Year 8 & 9 pupils have begun to study Latin as part of an extra curricular after school club. A grant from the Roman Society and the school’s Gifted and Talented Fund has meant the Modern Foreign Languages department can offer the new club which will look at not only the language of Cicero and Julius Caesar but how life was like under the Roman Empire.

The group will be following the Cambridge Latin Course, which teaches the subject through the life of a merchant family in Pompeii, before the catastrophic eruption in 79AD which preserved the town in volcanic ash. It is hoped that if successful the group will go on to study for official qualifications in the language.

Mr Joglekar, curriculum leader for languages, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to learn an ancient language. We hope learning Latin will support their French and Spanish studies as well as boost their English grammar and vocabulary. It will equip them with useful general knowledge for other subjects as well.”