Senior Senior School Site Search Old Girls St Catherine's Association Senior School Prep School Admissions Book your visit Search Engines Library School Calendars Location Contact Us St Catherine's main home page
Latin
OCR 100% Written examination
Language (30%) Length of examination: 1 hour 15 minutes
Verse Literature (30%) Length of examination: 1 hour 15 minutes
Prose Literature (20%) Length of examination: 45 minutes
Roman Life Topics (20%) Length of examination: 45 minutes

Latin is a rewarding, well-regarded and varied GCSE, encompassing language, Literature and civilisation. It is a very impressive qualification to have under your belt because of all the useful skills it teaches you. In addition to its cultural merits, the study of Latin encourages logical and precise thinking, a valuable asset in an increasingly technological and competitive workplace. Students of Latin GCSE find the subject enjoyable and stimulating and, in past years, have gained commendable grades in the public examination.

Unlike other GCSE subjects, there is no compulsory coursework element. At St Catherine’s we work towards a final examination consisting of four written papers: Language (30%), Verse Literature (30%), Prose Literature (20%) and Roman Life Topics (20%).

In both years of the GCSE course we use the Cambridge Latin Course, but we work at an increased speed. By the time students sit their examination, they will have completed Unit IVA. Most of the grammatical constructions are covered in the first four terms of the course, leaving time in the last term for revision and examination practice. The Language paper consists of two passages with comprehension questions and one unseen translation passage.

The Prose Literature module is studied at the end of the Lower Fifth and we start the poetry in the Upper Fifth. The prose text for 2007 is the Death of Pliny the Elder, who was killed by the eruption of Mount Vesuivius, painstakingly recording data about the phenomenon - a dedicated scholar if ever there was one! For the Verse Literature paper we read a wide selection of short poems by Roman poets including Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Catullus. The joy of reading Latin Literature is that you are coming face to face with texts that are over 2000 years old but still resonate with meaning today.

We study the Roman Life Topics in both years of the course. We will prepare you for two topics: Roman Britain and Daily Life. This area of the course will appeal to students who have enjoyed the background element of the Cambridge Latin Course in their studies of Latin so far. To complement students’ understanding of the civilisation of the Ancient World, the Department runs a trip abroad every two years either to Greece or to Italy. The next trip is likely to be to Italy.