This session gives you an overview of Suburani, Books 1 and 2. We look at its aims, some of its characters, and the linguistical map. We look at the locations in which the storyline is set, and the book's approach to myth and history, as well as the topics covered in the civilization sections.

Laila Tims

In 2018 the grading of Latin GCSE was brought into alignment with (and now appears slightly more lenient than) other GCSEs, such as Maths and English. Yet while almost half of Maths and English GCSE candidates are in the Grade 1-4 attainment groups (48% and 46% respectively), fewer than 8% of Latin GCSE candidates are drawn from these groups. At the same time, many Latin departments are reporting lower numbers. If our colleagues in other departments are teaching the full ability range, why can’t we? In this session we’ll look at practical approaches to making Latin accessible to all students, regardless of their attainment levels.

Following the release of The Persians, we’re now working on two new publications for Classical Civilisation. The first is Law and Democracy in Athens, which uses the case studies of Antigone and Soctrates to investigate the Athenians’ attitudes to the relationship between the individual and the state. The second has a working title of (Re)Creating Rome, and will explore how Augustan authors and artists (re)wrote Rome’s history. We are looking for schools to trial and feed back on these resources, so we’ll discuss the resources in the session, and afterwards you’ll have the opportunity to try them out in your school.

The Primary Latin Course is a free, online course which was designed working with UK primary teachers to help schools deliver Latin and Roman civilisation – without the need for any background in Latin. The course provides a gentle introduction to the Latin language for pupils in Years 3 – 6, aiming to establish reading fluency of simple sentences. Language learning is fully integrated into an immersive cultural and archaeological course set in ancient Herculaneum. This session will give an overview of the course with time for questions and discussion on how to use it in the classroom.

Tony from Hands Up Education, the creator of the Suburani software, will lead participants through the digital platform of the course in this session. He will demonstrate the various student resources (including the ActiveBooks, interactive exercises, vocabulary trainer, verb trainer) and the tracking functionality and teacher controls.

Top tips for language teaching up to GCSE! How can we engage as many students as possible, enabling each of them to reach their potential? In this session we'll look at practical ideas for getting the most out of stories, look at opportunities for differentiating resources, share ideas for embedding vocabulary, and explore different approaches to promoting competence with the knowledge, and use, of Latin grammar. We'll show how a range of techniques (from reading to grammar translation, from listening to writing) can have their place in every classroom and be used to address particular areas of weakness.

Coming soon!

Laura Turnage, Senior Learning Manager at the Museum of London, gives an update on the new Roman Shop & House Expanded Moment gallery that will be housed at the new museum, and is aimed at schools and families.

Although the literature paper(s) account for 25 to 50% of the total GCSE, many of us leave the teaching of literary appreciation until the final year of our courses. In this session, we’ll begin by looking briefly at some past papers (OCR and Eduqas) to establish the skills required for GCSE literature. We’ll then explore practical techniques for developing those skills throughout our Latin courses. The session will use stories from Suburani to show how we can develop students’ literary appreciation from the outset, smoothing the transition to literature, but the approaches demonstrated will be relevant to any course.

Coming soon!

Hannah and Laila, authors of the Primary Latin Course, will give an update on Hands Up’s current work to revise and expand the course. Sharing feedback from a newly set-up development group, they will present ideas and proposals for a new second part with six further chapters, and share opportunities for teachers to be involved in shaping its content. There will be time for discussion and feedback throughout the session.

This is your chance to hold in your hands objects that are 2,000 years old. Feel their texture, their weight and their history. Laura Turnage, Secondary Schools Programme Manager at the Museum of London, will challenge you to work out what they are, where they were found, and what links they share. You may wish to return to the Museum with your students for a similar session.

Following the success of Suburani Books 1 and 2 work has begun on Book 3, a transitional reader designed for students moving from Intermediate Latin to authentic Latin literature. We will share a sample chapter of the new textbook and invite feedback on the content and structure. We will also present a plan for other themes of chapters in the book including proposed passages and authors. There will also be a demonstration of the digital support that will be available to aid translation. This session is an opportunity for teachers to share their own ideas and give feedback.

How can we ensure we're helping the individual student address his/her needs, rather than teaching to the whole class? At Hands Up we’re developing software to help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual students. In this session we’ll begin by briefly reviewing the software we already provide to track performance. We’ll then demonstrate the forthcoming software which tracks student competence with various verb forms required for GCSE. With that in mind, we'll investigate approaches to 'filling the gap' for each individual student. Finally, we’ll discuss what next steps you’d like to see us take to help address each student’s needs and abilities.

Latin novellas are fast growing in popularity as a means to encourage students to read fluently. This session will introduce delegates to Latin novellas and talk about the benefits of using them in the classroom to increase students’ confidence and reading proficiency. Delegates will be able to look through copies of Celer and Ludi Suburani, two novellas written for students of Suburani, and will come away with ideas of how to incorporate them into teaching.

This is your chance to hold in your hands objects that are 2,000 years old. Feel their texture, their weight and their history. Laura Turnage, Secondary Schools Programme Manager at the Museum of London, will challenge you to work out what they are, where they were found, and what links they share. You may wish to return to the Museum with your students for a similar session.

Dr Claire Holleran will talk on street traders, bars, gaming and other aspects of everyday life on the streets of Rome. A Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter, her research focuses on Roman social and economic history, and she is the author of A Companion to the City of Rome (Wiley-Blackwell, 2018).