Boudica in Latin with Year 3 and Year 9
Senior School, Prep, Classics
On 11th November, Armistice Day, we remembered another ancient war – between the Romans and the forces of Boudica in Roman Britain during 61 CE. In a special workshop, Year 3 joined forces with Year 9 to learn about the revolt of Boudica and teach them some useful Latin phrases.
The students were arranged into different Celtic tribes, the Atrebates, Brigantes, Cantici and Durotriges (i.e. A, B, C, D) and after agreeing that Boudica was not such ‘an unnatural woman’ as the Romans are said to have believed, just because she was a female leader, they worked together to discover the story as a whole via a card sorting activity.
After a brief demonstration of the difference between Celtic and Roman fighting styles from Mrs Binney, each Celtic tribe worked together to dramatise a re-telling of four different scenes.
The Year 9s taught the Year 3s to pronounce some very dramatic Latin, such as ‘minime!’ (no!) ‘mihi non placet!’ (I don’t like it) ‘nos sumus Romani!’ (we are Romans!), ‘abite!’ (go away) and ‘eheu!’ (oh no!) and then each tribe practised their sketch before the performances.
Finally, Year 3 treated Year 9 to an impressive and confident performance of the Boudica poem, led by Ms Davies.
The collaboration, kindness, enthusiasm and bravery on show was a truly wonderful sight to behold. At the end of the session, we noted that when Year 3 are in Year 7, Year 9 will be in Year 13, yet no doubt there are already some firm bonds made between the different years that will stand the test of time.
When asked to reflect on the experience, Year 3 reported that really enjoyed working with the older girls and learnt lots too.
In Year 9, the students commented that ‘it was really fun to teach other people Latin and to be the teacher.’ They ‘enjoyed working with people in my year and the younger ones helping them learn the Latin and just having fun’ and they enjoyed ‘teaching the Year 3's how to pronounce the Latin words and performing with them too!’
They said that they were ‘collaborative by making sure everyone was involved and saying at least one line and assigning different roles to different students. We were also kind by making sure that every Year 3 got a high five and a well done after performing.’ They were brave ‘because I don't usually like going up in front of everyone but I enjoyed it this time’ and ‘because I bravely talked to the new Year 3s that I just met, and also by performing on stage and expressing my ideas.’
Congratulations to all the students in both Year 3 and Year 9, who took part with such a fearless sense of enquiry and fun.
Mrs Claire Binney (Head of Classics)
“ The Latin lesson for the Year 3s and 9s was a great success, providing a glimpse into the senior school experience for the younger students. All of them greatly enjoyed it as they were warmly welcomed by everyone and great activities were planned by the teachers. The performance at the end of the lesson brought the Year 9s and Year 3s closer together and went beyond year group boundaries. From my own experience I can say that everyone, without an exception, had fun and the atmosphere was very warm and inclusive. Additionally, the lesson had educational purposes as the Year 3s learned some basic Latin sentences and something about Boudica and Roman/Celtic history. It served as a great start and insight for what might await the Year 3s in the Latin course in the future.”Alethea Hondrila (Year 9 student)
