Classics

Year 9 visit to Fishbourne and Portchester – September 2010

Hadrian’s Wall 2010

Year 8 have just returned from their residential week at Hadrian’s Wall – we had a great week, with excellent weather except for one day. Proof of this was the fact that we played rounders and football on the two available evenings, something we were unable to do last year because of damp weather. Visits to Vindolanda and Housesteads gave girls an excellent glimpse into places the Romans created, and they wrote some tremendous poems and stories form several different perspectives – sensory poems up at Walltown Crags, the wall from the point of view of an inanimate object, life as one of the ‘Brittunculi’ (wretched little Brits). Geography at Steel Rigg had all their non-geography teachers on their mettle, and Miss Stewart’s Maths Challenge found several winners (even if the teachers found it very hard!). It was a brilliant week.

Visit to Greece, October 2009

Thirty-one girls set off for Athens straight after Open Evening under the watchful eye of Mrs Bennett, Miss Beslika and Mrs Hook. We were going to visit the ‘golden greats’ of Classical Greece: Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, Epidauros and Corinth. Our hotels were great, especially the one in Tolon near Nauplion: the food was top class, a genuine Greek menu with endless second helpings!

While in Athens we walked a lot and used the Metro too, examining the little ‘in station’ museums at Akropoli and Syntagma in transit. As well as the Acropolis and Agora we visited the Pnyx and the Kerameikos, we found the Trieres at its mooring and we drove out to Sounion. The classic national Archaeological Museum is still unbeaten for the sheer glory of its collection – Mycenaean gold, Cycladic statues – but the brand new Akropolis Museum is a wonder of translucent glass, juxtaposing the actual Parthenon visually with the sculptured remains (except of course those in the British Museum).

In Delphi alas more than half the upper site was closed because of rock falls (more expected) but the improvised oracular consultations were intriguing and the lower site had its own amusement, with races run in the stadium and songs sung around an ancient olive tree.

On to Olympia, with a guide to help us appreciate the complex and large site. Lunch overlooking the vast original Olympic Stadium – and more races – ended an excellent visit.

The long drive across Greece to Tolon showed us why Greece is termed the most mountainous country in Europe after Switzerland: perilous road-side drops and switch-back turns took us up and down mountains through the centre of Greece. Our first evening in Tolon was lovely – at last, three days to relax, with sea and sight-seeing – and also, as it turned out, sunshine (after day one).

At Mycenae it rained but even that could not spoil it. The bravest climbed down the hundred-plus steps to the ancient water cisterns, and we started to get the feel of ancient Mycenaean citadel life. On that day we also visited Tiryns, a smaller citadel with extraordinarily fat walls containing tiny rooms and corridors. The most out of the way visit we made was to the Sanctuary of Hera at Argos – the Heraion. It is enormous and empty of other tourists, giving a chance to feel the atmosphere and clamber about uninterrupted. In Argos itself we paid a short visit to the museum to see the geometric pot with Odysseus and the Cyclops on its neck.

Epidauros, with its wide fanned theatre, took everyone’s breath away. We arrived early enough for several girls to try out the acoustics with poetry or song, and those on the top row could hear beautifully. In Nauplion we did some classy shopping (Tolon had a few shops, all much the same) and drove up to the top of the Palamedi Fortress for the view.

On the final morning we visited the Roman city of Corinth. There were computer terminals around the site for guiding but they were so well disguised that we did not find them until the end. Our Guide Books, however, took us safely round with detailed help at every turn. With time to spare before going to the airport, our coach driver suggested we drive up to Akrocorinth. This was extremely exciting and dizzy in its height. We all walked up a little from the coach park, then some elected to stop and lunch and sunbathe. About half continued the climb up. And achieved the top of the rocky site at the near end from where the view rewarded them. That was probably the most exciting and unpredictably enjoyable day, despite being the last day of the visit.

Discoveries of the visit:

-Every OHS girl has a soppy side where baby animals are concerned: tortoises (Athens Kerameikos), kittens (Delphi), and puppies (Corinth).

-Whatever they say, food matters a lot!

Hadrian’s Wall 2009

The week went very well and the devised activities have never worked better. The Classics Department’s beautifully designed work-book guided the girls through the week, giving information and guidance for every subject activity and keeping the girls secure in knowing what came next. The girls were also busy with independent observation, sketching and writing.

Many subjects were covered over the week:

English: there were three tasks: sensory poems up on Walltown Crags on the first afternoon, thinking about the meaning of walls and separation, then writing AS the wall, up by Steel Rigg (Tuesday), and finally Hadrian’s Wall Blues up at Housesteads Fort on Thursday, where they wrote in role as a poor wretched Brit from back then. The girls enjoyed the activities and were seriously inspired. Several teachers even wrote poems from the three perspectives at the three different sites! The girls loved the opportunities and my group certainly enjoyed listening to each others’ writing and commenting on it.

Geography: Miss Gandell’s physical geography exercise about the formation of the Whin Sill was terrific – very demanding, so that the girls had to think hard and observe closely.

