Sapientia et doctrina — Fife pupils learning the age-old benefits of Latin
Kirkcaldy High School pupils have decided the best way to ''carpe diem'' is to learn Latin.
Third year pupil Rebecca Wilson brushes up on her Latin with a copy of Harrius Potter.
- By Aileen Robertson
- Published in the Courier : 31.01.12
- Published online : 31.01.12 @ 03.38pm
Last year nearly one in 10 students taking the Higher Latin exam across Scotland was a pupil of the Fife school. Uptake of the ancient language at Kirkcaldy High is understood to be higher than at some Edinburgh private schools.
An enthusiastic teacher and an appreciation among pupils that Latin can help with their other studies is keeping the subject alive.
Teacher Jennifer Shearer said: ''Latin is not dead — it's immortal. If you learn Latin you are in a win-win situation. Whatever you might be studying at school or beyond school, Latin will be useful for you. It's never the wrong choice.''
Head teacher Derek Allan said Latin is an important subject because of its role in taxonomy — the classification of living organisms — and knowledge of the Roman numerical system is also useful.
''The staff have a passion for their subjects and it's great for the uptake,'' he said. ''Last year we had 32 kids who did Standard Grade Latin in fourth year and, of the 20 who did Higher, all of them passed. Some of our pupils have gone on to study classics.''
Pupils in Ms Shearer's Latin class gave the subject the thumbs-up. In particular they said it had helped them get to grips with English and science.
Amy Mearns said Latin had helped her writing skills and by learning about the origin of words she has been able to expand her vocabulary.
''I used to struggle with writing stories, but Latin has helped,'' she said.
James Farmer said studying Latin and the classics had not only been beneficial to his exam results but also to his wider learning.
''I play the bagpipes and I found out the Romans invented the bagpipes — that inspired me even more. The history you learn is really interesting.''
Ben Ramsay said: ''It's really fun and interesting. You learn a lot about where words in English come from and most words in English actually come from Latin. The Romans invented a lot of what we have today.''
06.08pm - 31.01.2012 Jm - glenrothes, scotland Report This
Perhaps the head teacher would be best to remember that the latinised names used in taxonomy are often just created and are not really meaningful before he trots this out as a reason to do latin. Caveat magistrum perhaps?
08.46am - 01.02.2012 Catherine Luke - Zurich, Switzerland Report This
I really wish I had been allowed to take Latin at Montrose Academy, but it was an extra-curricular subject and my maths were not good enough to permit extra subjects. This really hurt as I went on to study linguistics and struggled! Latin should be a core subject as it influences so many others.
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