Classics for All North. The view from Liverpool

Alice Case; Maria Haley

doi:10.1017/S2058631020000549

Classics for All North. The view from Liverpool

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 December 2020

Alice Case and

Maria Haley

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In June 2019 the Classics for All Hubs in the North of England (Blackpool, Liverpool, Durham/North-East England and Manchester/Leeds) met together in Leeds and agreed to combine our forces, rebranding ourselves as Classics for All North. The intention was to create a stronger presence in the North for schools and teachers of classical subjects and to share events and planning. We now have a combined Classics for All North website (https://classicsforallnorth.org.uk/) and social media presence (Twitter handle @ClassicsNorth, Instagram @CfANorth), we produce a combined quarterly newsletter and, where practical, share events and planning. It also means that schools that fall between our hubs or outside our metropolitan centres can feel more included. As we have set up our hubs and got to know teachers, a common difficulty has been raised: a feeling that so much that happens in the Classics world happens in London and the South. We are trying hard to change that. As individual hubs it can be difficult to make an impact. Individual numbers of schools in one area may be too small to run a Teach Meet event, but by combining them and running them across the whole region, we are able to accomplish more and our local schools are noticing more what we have to offer. Of course, our individual hubs are still busy in their own areas, recruiting new schools and training teachers.

Type: Forum
Information: Journal of Classics Teaching , Volume 21 , Issue 42 , Autumn 2020 , pp. 86 - 87

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2058631020000549 [Opens in a new window]
Creative Commons: This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

In June 2019 the Classics for All Hubs in the North of England (Blackpool, Liverpool, Durham/North-East England and Manchester/Leeds) met together in Leeds and agreed to combine our forces, rebranding ourselves as Classics for All North. The intention was to create a stronger presence in the North for schools and teachers of classical subjects and to share events and planning. We now have a combined Classics for All North website (https://classicsforallnorth.org.uk/) and social media presence (Twitter handle @ClassicsNorth, Instagram @CfANorth), we produce a combined quarterly newsletter and, where practical, share events and planning. It also means that schools that fall between our hubs or outside our metropolitan centres can feel more included. As we have set up our hubs and got to know teachers, a common difficulty has been raised: a feeling that so much that happens in the Classics world happens in London and the South. We are trying hard to change that. As individual hubs it can be difficult to make an impact. Individual numbers of schools in one area may be too small to run a Teach Meet event, but by combining them and running them across the whole region, we are able to accomplish more and our local schools are noticing more what we have to offer. Of course, our individual hubs are still busy in their own areas, recruiting new schools and training teachers.

Alongside all this, the Liverpool Hub has been developing an ambitious Independent- State School Partnership in the North West based around Classics. We set up a working party of seven schools, which includes three independent schools and four state schools, covering all sectors, in as wide a geographical area as possible and representing both languages, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History. Key areas of development have been identified and events have been planned. In 2019–20 our partnership has:

• Welcomed state schools to regional HMC independent school Classics days.
• Run a CPD secondary school Teach Meet at Runshaw 6^th form College.
• Organised a series of public Classics talks at different schools in Merseyside.
• Held a Sixth Form student day at Stockport Grammar School.
• Planned for a Northern Oxbridge Classics day (postponed due to Covid but we released a digital, multimedia presentation instead).
• Developed and shared careers resources for Classics students.

A growing success for us in Liverpool has been our teacher training for Classics teachers through the School Direct model, which is run by Liverpool College, an all-through state academy, and accredited by Liverpool Hope University. To date we have trained eight teachers over three years. In 2019–20 we trained four and for 2020–21 we have taken on six new trainees. Liverpool College delivers the subject-specialist content in conjunction with our partner schools. We currently work with three state schools and three independent schools to provide our placements, as well as having our trainees spend time at a local sixth form college. Our trainees speak highly of how personalised their training is, the contrast between their two placement schools, and they welcome the opportunity to train in the North. Our host schools and teachers report that they like the opportunity to develop their own skills in mentoring, and that the experience makes them reflect more deeply on their own teaching practice. Trainees also bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the classroom. Everyone benefits.

In addition, in Merseyside, we are working with 14 primary schools, which are now teaching Latin, and with two new secondary schools teaching Latin and Ancient History. There are two additional secondary schools in the pipeline. We also have 36 state school students learning Classical Greek from Beginners to A level in Saturday morning classes, including a new beginners’ cohort of 14, recruited from local schools during lockdown. This unique programme, run with the University of Liverpool, is in its fourth year and is open to students from across the region. Manchester and Leeds support over 20 schools each, empowering schools to delivers Classics from primary Latin to A-Level Classical Civilisation. Blackpool's hub has been championing Latin in schools with over 50% pupil premium expenditure. Across the northern hubs, we are supporting students to study Classics, regardless of background or ability.

Other highlights from across the North so far this year

• Durham/North East England hub is providing consultancy for three schools who are re-designing their Key stage 3 English curriculum.
• Polam Hall school in Darlington has taken on Minimus as their sole KS2 language.
• The Olympus Challenge (https://classicsforall.org.uk/my-school-wants-classics/special-initiatives) has been a popular way to engage with new schools, with one primary and one secondary school in County Durham registering in 2020.
• Ward Jackson Primary in Hartlepool has made Latin their core Key stage 2 language.
• St Catherine’s school in Bolton has had training for 21 staff in Minimus and are using Latin as their core Key stage 2 language.
• In Manchester our coordinator, Dr Maria Haley, worked with MMU and the CA to deliver a highly successful online Ancient History Teach Meet in July, which attracted teachers from the whole country.
• Leeds held a successful Secondary Teach Meet, and Primary taster event, as well as training new trainers for Maximum Classics.
• Blackpool continues to add to its strong cohort of primary and secondary schools teaching Latin.

Unfortunately, a number of events planned to take place in the North during summer 2020, such as the ARLT Summer School in Lancaster and the JACT Latin Summer School moving from Wells to Harrogate, had to take place virtually but there is always 2021! We have a number of online events planned for the coming year, new resources being developed for schools and the delivery of online training. All being well, we will also have a new and exciting exhibition planned for the World Museum in Liverpool in 2021 to look forward to. The best outcome from our collaboration across the region has undoubtedly been the closer working relationships, with colleagues and teachers and the sense of really making a difference.