recorded new #AskAnAcademicLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window video with Dr Clare Rowan on Imperial Image and Coins
This video will be available at the beginning of June.
5th March 2019 - First #AskAnAcademicLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window video posted - Prof. James Davidson on Love and Relationships
The first video was posted at the beginning of March 2019(Prof. James Davidson on Love and Relationships) and was promoted via social Media and the WCN contacts. Public Engagement at Warwick will also be promoting this series. So far three sessions have been recorded, with two more in the pipeline for February and March. In addition, videos will be created by PG from footage taken at the Roman Food and Drink event of 13th February and ‘Ancient Images, Modern Eyes’ in March.
Part of the idea behind these videos is to increase the exposure of our dept. to non-classicists. We hope that by advertising these resources to our contacts, including our WP schools, we will increase the visibility of Warwick and increase the chance of further interaction with the university.
26th February 2019 - Coventry: A City of CulturesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window
PG met with Francis Ranford of Culture Coventry at the Herbert Gallery in Coventry to discuss the project. The present aim is to invite 100 pupils from WP schools of Future’s Trust to take part in this project. Barr’s Hill have shown interest in sending their entire Year 8 pupils to visit the Museum and Fort in mid-July. In addition, PG is working together with HA group at President Kennedy School in the development of this project.
20th February 2019 - Prof. Michael Scott Inauguration
Prof. Michael Scott’s Inaugural Professorial lecture on the importance of classics and the future of classics teaching at university was streamed live via Facebook and the video of the lecture professionally recorded on the night has been posted online on the WCN website.
WCN schools (including the 29 WP schools) were contacted to make them aware of both the live streaming and then the availability of the final video online. Prof. Scott’s Television work, his numerous talks, and his weekly Facebook Q&A increase the profile of the classics dept. here at Warwick and the perceived approachability of the classics dept. as a whole.
18th February 2019 - Introducing Classics to President Kennedy School, Coventry
In February 2019, the SLT approved the creation of this classics club, and on 18th February Classics for All receive their application for training in Greek and Latin for teachers.
16th February 2019 (on-going) - Classics for All Ancient History Resource Creation
On 16th February Dr Paul Grigsby attended a meeting at Classics for All HQ in London, which he had organised alongside WCN teachers across the country. The aim was to create a suite of online Ancient History resources in order to encourage more schools to take up classics. The WCN were integral in the choice of Ancient History as the first target, as Ancient History is an easier subject for new teachers to take on, and compared to Latin or Classical Civilisation is more likely to be introduced by state schools and WP schools. These resources will provide extra ammunition when approaching WP schools and trying to interest them in teaching some classics.
The creation of these resources will go hand in hand with creation of resources for short courses and clubs created with Classics For All for Lawrence Sheriff, Stoke Park, and Barr’s Hill, as well as those resources created for ‘Coventry: A City of Cultures’. Thus WCN are busy creating a whole host of downloadable teaching resources, which will be especially targeted to local WP schools, and through which contact with Warwick can be strengthened and new relationships formed.
End of January 2019 - Helping Solihull Sixth Form
On 8th Jan 2019, Dr Grigsby responded to a request from Karen Greaves, Humanities Curriculum Leader at Solihull Sixth Form to find a temporary replacement for our WCN contact Gaynor Phillips on long term sick leave. By the end of January we were able to have a replacement in place.
28th January 2019 - High Attainers at President Kennedy School, Coventry
In January 2019, Dr Grigsby was approached separately by Layra Meyrick of President Kennedy School for help with her class of High Attainers. On Thursday 28th January Dr Grigsby visited President Kennedy School to meet up with Laura Meyrick to discuss how WCN could help create workshops with her 28 HA students. Dr Grigsby proposed a strong link between these students and his project ‘Coventry: A City of Cultures’ (see below). The students will be involved with the creation of videos, creative writing, workshops, and will help in the creation of a suite of online resources which the WCN hope to roll out as a teaching resource for all WP schools in Coventry and beyond. It is hoped that the Classics Club and the HA involvement with ‘Coventry: A City of Cultures’ will build the relationship between this school and Warwick University.
24-25th January 2019 - Ancient Drama Festival
On 24th and 25th Jan Warwick Classics held their production of Aristophanes’ Frogs, with a public performance on 24th and a schools’ day on 25th. Part of the cost of running this day was provided from the Widening Participation Development Fund awarded to the WCN project.
