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I am very excited indeed to become Chairman of Classics for All and steward it through its next phase of growth.
As someone with a business background, I relish the challenge of a well-run organisation that is also stretched to meet demand.
As a philanthropist I appreciate that people who wish to give to a charity need to feel assured that their gift will bring positive results.
I am determined to make a positive impact on both counts.
The thing that excites me about Classics for All is how much it has achieved for so little monetary input, and what potential it has as a young and flexible organisation to reach many more beneficiaries and make an enormous impact.
I joined the Board of Trustees in June 2015 and took the opportunity to hear directly from scores of teachers about the difference a Classics for All grant has made to them and their pupils. The consistent message that frontline teachers convey is about increased aspirations - pupils who would never have considered advancing into higher education now have the self-confidence to pursue this as a direct result of the horizons opening to them from learning about classics.
This often comes as a result of improved language skills, primarily in English. But it has an impact across the curriculum including maths and the sciences, remarkably.
The teachers themselves are hugely enthused and have made the point time and time again how their own horizons and aspirations are lifted by adding new subjects such as Latin, ancient history or classical civilisation to their professional portfolio and repertoire.
Now is an outstanding opportunity for anyone who wishes to support the improvement of educational opportunities to get on board as a Classics for All donor.
We would like you to consider a donation today. But we are much more concerned to have you as a supporter for the long term.
Introducing and embedding Classics into a school requires planning and time to roll out. Equally our charity requires a steady pace of growth. We can't grow like Topsy and will struggle to meet our goals if we do. We want to increase our grants to schools to meet demand, and the best way to ensure this is to know we have a substantial number of donation pledges for this year, next year, and the three years following.
This kind of investment in our organisation by donors will ensure that more schools can apply to Classics for All next year and for years to come.
I hope you will make a commitment to Classics for All. We have donor categories from £100 pa to £100k pa. Building on what we already have in place, in the coming year we are looking for 1,000 donors to give £100 each year, 100 donors to give £1,000 per year, and a few to give even more substantial commitments. I’d like to get to the point where the first £200k that we give in grants has come from your pledges and direct debits since I became Chairman. Rest assured that I will be committing very substantial sums from my own and my family's resources but I would like to think we can match that commitment from new supporters or existing friends who are seeing the impact CfA is having.
I look forward to reporting progress on this in future issues. Most of all, I hope you will not hesitate to contact me directly to get to know more about this amazing, hard-working and socially relevant organisation.
Don't forget...if you see or hear of a need for Classics in your local school, then you can be the ambassador and enabler to change lives on your own doorstep! Do get in touch.
Geoffrey de Jager
Chairman
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Most of the schools that apply for Classics for All funding are new to classics, so in 2015 we commissioned Steve Hunt, a university lecturer in Classics Education at Cambridge and classics teacher, to write a guide on how to get started.
We know that teachers need advice on courses, resources and training as well as tips on how to make the argument for Classics in the face of competition from other subjects in a crowded curriculum. Our Guide to setting up classics provides useful material to answer those questions.
It is available as a downloadable PDF on our website, with separate sections for primary and secondary schools. Funding for this Guide to setting up classics was provided by the London Schools Excellence Fund through our Capital Classics London-wide school project.
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Classics for All has recently started to accept applications throughout the year and there is no sign that interest in the fund is abating. Since our announcement of the last round of 19 grants in June, we have awarded an additional £62k to 24 projects to support Classics development, bringing the total awarded this year so far to around £137k. This means that we are now supporting work in close to 500 schools across the UK.
We continue to work hard on developing Classics networks in areas where CFA has limited presence and are delighted to be working in partnership with Birmingham and Bristol universities to set up new hubs to foster regional enthusiasm for Classics. A grant awarded for research into the state of Classics in Bristol schools has resulted in a comprehensive report on current Classics activity in the region. Bristol University will use this act as a springboard for stimulating and developing future provision and the report has already aroused considerable interest from primary and secondary schools keen to give Classics a go. In light of the value of this exercise, we have funded a similar report in Birmingham and are keen to consider similar grants in other areas where research may help to launch Classics.