Classics / History: Mrs Bowden’s booklet was the foundation-stone for this. The underlying subject matter for the English creative writing was Roman, so the girls absorbed in and breathed out Roman history much of the time without thinking about it! We started with the accessible Roman Army Museum, where they show an excellent video with reconstructions and much aerial photography. On day two girls spent half a day at Vindolanda, with its fabulous museum and all the info about the writing tablets (now the centre piece in the British Museum’s Roman Room). Much sketching was done here. Finally they researched Housesteads Fort, exploring every excavated building on the site, including the best-preserved Roman latrines in Europe… The poetry writing as one of the ‘Britunculi’ (wretched little Brits) was based in the knowledge they had acquired from exploring the Fort and environs.

Maths: Mr Nicholl’s Maths Challenge was brilliant both in its conception mathematically and in the way it made the girls communicate when split up within their groups, sharing information and solutions in order to get points for the whole group. Teachers and sixth formers were only allowed to say ‘yes’ and ’no’ to possible solutions – no helping, since many were unable to! Even the scoring system worked this time and there was a clear winner.

Science: the emphasis was on biology– natural history in general – and geology. Mrs Stone had organised a round walk on Lindisfarne, with comments to be made about the island’s structure. It is part of the SAME Whin Sill as at Walltown Crags and the whole Wall. (This was news to us). Then we went on to the boat trip to the Farne Islands, looking at seals and birds on the way. We put in on Inner Farne, where the girls saw terns, guillemots, cormorants, shags and puffins at close quarters (some too close – terns were very aggressive). The girls loved the boat trip.

Art: the girls sketched constantly – wild life at Walltown Crags (orchids, yellow flags), and on the Farne Islands (birds and cliffs); archaeological finds at Vindolanda (brooches, weapons, shoes), and buildings and views at Housesteads.

PE: the sixth form, ably led by Livvy Elder, organised Rounders for the Year 8s twice (Monday evening after supper, Tuesday evening after supper), with some less formal football afterwards for sixth form and staff (a few!). Swimming on Tuesday was excellent – it had been a very hot day and all but three Year 8s swam. On the final morning all but seven girls walked from Steel Rigg to Housesteads along the Wall path – about four miles.

We were really proud of the girls and felt that the trip has been educationally extremely worthwhile.

Classical Reading Competition

This March, as in most years, the Classics Department took more than 40 girls to compete in the Oxford Classical Reading Competition, in which students from a variety of Oxfordshire schools recite Latin and Greek to a board of judges from the University. We enjoyed a stroll through North Oxford to St Giles’ church where many of our girls performed their passages while we waited for the event to start. Finally we made our way to the very impressive Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies to meet up with the other schools. There were fantastic recitations from many students including our girls which ensured an enjoyable event. We were very pleased with the number of our girls who gained prizes!

Year 8 Trip to Corinium – March 2009

This was our second attempt of this trip this term – the first was prevented by the snow – and this time we were very lucky with the weather. Beautiful sunshine!

The girls had much fun sketching the mosaics and artefacts and dressing up as Romans in preparation for their project on Roman Life.

We were even able to translate some real tombstone inscriptions!

 

Visit to South Italy, October 2008

Forty-five girls have just returned from Pompeii, spending seven whole days exploring the area around Napoli. The weather was beautiful and the sites as wonderful as ever; the only regrets were the endless (mad) traffic and the hotel food, which was adequate rather than inspired.

You can find highlights in the pictures below:

• The Villa Oplontis with extraordinary perspective paintings;
• Herculaneum, seventy foot down and full of houses with mosaics and carbonised furniture;
• the Museo Nazionale, full of the art works from Pompeii and Herculaneum;

  

• the vast amphitheatre at Capua, the sub-terranean parts a ready made adventure playground;
• the church of Sant’Angelo in Formis with the 12th century frescoes by the painters of Monte Cassino;
• Il Vesuvio, smoking gently in the afternoon light (and quite a long climb up..);

 

• Capri – a magic day spent in the sun, climbing up to Tiberius’ villa and paddling on the beach with an octopus;
• Pompeii itself – five hours spent exploring the town in groups, finding mosaics and good-luck signs and their favourite water features, and gazing at the plaster casts;

 

• the Greek city of Velia – rather a long way but a great tower to climb, and Paestum – a wonderful vista of temples and the marvellous painted tombs.
• Finally, Cumae and the cave of the Sibyl, followed by the Piscina Mirabilis (this is celebrated in the opening of Robert Harris’s novel ‘Pompeii’ as the first place the eruption was noticed).

Next year – Greece!

Oxbridge Open Day – May 2008

This year the event was held in Cambridge – which was lucky for us, as the whole of Oxfordshire was covered with a big cloud and East Anglia was due to be beautifully sunny and hot! We took four of our potential Classicists to visit the city and had a fantastic day exploring the colleges, listening to lectures, lunching in Magdalene, visiting the Cast Gallery and talking to current students and Directors of Studies. The four came back thoroughly inspired…and comforted by the fact that Classicists really did seem to be quite normal people!