RHS student wins academic funding for Classics course

We are delighted to announce that Ava, Year 12, has been awarded funding to study at a summer school for Latin as part of the GDST Pearson and Silver Awards.

These awards are offered GDST students to help towards the cost of attending courses or carrying out projects with a classical content. When choosing the award-winners, the committee look at commitment to and excellence in classical subjects.

Ava, who has been studying Latin since year 6 and studies Latin, English Literature and Religious Education at A Level, applied for the course to develop her Latin. The course offers students an experience of Latin outside of the classroom including talks, trips and opportunities to attend lectures from University professors. Ava said, “the main reason I applied to this course is because it provides an incredible opportunity for me to further broaden my knowledge of classics as I cannot do in a classroom”.

Ava, who hopes to study English and Classics at University, is delighted with her win. She said, “It’s really exciting that I’ve been given this funding. I’m really hoping the language classes will give me a solid ability to do unseen translations because if I get a better grasp of that, I’ll be able to better able to analyse the literature and find hidden meanings in it.”

Ava has also recently entered an essay competition with St John’s College, University of Oxford, about Classics and Ancient History. Ava commented, “It was really interesting, it gave me the chance to look at texts that we don’t study at school and look at them independently.” After entering the competition, Ava was invited to a series of talks and tutorials hosted by Oxford professors on subjects such as 'Ancient Religion and Dreams' and 'The Power of Speech in Literature'.

In response to Ava’s award, Claire Binney, Head of Classics, said: “Ava has always been a super student of Latin, showing real enthusiasm ever since Year 7 and fully involving herself in a wide variety of enrichment activities, from the Classical Symposium to the ‘Women of Troy’ Masterclass to the recent St John’s College Oxford essay competition. I am delighted that she has achieved this award which will contribute to the cost of this year’s JACT Latin Summer School in Harrogate, where she can build on her existing knowledge and expertise and discover more about the ancient world during the school holidays.”