Latin Curriculum
Vision
Even a brief encounter with the ancient world fires the imagination, and sheds light on why we are as we are, with all our strengths and failings.
We teach Latin in order to:
- raise pupils’ aspirations and achievement. Widening access to classical subjects can help to break the link between educational opportunity and disadvantage, giving pupils the confidence to progress to higher education.
- support language skills for pupils of all abilities, encouraging a structured approach to grammar and a strong foundation for literacy and learning modern foreign languages.
- encourage cultural insight and awareness, offering pupils new perspectives on historical and contemporary issues.
By Year Group
Year 8
Textbook: Suburani
Autumn 1
Subura (‘The Subura’)
Language: introduction to reading Latin; 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular verbs
Culture: The Subura district; the population of Rome; life in an insula
Autumn 2
Roma (‘Rome’)
Language: nominative and accusative singular; case, declension and gender
Culture: the city of Rome – geography and growth; public buildings; the Forum
Spring 1
Ludi (‘The Games’)
Language: nominative and accusative plural; 3rd person plural verbs
Culture: Public festivals; chariot-racing and charioteers
Spring 2
Dei (‘The gods’)
Language: neuter nouns; all present tense verb endings
Culture: Religion – Christianity, state religion, sacrifice, private worship
Summer 1
Aqua (‘Water’)
Language: present infinitive; irregular verbs possum, volo and nolo
Culture: Public health – the baths, public toilets, the water supply and sanitation
Summer 2
Servitium (‘Slavery’)
Language: the ablative case; prepositions; expressing time
Culture: how people were enslaved; the life of a slave; seeking freedom and manumission
Year 9
Textbook: Suburani
Autumn 1
Londinium (‘London’)
Language: review present tense verbs; imperfect and perfect tenses
Culture: the Romano-British city of Londinium; the Roman invasion of Britain
Autumn 2
Britannia (‘Britain’)
Language: verb conjugations; perfect tense; superlatives
Culture: the province of Britainnia; resistance to Roman rule
Spring 1
Rebellio (‘Rebellion’)
Language: the dative case; verbs with the dative case
Culture: how Britain was ruled; the Roman army; women and war
Spring 2
Aquae Sulis (‘Bath’)
Language: 1st/2nd decelension adjectives; 3rd declension adjectives
Culture: the city of Bath; religion in Britannia; life in the Roman army
Summer 1
Mare (‘The sea’)
Language: the genitive case; phrasing questions in Latin
Culture: Romans and the sea; navigation and travel
Summer 2
Incendium (‘Fire’)
Language: imperatives; the vocative case; review all KS3 content
Culture: the fire of Rome – causes and consequences; the Domus Aurea
Year 10
OCR Latin to GCSE
Autumn 1
Review
(Chapters 1-3)
Language: Consolidate and deepen knowledge of grammar from Years 8 and 9
Culture: Entertainment 1 – The Amphitheatre
Autumn 2
Aeneas
(Chapter 4)
Language: Review perfect tense and third declension nouns; mixed conjugation verbs; personal pronouns
Culture: Entertainment 2 – The Theatre at Pompeii
Spring 1
The Founding of Rome (Chapter 5)
Language: future tense; adjectives and adverbs; personal pronouns continued
Culture: Entertainment 3 – The Circus Maximus and chariot racing
Spring 2
The Kings of Rome (Chapter 6)
Language: pluperfect tense; the relative pronoun and relative clauses; compound verbs
Culture: Entertainment 4 – Dinner Parties
Summer 1
Heroes of the Republic (Chapter 7)
Language: comparatives and superlatives; passive; present and perfect participles
Culture: Roman Britain 1 – the Roman Army
Summer 2
Rome and the Gauls (Chapter 8)
Language: perfect and pluperfect passive; review all Year 10 content
Culture: review all Year 10 topics; exam practice
Year 11
OCR Latin to GCSE
Autumn 1
Rome under attack
(Chapter 8 continued)
Language: Review Year 10; conditionals; future active participle; ablative absolutes
Culture: Roman Britain 2 – Roman Roads
Autumn 2
Hannibal
(Chapter 9)
Language: Negative commands; deponent verbs; indirect statements; more infinitives
Culture: Roman Britain 3 – Roman Villas
Spring 1
Caesar
(Chapter 10)
Language: Subjunctive verbs and 6 uses of the subjunctive; 4th and 5th declension nouns
Culture: Roman Britain 4 – Roman Bath
Spring 2
The Emperors
(Chapter 11)
Language: consolidation of all knowledge and reteaching of any areas for development
Culture: Literature – students read ‘The Witches of Thessaly’ and ‘Pythius’ in the original Latin
Summer 1
Revision
Language: revision of all content and exam practice
Culture: revise all Sources topics and Literature; exam practice
