LANGUAGES If it’s it’s Harris Academy T he move is part of the school’s bold mission to match the career advantage private sector students get through languages. It has already shown its ambition through the teaching of Mandarin at GCSE and A level. Now the school has added Classics with Latin to its curriculum. The school is hosting a School Direct trainee as part of the wider Harris Initial Teacher Education postgraduate training programme. The trainee, Chrysoula Stavrianoudaki, has been teaching Classics to Year 7 and 8 groups and students who attend Latin this year have the chance to pick it as a language choice and carry on to GCSE level. A lot of them have picked and have demonstrated their enthusiasm to study Latin even at A-level. As a result, 20 students have opted for Latin as an option and the first Latin GCSE class begins next year. In addition, a Classics Club has been formed running after school every Monday. The club’s focus was to help students learn vocabulary by using pictures and by acting out. It helped students prepare for a Latin Spelling Bee which took place at Harris Academy Chafford Hundred. Ms Stavrianoudaki gained a Classics degree in Athens and holds a Psychology Masters from Essex University. “Latin is a very logical language, training exactness of thought, accuracy of expression and attention to detail. It builds the intellectual powers of the mind while at the same time it develops skill in English language,”Ms Stavrianoudaki explained. Rob Hitch, senior Vice-Principal, who is responsible for curriculum design and innovation, described how the new subject fits into the wider school programme, “We wanted to give our students the opportunity to study the Classics in Year 7 and 8 and to access the opportunities independent school students have. “We felt that Classics is uniquely inter-disciplinary, helps students to see where culture, language, history and thought meet in a way traditional subjects do not always grapple with. HARRIS ACADEMY SOUTH NORWOOD Cumberlow Avenue, South Norwood, SE25 6AE t: 020 8405 5070 e: admissionsh@harrissouthnorwood.org.uk w: harrissouthnorwood.org.uk Twitter: @HASN_NEWS HARRIS ACADEMY SOUTH NORWOOD The Classics have come to Harris Academy South Norwood by norman hayden The Latin class at Harris Academy South Norwood | E D U C A T I O N | 34 THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Summer 2018