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Recent news...
Houses of Parliament
Early Day Motion
Thursdy, 10th July 2008
LATIN IN THE PARK
Brake, Tom
That this House welcomes the initiative of the Iris Project, Latin in the Park, as an excellent opportunity for people from all backgrounds to learn Latin and about ancient culture free of charge in a friendly and relaxed setting; recognises that the project enables adults and families to explore various aspects of ancient culture, such as women in the ancient world, religion, the history of the Roman Republic and other subjects; further recognises that Latin may be viewed as an elite area of study discouraging wider participation; and draws attention to the fact that this initiative promotes access to the classics amongst all and any local communities.
Click here to read
UCL News
Monday, 15th July 2008
Hackney children perform classics at UCL
Hackney schoolchildren took over the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre last week in a double bill of Greek tragedy and comedy.
Click here to read the article
Daily Telegraph
Saturday, 24th May 2008
A triumph of the ego
Is classics still relevant? An alfresco Latin lesson convinces Christopher Middleton. Click here to read the article
Oxford Times
Tuesday, 29th April 2008
Article on the Latin in the Park project - Learning Latin in the park
Radio 4 PM
Friday, 25th April 2008
The PM programme covered the first Latin in the Park session. You can click here for the link
TES Magazine
Friday, 29th February 2008
Greek heroes and ... Rooney - an article about the Iris Project in Oxford schools. You can read the article here
National Centre for Languages
March 2008
A piece on the Iris Project in London schools. You can read the article here
Oxford Times
Latin in the park class planned
Thursday, 21st February 2008
A mission to get people in the city learning Latin is taking to the parks to spread the message. Read the article here
The Guardian
Monday, 10th December 2007
An audience with Rome - As Latin is introduced to inner-city schools, we can finally stop thinking of it as a 'posh' language. You can read the full article here
Daily Mail
Tuesday, 3rd December 2007
Why inner-city youngsters are learning Latin again. You can find the article here
Evening Standard (London)
Tuesday, 3rd December 2007
Schools pilot helps bring Latin lessons ex umbris.
Latin is making a comeback in a string of state schools serving some of London's toughest areas... You can find the article here
Oxford Times and the Oxford Mail - Latin lovers
Wednesday 3rd October 2007
Article on the iris project in Oxford schools. You can find the article here
BBC London
Latin taught in 20 London state schools
- Tuesday 11th September 2007
An article on the Hackney schools project has been placed on the BBC London website. You can find it here
BBC Radio 4 - PM programme
Tuesday 11th September 2007
PM ran an item on the Hackney schools programme including some of the lesson and the children's comments. You can find the piece here (fast fwd to 47 mins into the programme).
The Guardian
Back to Latin roots
11th September 2007
An article on the iris Hackney project and how it helps children understand the roots of the English language. You can read the article here
Daily Telegraph
Vivat Latin, vox pop for a new age
8th September 2007
The article deals positively with the importance of teaching latin to schoolchildren and the efforts being made to promote this, including the iris project's work with twenty state schools in Hackney. You can read the article here
Living classics visit Cheney school
15th May 2007
On Tuesday 15th May, year sevens at Cheney School took part in a series of workshops run by actors Richard Darbourne and Paul O'Mahony, who together form "Living Classics". Amongst other things, battle scenes at Thermopylae and Marathon were re-enacted by the pupils, famous myths such as Echo and Narcissus were told, and lots of exciting facts about ancient history and language were introduced. For the write-up in the Oxford mail click here
The Guardian cartoon on Hackney Latin
1st May, 2007
Expanding the Hackney Latin programme
25th April 2007
Following the successful introduction of Latin onto the literacy
curriculum at Benthal primary in east London, the iris project is
organising for five more primary schools in the area to start up Latin this September. All will be following the curriculum devised by Lorna for Benthal, which uses a range of activity-based approaches to incorporate Latin into the key stage two literacy curriculum. For more on the Hackney programme and its expansion, see the BBC feature on 25th April here
Boris visits Kilburn school to support Iris project
25th April 2007
Boris Johnson MP will be talking to pupils at St Augustine CE High School in Kilburn on Wednesday 25th April about the value of learning Latin and Greek, as part of his continued support for the iris project, an initiative which promotes access to Classical subjects in UK state schools (www.irismagazine.org).