539 students from 30 schools across the country attended the schools’ day, with another 19 schools on the reserve list. Of these 49 schools, 29 had no previous link with Warwick Classics, but others were regulars, proving the importance of creating ties with schools and building relationships, especially with the local community. Information on Warwick Open Days, study at Warwick, and the WCN was included in the programme.
10th January 2019 - Introducing Classics to Stoke Park School, Coventry
On 10th January 2019, Dr Grigsby visited Stoke Park School in Coventry, who are interested in introducing Classics and Latin across the board, including the introductory Cambridge Latin Course and Minimus as part of their introductory ‘Bridge’ study. Together with Classics for All, WCN are working with teachers of the trust to introduce Classics at KS2 and KS3, developing classics topics to fit into the English, History, and MFL curricula. As part of this link with the Futures Trust, we aim to help get Classics into Barr’s Hill School in Coventry (a good WP target school – see below), whose Head Chris Jupp WCN has already been in conversation with. The meeting at Stoke Park involved Steve Hunt on behalf of Classics for All, Jacqueline Parsons-Moore (MFL) and Natalie Rock (Director of Teaching & Learning and Director of English).
The end result was a plan to introduce a broadly based Classics course for all Year 7 students in September 2019. This will consist of three main strands which would be designed to show how Classics is all around us in the modern world and the value of Latin to help with literacy and cultural understanding. The students will study a Classical play (such as Oedipus, Antigone), some Classical History, and some Latin (Cambridge Latin Course stages 1-4). Students who receive additional support in Year 7 might do Minimus instead of the Cambridge Latin Course. In the following Year Latin may be on offer to Year 8 students as part of the languages provision. It is anticipated that over time this will build towards a GCSE.
There are a number of teachers within Stoke Park who have some Classical knowledge and who are prepared to take this on. Some training to top up will be necessary for CLC (provided free by CfA).
Stoke Park is part of a consortium involving two other secondary schools (President Kennedy and Barrs Hill). it is our intention that this model might be applied to these schools as well. Within the consortium are a number of primary schools. Our further aim is to introduce Minimus in these schools to aid literacy and to draw students into the world of Classics and support the teaching of history. Training for Minimus will also be supplied by Classics for All.
January 2019 - Coventry: A City of Cultures
The WCN have been awarded £2000 for the project 'Coventry: A City of Cultures' from GRP Connecting Cultures, at the University of Warwick. We are especially excited by this project, as it will involve collaboration between the Dept of Classics and Ancient History here at Warwick and academics from the Coventry University, along with the Herbert Museum and Gallery in Coventry, Lunt Fort Roman site, and local Coventry schools. In this project, we will look at the role played by the meeting of cultures in the development of Coventry, creating a teaching resource online for future use, with our events culminating in school events at the Herbert Gallery in July 2019 and visits to Lunt Fort.
The WCN has made good contacts through its role in helping introduce Classics to local schools, and will be involving schools from the Futures Trust in Coventry in this scheme including President Kennedy School and Barr’s Hill.
WCN is planning to use this event and the resources and links created to build up a lasting and growing relationship with some of our local schools, opening up the idea of university study as a viable option to more pupils. WCN will host the resources on its website, and create a space for local pupils to post content. We aim to use these resources as an introduction to especially under-achieving schools in the Coventry area, as a way of increasing our interaction with local WP schools, and of the schools with their local cultural establishments and history.
17th December 2018 - Introducing Classics to President Kennedy School, Coventry
On 17th December with himself, Charlie Andrew (CfA )and Eleanor Pettitt and Charlotte Stentoft to discuss the creation and funding of this club, with Charlie giving overview of her course, Mega Greek.
30th November 2018 - Classics for All meeting London
on 30th November Dr Grigsby attended the Classics for All meeting for regional classics hub leaders. Future plans for introducing classics to state schools were discussed, with an emphasis on the creation of resources for Ancient History teachers and the creation of classics-based modules for introduction at KS2 and KS3.
