Classics

Dean Close has a vibrant and academically high-achieving Classics Department. It is our proud vaunt that the national decline in these subjects has been reversed at Dean Close through sound teaching and a commitment to making the ancient world accessible via theatre performances, museum visits, a programme of lectures given by eminent Classicists and the biennial Classics trip.

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Summer 2018 Blog

Thursday April 26th 2018 Classical Association We were delighted to welcome Professor Alison Sharrock of Manchester University to DCS to talk about the Roman love elegist, Ovid. Ovid’s Amores is an A level set text and the scholars gained a great deal of insight into Ovid’s humorous subversion of the genre of love poetry as...

Wilson Challenge

The 2018 Wilson Challenge, the school’s premier Classics competition, was held at the end of the Lent Term. The pupils wereasked to select a classical myth and to deliver a PowerPoint presentation in which they investigated the ways in whichthe mythhad been interpreted by artists of the modern era. The standard of the competition was...

Why Bother with Latin and Greek?

Latin is a dead language – requiescat in pace. Why bother with Greek? What relevance do the languages of Cicero and Socrates have for the modern world? By Juppiter*, has no one heard of the video, the telephone, the computer or the television, the apparatus of modern life? And yet we are constantly told, ad...

History of Art Trip to National Gallery

A very early start in the morning meant that the History of Art scholars arrived at the National Gallery with plenty of time ahead of them in which to enjoythe nation’spremier art collection. From devotional paintings of the 12th century, the brilliance of the Old Masters through to Monet, Van Goughand Rousseau, this was nothing...

The myth of Cupid and Psyche

Dean Close Classics Department welcomed Dr Clemence Schultze, formerly of Durham University as she addressed an audience of classicists and pupils of History of Art. Dr Schultze investigated the myth of Cupid and Psyche, made famous by Apuleius in his Metamorphoses, the sole surviving novel from antiquity. She looked at the ways in which the...

Classics Symposium

The Classics Department entertained members of Year 11 studying Latin and Greek with a tasty Greek meal on top table followed by a series of presentations on various aspects of the Classical world, including an excursioninto the Underworld andan exploration ofOvid’s tale of Apollo and Daphne and its interpretation by later artists such as Bernini...

Greek Tragedy Expert talks to Sixth Form

Sixth Form Classical Civilisation pupils were very pleased to welcome Professor Richard Rutherford of Christ Church, Oxford. Professor.Professor Richard Rutherford of Christ Church, Oxford, a renowned expert on Greek Tragedy, delivered a fascinating talk on the style and language of Greek Tragedy. He focused on Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus and demonstrated how Sophocles’ distorted use of...

Cheltenham Literature Festival

After a year’s hiatus, it was good to see the return of How to Read a Latin Poem, a series of lectures now in its fifth year, delivered by Professor Mary Beard of Newnham College, Cambridge and Dr Llewelyn Morgan of Brasenose College, Oxford. Virgil’s ninth Eclogue was chosen for analysis, a foray into the...

Classical Association

The first Classical Association meeting of the academic year saw Dr Peter Stewart of Wolfson College, Oxford deliver an excellent talk on the Augustan monuments of Rome. Before moving to Oxford in 2011, Dr Stewart was Reader in Classical Art and its Heritage at the Courtauld Institute. Dr Stewart’s interests lie mainly in the field...

Art, Culture and Food

Dr Katharina Lorenz Pompeii, Art and Culture Dr Katharina Lorenz of the University of Nottingham delivered an excellent talk on the history of the excavations at Pompeii. She focused on the most significant areas and buildings of the town (the forum, the theatre) and discussed the importance of the wall paintings for which Pompeii is...

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Pre-Preparatory _(2-7)

Dean Close Pre-Preparatory School, fondly known as the ‘Squirrels’, is set in the beautiful grounds of Dean Close School, in a modern, purpose-built building. We have excellent facilities and resources and also benefit from being able to share in the outstanding Preparatory and Senior School facilities on site. We understand that a child’s first experience of school is a vital step in their learning journey, developing the knowledge, skills and self-confidence which lay the foundations for their lives.

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Preparatory School _(7-13)

Dean Close Preparatory School is a co-educational day and boarding school for children age 7 – 13. The school is set in 50 acres of private land near the centre of Cheltenham. With 310 pupils, the Preparatory School is small enough to allow everyone to know one another and get fully involved in the life of the School.

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Senior _(13-18)

Set in 50 beautiful acres, Dean Close is a long-standing co-educational day and boarding school for 13-18 year olds, where visitors regularly comment on the atmosphere, saying how warm and friendly they find it.

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