Classics For All Ages | Wykeham Journal

And the Treasury is a tourist destination in its own right, prominently mentioned (as open to the public) in Tripadvisor’s entry for the school, which itself is third in the list of ‘Top Ten Things to do in Winchester’. The Treasury has 12,000 visitors a year, also providing educational sessions for more than 1,000 pupils from 21 local schools and five universities.

Teacher talking to female student — A student from u3a and VIth Book 1

Vase-handling opportunities are just a part of the push to take Classics outside the school. Much of that has been driven by Edmund Lewis, supported and encouraged by Tim Hands, the Headmaster who retired in 2023.

Lewis wants to meet demand for Latin, Greek and Ancient History wherever he can find people — of whatever age — keen to try these subjects. The key is discerning the areas in which Winchester can offer support of value. ‘For me it’s about the survival of the subject and an opportunity for the pupils,’ he said. ‘And not just survival: it’s about spreading Classics. I want Classics to be studied by more than a small elite in elite schools. Greek in particular. So we have the Winchester Greek Club for people from state schools in and around Winchester.’ There are currently 40 participants in the Club’s two year groups, with 15 in the second year aiming for Greek GCSE in summer 2024. Given that only around 1,000 candidates take Greek GCSE in any year in Britain, the Winchester Greek Club accounts for more than 1% of entries.

Man holding Greek Vase — Handling an Athenian black-figure skyphos (wine cup) of 525-500 BC by the Painter of Philadelphia

I was at Oxford for four years and had taught Classics for ten. Before I came to Winchester, I had never handled a Greek vase.

8,300

pupil visits from primary schools

An enthusiast like Lewis is needed for promoting Classics: anyone else might be discouraged by developments. Measured by exam-takers, Classics — or at least the classical languages — are in decline. That may be partly thanks to the current dominance of Maths and Science, though the shift back from four to three A-levels being the standard has also hurt numbers (Latin is often the subject which gets dropped). But looked at from another angle, the picture is different: more Classics is being taught in primary and secondary state schools than in many years. That is in large part thanks to the charity Classics for All, which claims to have worked with 1200 schools over the last 12 years.

Winchester’s own Classics outreach campaign has many elements and reaches a wide range of ages. Here is a brief catalogue of what’s going on and being developed.

To start with the youngest, there’s a Community Service project called Primary School Classics started by a Furleyite in VI^th Book who took his inspiration from an organisation called Kids Do Classics. Winchester pupils visit a local primary school every Thursday to run a club which alternates Latin one week with Greek myths the other.

12,020

visitors to the Treasury (2022: 8,468)

Secondary school pupils studying Latin come for a series of visits and revision days in years 9, 10 and 11 (roughly ages 13-16). They meet Greek vases, Greek and Roman coins, rare editions of classical authors (from the Fellows’ Library), and go on a treasure hunt of the Latin inscriptions scattered around the school. Those who enjoy these visits the most join the Greek Club in year 11, coming after school for an hour a week. 18 club members took the Intermediate Certificate in Classical Greek (about half a GCSE) last summer and 15 passed. A teenager whose imagination is fired by the club can apply for a Wykeham Award bursary, available to state school applicants; two girls from the Club joined VI^th Book this summer.

The Classics Department also works with would-be teachers of Classics. Two of the four universities at which they can study for a Classics PGCE (King’s College, London and Sussex) visit the school every year for a day of hands-on sessions with objects from the collections and observing lessons. They are bound to see noticeboards dedicated to the Classics Society, the spoken Latin society (Circulus Latinus) and the pupil-run Latin newspaper Fontes.

Perhaps most innovatively, Winchester sixth formers have been teaching Latin to members of the local branch of the u3a (University of the Third Age). A retired member of that group approached Lewis to ask if he could recommend a Latin teacher or teach them himself. Instead he offered them one-to-one tutoring by school pupils, including two of the first intake of girls: Classics in the Community was born. Both parties benefit. ‘For the pupils teaching, it not only embeds their Latin but develops their interpersonal skills.’ The group uses the school’s in-house Latin textbook, The Winchester Latin Course. Three members of the u3a group will sit Latin GCSE in summer 2024.

Teacher talking to student — Working with a student in VIth Book 2 and a student from the u3a

These proliferating activities require commitment from everyone. ‘We wouldn’t be able to run any of these things with secondary schools if they didn’t have dedicated teachers ready to make the effort to bring groups over,’ Lewis says. ‘We work to support the excellent teachers they have. You are after all trying to persuade people to give up time, often their free time, to come. But we hope we can show that their pupils might enjoy what they see and hear. We have a stupendous collection by historical accident and are lucky to have a lively Classics department. We try to approach this from a position of humility.’

Lewis makes clear that while Winchester has a clear duty to help pupils outside the school, what he and his colleagues do is not mere obligation. ‘It’s a good thing for all the individuals. It’s great when somebody wants to do your subject. It’s also very good fun. The Greek Club is one of the highlights of my week.’

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