Francis Holland School has just finished celebrating its second annual Classics Week, a festival of all things ancient Mediterranean. On Tuesday we were lucky enough to host Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts, a university lecturer and expert on Greek religious practice, who talked to us about the festivals at Brauron (near Athens) where young girls aged 6-10 would “play the bear” to honour Artemis. On Wednesday we were visited by Celeste Foo, an antiquities dealer, who spoke to us about her career and how she is using her classical education in the workplace. Pupils were also able to handle a number of ancient coins and see some beautiful examples of ancient art. Ordinarily such artefacts would be locked behind a glass case at a museum!

On Friday lunchtime the action really kicked off with our playground takeover, featuring (amongst other things) our ever-popular bake sale and toga-wrap challenge, and a new competition named “pin the dagger in Julius Caesar.” We raised funds for the charity Classics for All, which champions (and encourages) the spread of an education in classical languages and culture in state-maintained schools across the country.

Classics Week is our annual reminder of how lucky we are to have a thriving Classics department at FHS. Whether or not your daughter is currently studying Latin, Greek, or Classical Civilisation, we hope that she enjoyed exploring more of what the ancient world can offer this week.

Dr Hayes, Head of Classics