Our programme Capital Classics, funded generously by the London Schools Excellence (and Legacy) Fund, supports the development of Classics in the capital. Now in its third year, the initiative benefits over 70 schools in London. This summer we have run an intensive Latin course for 25 teachers from 12 primary and secondary schools across the capital to improve their subject knowledge. We are also collaborating with the Harris Academy to train Classics teachers from scratch to meet growing demand from schools in the capital.
Demand for Continuing Professional Development in Latin in primary schools is growing as schools begin to recognise the benefits of teaching Latin to support literacy at Key Stage 2 as part of the Modern Foreign Languages Curriculum. There are a number of attractive Latin courses accessible to younger pupils including the Primary Latin Project’s Minimus, which offers a cartoon-based approach to language learning popular with pupils and teachers. We have recently started to work in partnership with the Primary Latin Project establishing a group of trainers across England and Wales to meet regional need and receive regular requests to support the introduction of Latin, some of which are featured in the grants list. We have also supported the development of a new primary course which blends the learning of Latin with study of the Ancient World to be piloted in three north London schools.
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Events
Friends of Classics Memorial Lecture
On Thursday 10 November Dr Peter Jones will give the first of what will be an annual Friends of Classics Memorial Lecture. His talk, 'From angina to rheumatism: Ancient medical terminology and practice', will explore the language and practice of ancient medicine, with many eye-opening and sometimes eye-watering examples. The lectures put on by Friends of Classics were classed as seminars rather than monologues. The atmosphere was relaxed, and interruptions, objections and questions were welcome throughout, indeed encouraged. Bonus points were added for stumping the speaker. The Memorial Lectures will carry on in this spirit.
The venue is Francis Holland School Regent’s Park, Ivor Place, London NW1 6XR. The talk will begin at 6.30pm, followed by a wine and canapé reception. Tickets are £16 and may be purchased through Eventbrite, or by cheque (please post with covering note to Classics for All, 51 Achilles Road, London NW6 1DZ). As with all of our events, additional donations or event sponsorship offers are welcome.
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Annual Grants Round - open for applications
Classics for All launches its annual grants round as of 15 September 2016 with a deadline for submission in mid-January 2017. Anyone interested in a grant is invited to submit a preliminary email to Classics for All (grants@classicsforall.org.uk) outlining their interest, which will be followed by a brief conversation with an adviser. If you are invited to submit a full application, you will find the application form on our website.
Launch of CfA’s online journal Ad familiares
Editor James Morwood (Wadham College, Oxford) writes:
On September the 30th we are launching an online journal which will publish articles of current classical interest. We are following in the footsteps of the Friends of Classics, now absorbed into Classics for All, who, under the brilliant editorship of Peter Jones, produced 50 editions of their journal Ad familiares, the title under which Cicero’s letters to his friends are assembled.
While keeping the name, our journal will be somewhat different. Rather than producing two editions each year, we shall publish one article a month. Opening the batting will be Laurel Fulkerson on Ovid, a chapter from Paul Chrystal’s new book, In Bed with the Ancient Greeks (we are at present agonizing over how many of his illustrations we dare include!), and Stephen Anderson on W.H.D. Rouse, the celebrated exponent of the ‘direct method’ of Latin teaching, i.e. with all the lessons conducted completely in Latin.
As a kind of trailer, click here for a jolly piece about Homeric epithets by Alistair Elliot, the poet and verse translator who lives in Newcastle. Amon his other publications, he wrote a famous translation of Medea for Diana Rigg.
The Ad Familiares online journal will be accessible from 30 September through the Reading Room on www.classicsforall.org.uk. It will be available to Classics for All supporters who donate £100 or more per annum; a registration code will be provided before 1 October for access to the online articles.
