The Classical world in all its aspects - language, literature, art and architecture of Greece and Rome, all set against the social and historical background - is available for study here at JAGS.

All girls study Latin for a minimum of 2 years, most for 3 years through Years 7 - 9. We follow the popular Cambridge Latin Course and make use of the interactive material on the CLC website. All three subjects - Latin, Classical Greek and Classical Civilisation - are offered to study to GCSE and at AS/A2 levels in the sixth form, and every year a number of girls choose to take their study of Classics further at university.

Those who study Latin or Greek are encouraged to appreciate the sound of the language as well as simply reading it, through speaking aloud. Pupils take part in the annual inter-school competition for speaking ancient languages, and we have had many successes and commendations. At all levels we aim to give pupils a feeling for the ancient world, including museum and site visits when possible. We have regular visits to the Museum of London, British Museum and Bath, and have had successful visits abroad to Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Athens and Delphi. 

Three Year 8 girls, Rhapsody Wells, Madeleine Capstick and Isabella Woods, and their understudies Elissa Day, Grace Rogers, and Isabella Morris, worked extremely hard to prepare for the London Latin Reading competition at City of London Boys’ School on 9 March. The passage they had to read was a scene based on Virgil’s story of Dido and Aeneas and they threw themselves into it with great enthusiasm, revealing great acting skills as they conveyed the emotion of the scene, as well as perfecting their pronunciation. Their performance at the event was superb, despite not gaining a mention in the honours list. They can feel very proud of themselves and are to be commended for their dedication and hard work.

Sarah Thornton was our competitor in the Open section (for years 12 & 13). Her reading was one of Horace’s Odes, in a tricky and unfamiliar metre but Sarah was undaunted and set about it with her usual conscientious approach. Her performance at the competition was superb, justly winning first place in the section.

Well done to all the girls who worked so hard and gave of their very best on the day. They were a credit to JAGS and we are very proud of them.