21st November 2018 - Introducing Classics to Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby
On 21st Nov WCN along with Steve Hunt of Classics for All visited Dr Peter Kent at Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby to discuss introducing some classical material to their curriculum. Dr Peter Kent attended our 2nd July event [Emperors, Coins, Frogs and Oracles] where he was very vocal about the benefits of classics in enriching the curriculum and providing cultural capital - things Ofsted are becoming increasingly keen on. Following this meeting, Steve Hunt and Dr Grigsby will be producing a number of short courses for the Lawrence Sheriff enrichment sessions which will then be made available online for more general use in other local schools.
Our aim is to create a suite of resources which will be posted on our WCN website, and which will be advertised and made available to all out local WP schools, thus creating stronger links with these schools, encouraging dialogue, and leading to further interactions and visits of Warwick academics to these schools, and these schools to events on campus, giving these students an idea of the possibilities of study at university.
November 2018 - #AskAnAcademicLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window Video Resources receive funding from Warwick Public Engagement Fund
The WCN has been awarded £500 from the Warwick Public Engagement Fund to develop its project #AskAnAcademicLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window. This is a video resource in which Warwick Classics academics answer questions sent in by schools relating to the Ancient History and Classical Civilisation GCSE and A-level curricula. In addition, these videos will allow our WCN academics to talk about their latest research and to promote their work to the wider public. A new video will be posted every month once the project is up and running.
19th October 2018 - Introducing Classics Club at President Kennedy School, Coventry
On 19th October 2018 Dr Grigsby met with Eleanor Pettit and Charlotte Stentoft (English Dept.) at President Kennedy School to discuss the creation of an after-school classics club. They were especially keen on the idea of creating resources and learning some Ancient Greek. Another meeting has been orgaised for December.
13th October 2018 - VR Headsets at Solihull Sixth Form
WCN have been busy active in engaging with local schools through the sending out our VR headsets to local schools for use in teaching and open days. On 13th October our Athens VR has been used at Solihull Sixth Form open day (Saturday 13th October 2018). PG visited the school to instruct the Classics teacher Gaynor Phillips in the use of the headsets, and created a user guide. They proved a great success.
September 2018 - Sidney Stringer Academy, Coventry
WCN have been maintaining contact with the Sidney Stringer Academy to ensure the continued teaching of Latin, which has been under pressure of being dropped from the curriculum. At the beginning of September 2018 Dr Grigsby approached Vicki Tomlin to check on the progress of Latin at Sidney Stringer, and found that she was still struggling to maintain the subject given the school’s inability to recruit a new Latin teacher. Dr Grigsby contacted the Vice Principal Gemma Earles, and finding that there was budget for extra teaching hours, used his contacts as Classics for All and the WCN to help find a recruit for this position.
On 2nd July 2018, the Department of Classics and Ancient History hosted the launch event for the Warwick Classics Network (WCN), ‘Emperors, Coins, Frogs and Oracles’.
Organised by Professor Michael Scott (m.c.scott@warwick.ac.uk) and Dr Paul Grigsby (paul.grigsby@warwick.ac.uk), in partnership with Advocating Classics Education (ACE) and the charity Classics for All (CfA), the event was funded with the help of the Warwick Widening Participation Development Fund, and the Warwick Impact Fund (awarded to Prof. Michael Scott). The day was attended by almost 200 schoolchildren from 30 schools across the country and their teachers, alongside staff from some schools interested in developing Classics and Ancient History as part of their curriculum.
The event consisted of lectures for pupils by Warwick academics and separate teacher sessions aimed at creating a community of WCN teachers, including a special session on introducing classics for teachers and SLT of schools not currently teaching the subject.
Through the organization of this event, the WCN made contact with a number of schools interested in introducing classics in the near future in the Coventry/Warwick area, namely: Barr’s Hill (Coventry), Cardinal Newman (Coventry), Finham Park II (Coventry), and Westwood Academy (Coventry), as well as the non-WP Higham Lane (Nuneaton), Lawrence Sheriff School (Coventry), and Studley High School (Studley).
WP schools which attended the event were Aldridge School (Walsall), Sidney Stringer Academy (Coventry) and the Westwood Academy (Coventry). Teachers from each of these schools also attended our teachers’ sessions.
In organising the event, Dr Grigsby directly contacted over 135 Secondary Schools, and created a database of contacts which will be of use in future WCN WP activities. This contact list for Warwickshire has 64 schools, of which 29 are WP schools. Through this initial round of contacts, three WP schools are already moving ahead with the introduction of classics to their curricula – Barr’s Hill, President Kennedy, and Stoke Park.