CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND
Saul church, and Inch Abbey (above). Most exciting of all was the visit to Downpatrick Cathedral and the opportunity to see current excavations which are being carried out by Queen’s University archaeologists. On behalf of CANI I would like to thank all the delegates for making the trip to Belfast for the summer school. We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, and hope you did too. We very much look forward to the 2019 summer school in Sligo. Helen McVeigh
November 2018 have been maintained in the Junior Cycle Curriculum. There is scope for teachers to upskill in the Latin and Ancient Greek languages, and also great potential for schools without a classical tradition to offer our subjects in the form of 100-hour Short Courses. We believe that this new course will be instrumental in revitalising the Classics in Ireland. At this year’s Annual Conference in Mullingar, our speaker Dr Arlene HolmesHenderson echoed this sentiment. Dr HolmesHenderson, an international expert in Classics Curriculum Development, delivered two inspiring presentations, both of which highlighted exciting new opportunities and resources for classics teachers. Those of us in the audience who had spent some time working with the NCCA in formulating the Junior Cycle Specification were relieved to hear that our new curriculum exemplifies the best of classics courses internationally and stands out as an ideal humanities subject for young people to engage with in this day and age.
Classical Association of Ireland – Teachers It has been a busy few years at the CAI-T. In addition to hosting our annual student events for 2017/2018, with all the curriculum developments our teachers have also been contributing to the NCCA’s Specification for Junior Cycle in Classics and the NCCA’s review of Leaving Certificate Classical Studies. From our CAI-T Annual Conference and AGM in October 2017 to the EGM at Blackrock Education Centre on 28 April 2018, and most recently the NCCA Public Consultation, CAI-T has very much appreciated all of the ideas, inputs and feedback received in this process. We are pleased that all the hard work of the various stakeholders has been paying off. The CAI-T feels very positively about the Junior Cycle Classics Specification, and in particular welcomes the fact that all three subjects (Ancient Greek, Latin and Classical Studies) 4
Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson is an expert in education and the Classics based at both Oxford University and King’s College London. She is a language education specialist who has conducted research into the cognitive benefits of studying Greek and Latin, and provides teacher training worldwide. Many thanks to the CAI-T committee for an excellent and productive year, in particular Sue Whyte, Delia Donohoe, Bronwyn Ambrose, Tom Giblin, Adam Conry, UCD, and TCD for their instrumental work in putting on our conferences and student events this year. I would of course like to thank the members of our committee, especially Ciara Byrne and Seamus O’Sullivan, for all their hard work in updating our website, classicsteachers.com, and online presence with new Twitter and Facebook accounts. Aryn Penn, CAI-T