INTRODUCTION

How to use these guidelines

The recommendations made in these guidelines are made in the context of the current variation in coverage afforded to Latin in S1 and S2. In recent years approaches to teaching Latin, in common with other subjects, have been extensively reviewed. There is growing recognition that Latin has much to contribute to the curriculum of all pupils, but practice varies throughout the country: in some schools Latin is not offered in S1 or S2, while in others Latin is offered to all or some pupils in S1 and S2. There is no clear pattern of time allowed: where Latin is offered, the time allocation can vary between 4 x 40 minute periods per week and 1 x 50 minute period per week.

In the light of this lack of uniformity, particularly with regard to the length and frequency of contact with the language, the guidelines offer advice about levels of attainment in Latin which will be both worthwhile and attainable by pupils, no matter what the total length of teaching time may be. The advice is based on existing good practice in the design and planning of policies and programmes for the learning and teaching of Latin in Scottish secondary schools.

The guidelines will help headteachers and subject teachers in Classics to undertake a systematic review of the provision made in each school or department and to adjust and develop programmes of work along the lines suggested. This process should help to ensure that all pupils experience a coherent, continuous and challenging programme of work, regardless of age, aptitude or physical or social circumstances.

The starting point for such a review will be the school's or department's own policy documents, which will have been developed over a number of years, taking into account local circumstances, priorities and resources, and Education Authority guidelines and advice. These should now be reviewed in the light of the rationale (Section 1), which sets out the approach to learning and teaching in Latin developed in the rest of the guidelines. While the rationale is unlikely to represent a radical departure from existing practice, there may be a difference in emphasis or particular areas of provision which will need special attention or development, in order to achieve the kind of breadth and balance suggested.

Any review and adjustment of policy will mean that programmes or plans of work will also have to be carefully reviewed. To help with this process, Section 2 of the guidelines sets out the main features of the structure outlined in the rationale as a number of broad attainment outcomes. Within each outcome is listed a number of strands or aspects of learning which pupils will experience; the strands have attached to them attainment targets at three levels of attainment, elementary, intermediate and Level E. This is a departure from the five levels, A-E, of other 5-14 guidelines, to take account of the fact that Latin is generally introduced in secondary schools and most pupils will therefore work through the levels over a period of only two years at most, with arrangements and patterns of study differing from one school to another. Level E is taken to be what most pupils should be able to achieve by the end of their second year of Latin.

The attainment targets represent a progression in learning within the strands, each target demanding more complex or sophisticated knowledge, understanding or skills than the previous one. A careful audit of existing programmes against this framework will help to ensure that all the important aspects of Latin are covered; that programmes from one stage to the next represent a reasonable progression for pupils; and that work is properly differentiated so that all pupils are presented with work which is both appropriate to their abilities and sufficiently challenging.

This process of adaptation and development will be informed by the programmes of study. These tables show some of the ways in which the kinds of learning outlined in the strands and attainment targets can be approached in the classroom, and will help teachers to plan and organise their teaching. Again, much of what is already offered will probably continue to be suitable; but the suggestions in this section will inform extensions and amendments to current practice.

Each school or department is slightly different and caters for different groups of pupils. The advice given in Section 3, Catering for the Needs of Individual Pupils, will help teachers to adapt their programmes to the needs of each individual pupil and particular groups of pupils. Advice is given here about learning and teaching for pupils with learning difficulties and for pupils who need challenges beyond those offered at Level E, which is the most advanced level of attainment described in this document.

The national guidelines Assessment 5-14 explain how assessment should be developed as an integral part of classroom learning and teaching, and will be the main source of advice and support to schools about how to develop their own assessment policies to complement the 5-14 curriculum guidelines. Section 4 of these guidelines offers some pointers relevant to the assessment and recording of Latin in the curriculum. Together with the separate guidelines on assessment, this section will help schools and departments to review and develop existing assessment policies and build assessment procedures into classroom programmes, so that they genuinely support learning and inform next steps for individual pupils.

Section 5 of the guidelines addresses several specific issues relating to the content and scope of Latin in the curriculum, issues about which teachers often express uncertainty. The advice and ideas in this section should help to answer teachers' questions and to increase confidence in addressing these issues as an integral part of classroom learning and teaching.

These guidelines for Latin offer advice about matters as they relate specifically to this part of the curriculum. Some of these issues, and other important matters, such as equal opportunities, which should be considered in developing whole-school policies in a cross-curricular context, will be developed and discussed in later materials.