The launch of our website (accessclassics.ie) last Wednesday brought a spring to our step during a dreary January! Our webinar event, hosted by the Head of the School of Classics, Dr Martin Brady, comprised the Access Classics team (Ms Tasneem Filaih, Dr Bridget Martin and Dr Christopher Farrell) giving an overview of the programme and invited panellists from schools which have participated in the programme from its infancy describing what Access Classics has brought to their schools and students.

Firstly, Dr Martin Brady introduced co-director of the programme Dr Bridget Martin, who discussed the aims and methodology of Access Classics. Dr Martin also discussed her Transition Year Unit, which she referred to as Access Classics’ “Trojan Horse” as it has the potential to introduce Classics to secondary schools throughout Ireland which currently cannot or do not offer Classics as a subject, as well as offering additional resources to those schools which do currently offer Classics and/or the Classical languages. Co-director Dr Christopher Farrell then spoke about current resources for the Junior and Senior Cycle Classics offerings (featured on our website!) and future resources to come down the line.

Mr Danny Delany, who is a Classics teacher in St Fintan’s High School, Sutton, discussed his class’ school trip to the UCD campus, hosted by Access Classics. The students were given a tour of the campus by UCD students and a tour of the Classical Museum by Dr Christopher Farrell and Dr Bridget Martin. He explained that the students were delighted to examine artefacts in person, bringing to life what they had previously seen only in pictures in school books! The excitement of this trip and a school visit by the Access team, Mr Delany said, generated conservation about and awareness of Classics as a subject in his school and is encouraging uptake of the subject. Mr Delaney also discussed an online session hosted by Dr Farrell during the pandemic, which his students enjoyed immensely!

Dr Louise Maguire, head of Latin in Blackrock College, also discussed her and her students’ experience as one of the pilot schools for the Access Classics programme. During her presentation, Dr Maguire described her students’ joy at being able to handle artefacts from the ancient world during an object handling session and showed some very interesting examples of the Transition Year Unit resources being used in the classroom, particularly those related to language! Dr Maguire also highlighted the benefit of having a ready source of information for pupils to ask about the pursuit of Classics at third level, and she explained the value of the sense of community which the programme can bring to teachers and students alike.

The website launch ended with a quick reflection on what would be coming soon to the website, how schools could engage and interact with Access Classic, and the current and upcoming social media tools generated and overseen by Ms Tasneem Filaih, co-founder and team member of Access Classics. Dr Brady ended the webinar by thanking all attendees for joining and the panellists for presenting. He also offered special congratulations to the Access Classics team on their recent (December 2020) UCD Values In Action award!

Access Classics would like to thank once again Dr Louise Maguire and Mr Danny Delaney for sharing their and their students’ experiences of Access Classics and everyone who gave up an hour of their very limited time to join us for the launch! Make sure to keep an eye on our website for new resources and to keep up to date with our news, and get in contact if you have any questions, requests or suggestions!

The Access Classics team – Tasneem Filaih, Dr Christopher Farrell and Dr Bridget Martin – were delighted to win a UCD Values in Action (VIA) award in December 2020. These awards recognise individuals and teams in UCD who bring to life the University’s values of collegiality, creativity, diversity, engagement, excellence and integrity. Congratulations to all of the great teams and individuals who won a VIA award (see here for more information), and thank you to Dr Martin Brady for nominating us!

In 2020, Access Classics was delighted to become the first international partner of Advocating Classics Education (ACE), a UK-based initiative for the promotion of Classical Studies in education. ACE does fantastic work in promoting and facilitating the uptake of Classics in educational institutes in order to introduce as many students as possible to the joys and benefits of learning about ancient Greece and Rome. We look forward to exciting cross-country collaborations in the future! You can find out more about ACE here.

As schools visits are not possible at the minute owing to COVID-19, Access Classics has moved online. We would be very happy to discuss the possibility of conducting an online session with your students. You will find our contact details under the ‘About Us’ tab.

Access Classics was delighted to launch their Classical Studies Transition Year Unit in September 2020. This Unit has been approved by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and is freely available to all second-level schools and institutes. The Unit takes a somewhat less-familiar approach to Classics, examining aspects of ancient Cyprus, people and the world around us (such as travel and the natural world), knowledge and advancements in the ancient world, and the echo of the past in the present.

The Unit strongly encourages students to ‘walk in the shoes’ of those in the ancient world and to examine the modern world and their place therein in light of this.

The Unit comprises a manual for teachers and an accompanying PowerPoint (these, and more information, are available under the Transition Year Unit tab). The extensive information and resources therein means that the Unit can be easily taught by non-experts.