RSS Feed for www.classicsforall.org.uk
 For those who use RSS feeds, these have now been enabled on our website for Grants, Case Studies and Book Reviews.
Donor recognition errata
The following names were erroneously omitted from the previous issue listing names within donor categories:
Centurions: The Hardingham Trust
Praetorians: Henry King, Matthew Lindsey-Clarke
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It is important to all of us at Classics for All to inform you about where your money is going.
We have dedicated a good portion of this newsletter to describe the grants awarded by Classics for All in the second tranche for 2016. These 24 grants tell the story about what schools need to get Latin and other classical subjects going in their schools – it may be £180 for a specific teacher training day, or £15,000 over several years to establish a regional classics network reaching dozens of schools and thousands of pupils. Each of the grants is monitored by our grants team, Hilary and James. All of the schools join a growing list mapped out on our website’s Grants Directory. With each year’s cohort of grantees we can identify classics ‘hot-spots’ and use it to develop our schools outreach and regional classics hubs. Our case study in this issue, Guide to setting up classics, features the type of practical support we provide to schools in addition to the grants.
Your gifts make all of this possible. As Geoffrey has outlined in the Chairman’s letter, Classics for All seeks to build a foundation of regular donors to ensure we can continue to sustain our grant programme as it grows each year. In addition to our appeal for pledges and direct debit donations, we have also joined forces with Remember a Charity to promote legacy giving. This consortium works with member charities and partners in the legal sector, government and private sector, to encourage more people to consider leaving a charitable gift in their will, once they’ve looked after their family and friends. Curious? To find out more, please send me an email or give me a ring.
Jules Mann, Executive Director
Telephone (mobile): 07809 256839
E-mail: jules@classicsforall.org.uk
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We would love to see your name on next year’s donor list - it makes such a difference when we can count on your donation year after year, so consider a direct debit or pledge for annual giving. Whatever your level of support, it is very welcome. It’s easy to make a secure donation online or post a cheque to Classics for All, 51 Achilles Road, London NW6 1DZ.
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About us
Trustees
Geoffrey de Jager, Chairman; Christopher A Clarke, Hon Treasurer; Jeannie Cohen, Company Secretary; Nicholas Barber CBE; Carolyn Foreman; Professor Thomas Harrison; Deborah Hughes; Sarah Jackson OBE; Professor David Langslow
Adviser Dr Peter Jones
Executive Director Jules Mann
Grants Team Hilary Hodgson, Grants Adviser; James Murray
Patrons
Professor Mary Beard OBE; Lord Butler of Brockwell; Professor Paul Cartledge; Colin Dexter OBE; Lord Dyson; Professor Pat Easterling; Michael Fallon MP; Lord Faulkner of Worcester; Tony Harrison; Natalie Haynes; Charlotte Higgins; Ian Hislop; Tom Holland; Bettany Hughes; Boris Johnson; Martha Kearney; Joanna Lumley OBE FRGS; Stuart Lyons CBE; Professor Christopher Pelling; Lord Stevenson of Coddenham CBE; Sir Tom Stoppard CBE
Development Committee
Geoffrey de Jager (Chairman); Dr Armand d’Angour; Nicholas Barber CBE; Professor Paul Cartledge; Christopher A Clarke; Matthew Craston; Noel de Keyzer; Sarah Jackson OBE; Sir Francis Jacobs KCMG QC; Matthew Lindsey-Clarke; Justin Rushbrooke QC; Karen Segal
Lawyers Group Steering Committee
Rt Hon Sir Rupert Jackson; Sir Francis Jacobs KCMG QC (Chairman); Dr Frederick Mostert; Harriet Moynihan; Jonathan Rushworth; Sir David Wootton
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Classics for All is a Registered Charity (Number 1135379) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (Number 7182949)
Registered in England and Wales
Contact General: Telephone: 07809 256839
Email: contact@classicsforall.org.uk
With thanks to TRUE212 for our website and newsletter design.
www.classicsforall.org.uk
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