Classics gives one not just a sound knowledge of writing and a firm basis for how sentences work... it gives you a whole insight into the interconnecting areas of the mind, politics, history, literature, language, indeed the whole human condition?
(Susan Greenfield, Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Fullerian Professor of Physiology, Oxford University)

The Classics Department aims to imbue in pupils a sense of the inherent interest of the Roman and Greek world, and its great cultural and linguistic influence over succeeding eras. The Department believes passionately that all students can gain both an understanding of the fascination of  Latin and Greek literature and background, but also a sense of the help this knowledge can provide for so many other academic disciplines.

What we do...
The classroom experience is supplemented by a dynamic array of visits and activities. Activity days range from a visit to Roman Bath for Year 9 students to a discussion day in Oxford University for senior students. Leading academics often visit the school; this year the Department held a Symposium, featuring two guest speakers and a celebratory Greek banquet for 60 students.  The Sixth Form girls themselves run a lively Classic Club and a newsletter for younger students.  Large foreign trips are frequent: Greece (2006) and Sicily (2007) will be followed by around 60 girls visiting mainland Italy in 2008.