School proud of its Latin lovers
from Norwich Evening News

Dozens of youngsters at a Norfolk school are proving the Christmas message has a universal appeal, no matter what language it is spoken - or sung in.

Pupils at Brundall School have gone back to basics this term by studying Latin so they can sing festive favourite O' Come All Ye Faithful in the traditional tongue.

The 50 eight-year-olds at the Braydeston Avenue school have had the chance of learning the 'dead' language as part of an outreach programme delivered by the Latin department of the Norwich School.

They have been learning the original Latin the popular Christmas carol, which is called Adeste Fideles, to help boost their language learning.

Rick Stuart-Sheppard, headmaster at Brundall School, said: “I have been delighted with the response from the children.

“During lunch last week I asked a child how their day way going and he smiled, gave me a thumbs up and said 'Optimus'.

“We have really benefited from working with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff from Norwich School.”

The students have been taught using a comic-strip based Latin course especially devised for children and which is set in Roman Britain.

Alex Boyt, who teaches in the Latin department at the Norwich School, said: “Our head of department, Simon Kettley, was a governor at the Brundall School and he offered the headmaster the chance of the Year 3s learning Latin as part of the Minimus programme which is a popular way to learn.

“This is based on the textbook by Barbara Bell which has been successful nationwide. It helps with linguistics generally and we use two puppets, Minimus the mouse and Vibrissa the cat to help the learning process and to make it fun.

“For this age group singing is a good way to learn and they have already managed to sing Old Macdonald Had a Farm and the Brundall School Victory song.

“With the festive season approaching we thought it would be a good idea for them to try their skills with the traditional carol, Adeste Fideles.”