Latin

The Latin department has seen significant growth in recent years and is now a very strong subject at Kingsdale Foundation School with pupils studying it at all Key Stages. The department is proud to be one of the highest achieving departments in the school, with over 60% of students achieving grades 7-9 since the introduction of the new GCSEs in 2018, and 50% of students achieving a grade 9 in 2024.

The Latin department uses the Cambridge Latin Course for Years 7-11. Lessons are fun and encourage pupils to learn new vocabulary and grammar through songs and games. Homework is particularly important if what has been practised in class is to be remembered over a longer period of time. Homework is set every lesson and typically consists of either a vocabulary/grammar learning exercise or a translation/comprehension task. A vocabulary list is available for each year group to help with homework and we recommend that pupils also use websites such as www.cambridgescp.com, and www.quizlet.com to support their learning at home.

From the start of Year 7 pupils follow the Cambridge Latin Course where we meet Caecilius and his family and learn about life in Pompeii in AD79 through a variety of Latin texts. By the end of Key Stage 3, pupils will be able to recognise and translate three tenses and three cases.

At Key Stage 4, pupils continue to follow the Cambridge Latin Course and in addition to being introduced to more complex language, Latin prose and poetry, they also learn about aspects of Roman civilisation and daily life.  An annual trip to Rome is currently being run, supporting pupils in learning the civilisation content of their GCSE course. 

At A Level students follow the OCR course, studying both language and the prescribed prose and verse literature set texts.

For further information, please contact Mr Bowring, Head of Latin via languages@kingsdale.southwark.sch.uk