Training day change of venue

The Training Day on Saturday June 6th is now in Bristol NOT Dulwich. Please get in touch urgently if you would like to attend.

Former Students

This has been an interesting week. Always lovely to hear from former students. 

1. James emailed me- would I visit his school to talk to the yr 9s who will be making subject choices for GCSE. Would I speak about the importance of Latin? 

Well of course I will! 

2. Elly- studying English  and Latin in London, sent me her dissertation on translations of Catullus.This is set aside as a treat for holiday reading. 

Always so gratifying  when former students are carrying on the vital task of promoting Latin. 

Elly said " And it all started with Minimus! "

The latest Minimus Highlights

Minimus and a PGCE Course

At a time when we have such a national shortage of Classics teachers it has been especially pleasing to work with students who are intending to teach. I recently reported the exciting development at Bristol University where my former colleague Helen Aberdeen (MFL tutor) and her colleague Lorna Smith (English tutor) had invited me to deliver Minimus training to their students in the summer term. After my initial very enjoyable meeting with these students on 18th December we awaited numbers with eager anticipation. I had hoped that we would get a small group of 10, which seemed to me viable. This is, after all, an optional module for students who are extremely busy, both with written work and teaching placements. Imagine our joy when a total of 50 students signed up to follow the Minimus course - 18 English student teachers and 32 MFL teachers.  We were especially delighted when the University of Bristol agreed to split the class and create 2 smaller classes so that I am running 2 parallel sessions each week. 

Thus I can target the training separately towards English and Modern Foreign Languages Groups.

I sent an initial questionnaire to all these students and have been thrilled by their  responses. They are so enthusiastic. Some quite naturally wish to add Latin to their list of languages that they can offer when they apply for jobs; others gave up Latin too early at school and are delighted to have the chance to re-visit it; others are fascinated by history and are looking forward to finding out about the Minimus family and Vindolanda; others have a passion for etymology and can’t wait to make the links between Latin and English, and so it goes on. One especially lovely quote from a student, who was asked why she had signed up for this module, said:

 “I have a Latin-shaped gap in my life. “
This is proving to be a really stimulating experience for me as the MFL students are sharing links between Latin and many languages and the students come from all over the world.  I am so grateful to Helen and Lorna for having the vision to set up this module. Moreover other Universities have already expressed interest in the Bristol PGCE scheme, so who knows what might happen next year? The mouse continues to scuttle!

Barbara Bell and Helen Forte at the Vindolanda Trust Museum May 2015

150,000 copies of Minimus sold worldwide!!!

Last weekend (May 1st - May 4th 2015) the Primary Latin Project Committee celebrated the amazing news that 150,000 copies of Minimus have been sold worldwide since Minimus' inception. We were very lucky to hold one of our semi-annual committee meetings at the Vindolanda Trust  Hedley Building Conference Centre. After the meeting we then had the chance to look round the marvellous Vindolanda Trust museum and site. Both Vindolanda and its sister museum, The Roman Army Museum, have been fabulously renovated in recent years and are well worth the visit. 

The PLP committee enjoyed visiting Hadrian's Wall once again to see where the Minimus story started...with the real family in the Vindolanda Writing Tablets. We all look forward to celebrating 200,000 copies sold - hopefully in the not too distant future!

No need to be a Classicist to teach this book!

Thoughts of a Teaching Assistant in a Norfolk school, who was persuaded to take on the teaching of Minimus:

Initially, when I was asked to consider teaching Latin I was pretty apprehensive. I am not a natural linguist and had no previous experience with the language; It was the beginning of my first job in a school environment, and the first time I would be responsible for children's learning in such a way. However, as a teaching assistant pursuing a teaching career it was a brilliant opportunity to develop my skills in Latin along side the children, as well as to develop my skills as both a teaching assistant and teacher.  The Minimus resources have been extremely useful taking a lot of the pressure out of planning and lesson ideas. Even when I chose to go beyond the resources and ideas in the teacher's book, they provided a solid cross curricular base point, full of relevant information. I've really enjoyed my time teaching Latin so far, and fully intend to take it on as my language of choice later on in my career, as a primary school teacher. The children enjoy it, and are constantly asking me when our next session will be and what we will be doing. Contradictory to the beliefs of some, Latin is, in my opinion, entirely relevant to children today. It brings history to life and provides them with an insight and understanding of their spoken language that they will not necessarily achieve through more commonly popular languages such as Spanish or French.

 

Training Days

There are two Training Days on the calendar at the moment. The first is on Saturday 8th November, 2014, at

James Allen’s Girls’ School, Dulwich, London. Then there's one in Bristol on Saturday 7th February, 2015, at the Red Maids School. Both are full day courses with lunch included, and both cost £60.

Both Training Days are suitable for teachers, TA's and volunteers. The course will include an overview of the content and principles of the book plus information on how the Primary Latin Project can support you in your teaching. We will explore how to teach Minimus in a club situation as well as on the timetable. These days are especially targeted at those new to Minimus teaching but everyone is welcome.

Download the application form for the Dulwich day here, and the Bristol day here. 

Minimus teachers needed in York and Camden!

Cundall Manor Prep School, near York, is looking for a part time Latin teacher for next year, after the present one retires. It might suit a Minimus volunteer in the York, Harrogate and Thirsk area. Pupils have been studying Minimus in years 3 and 4 before progressing to the Cambridge Latin course. Jill Heyes, who used to teach there herself, tells us that it is a wonderful school with a real sense of family, and a very happy staff room.

If you are interested, please contact Barbara, who will be able to forward your details.

The Cavendish Prep School for girls in Camden is looking for someone to run a weekly Latin club. The prep school is in Camden (Inverness Street) a 5 minute walk from Camden tube station. The current teacher is retiring, she used to run the Latin club every Monday in term time. It was well liked and the school would like to run it again. This would be starting in September 2014. It is for years 5 and 6, from 3.40 to 4.30 every Monday.The school normally pays those who run clubs by charging the parents.

If you are interested please contact Jeannine Addinall direct: derbanne@hotmail.co.uk 

Newsletter and new book!

In case anyone missed it, newsletter 52 is available here. In it, you will find new of our latest exciting venture, Minimus In Practice, a resource book for teachers featuring all-new ideas, worksheets and illustrations. Read more about it, or order a copy, from this link.