St Augustine CE High School will be starting a Latin course for the first time for its year seven pupils this term; this has been
organised by the iris project as a pilot course with a view to
long-term incorporation into the school's curriculum.
If you would like to set up a course in any Classical subject at your school, please get in touch with Lorna through the website.
Actors tour Oxforshire schools with classical workshops
27th March 2007
Paul O'Mahony and Richard Darbourne will be visiting Oxfordshire state primary and secondary schools with their interactive Classical workshops. The actors have come up with a series of workshops based around Classical myths and philosophy which they have named "Living Classics", which encourage children to engage with the Classics and explore how they are relevant to the curriculum.
If you would like your school to be involved, please contact Lorna through the website.
BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour debate
16th February 2007
On Friday 16th February 2007, Lorna was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about the project. Also on the show was Matthew Engel, a journalist who recently wrote an article suggesting that Classics had no future in schools. Lorna and Matthew took part in a live debate on the subject, which can be found here
BBC visit to Benthal Primary School
31st January 2007
On Wednesday 31st January 2007, two BBC news teams came to visit Benthal primary school and spend some time in the Latin lessons there. BBC London radio recorded an interview with Lorna and the children learning Latin, which was aired on Thursday 1st February on BBC London radio at 7:45am, followed by an interview with Boris Johnson supporting the project.
Much to the delight of the children, BBC's Newsround made an
appearance too, spending a whole lesson filming and talking to the children, Lorna and the headteacher about Latin. This was shown on BBC Newsround at 5:25pm on Thursday 1st February, as well as throughout the day on the CBBC channel. See here
COMPETITION COMING SOON: win a novel!
iris magazine has been given several books from the exciting new "Spartapuss" fiction series to give away to its readers.
The Spartapuss novels are a unique series of books set in an ancient Rome ruled entirely by cats. The plots are based partly on historical events as recorded by the great classical writers Tacitus and Suetonius. Watch this space for a tricky Classical quiz. If you think you have the answer, get in touch with Lorna at lornarobinson@irismagazine.org, and you may find yourself the proud owner of one of these exciting books!
Sunday Times
Visit Benthal Primary School
17th January 2007
On Wednesday 17th January, 2007, Sian Griffiths, educational correspondent for the Sunday Times newspaper came into Benthal primary school to observe a lesson and interview Lorna and some of the children at Benthal on the Latin project there. Click on the link to read the article which appeared in the Sunday Times on 21st January - see here
Boris Johnson visits Cheney Comprehensive School
8th December 2006
On Friday 8th December, 2006, Boris Johnson came to talk on the value of Classics at Cheney School on behalf of the iris project. In front of a large audience of Cheney and other local school students, Boris spoke with characteristic wit and intelligence on why he felt that Classics was a wonderful and highly important discipline. The pupils and staff were delighted and entertained by his talk, and came away saying that they had really had their eyes opened to the Classics by his talk.
BBC news came to film interviews with Boris, Lorna, and the students, and this was aired at 6:30pm and 10:30pm on Friday evening.
Boris Johnson will be visiting Benthal Primary in Hackney in 2007 to continue his support of the project.
Joint Classics society for students in local Oxfordshire schools
7th November 2006
The iris project has been setting up a joint Classics society for
students in local Oxfordshire schools, where pupils from different schools can meet one another and attend a variety of Classical events. The first meeting of this brand new society is happening on 7th November at Rye St Anthony's School in Oxford, and Dr Matthew Leigh from St Anne's College, Oxford, is speaking on the Aeneid. Details of forthcoming events for the joint society will be posted on the website as they are arranged. Get in touch through the website if you would like to attend.
Research Project at Benthal primary school in Hackney
September 2006
From September 2006, Lorna is being funded by Cambridge University Department of Education to pilot Latin on the key stage two curriculum for a year four and five at Benthal primary school. Benthal primary school has an intake of many bilingual children, and children who have little English. The project will investigate if Latin can enhance key stage two performance in English and aid English acquisition for these children. The findings will be reported at a conference for teachers next year, and the materials developed and trialled will be made available on the Cambridge Latin Project website.
Progress on the project will be regularly posted on the website, and the BBC will be visiting the school and reporting on the initiative later this year.
TES article
Classics for the masses
2nd June 2006
Article outlining the begining of the Iris project. Read here
BBC News
Classics drive for inner cities
2nd June 2006
Why it is important to introduce classics to all children.
Read here
