Impact case study database

Pathway to Impact: LitRW is a major programme of SAAH’s Archaeology and Classics in the Community (ACC) team, led by Scott. ACC aims to demonstrate the relevance and value of archaeology and classical subjects to new and non-traditional audiences, including school pupils and teachers. It helps SAAH research achieve the widest possible public benefit through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches. Our ACC team comprises SAAH staff (including A-E, see above list of team members), students, graduates, and ULAS staff (including F-G, [ E2]). Team members collaborate to design and deliver academically rigorous and appropriately pitched resources and activities. ACC supports multiple school and community engagement initiatives linked to staff research in the UK and worldwide. This case study focuses on one element of ACC’s work (LitRW) that has dramatically increased uptake of classical subjects in state schools in the East Midlands and their engagement with local Roman heritage, while also influencing the practice of other HEIs and heritage organisations [ E7]. The programme has challenged the widespread notion that study of the classical world is irrelevant and elitist (YouGov research in 2017 identified Classics and Latin as subjects perceived to be amongst the least important to study at secondary school).

In 2015, ACC won funding from national charity Classics for All (CfA) [ E1], founded in 2010 to reverse a decline in the teaching of classics and to enrich the lives and raise aspirations and achievements of all young people at state schools through learning about the classical world. CfA funded part-time coordinator Jane Ainsworth (SAAH PhD and experienced teacher) and enabled ACC to develop a locally focused programme, LitRW, introducing Latin in the context of everyday life in the Roman world. ACC provided training and support for teachers with no prior experience, enabling them to run after-school clubs, embed LitRW in the KS2/3 national curriculum (especially English and History) and introduce Latin and GCSE Classical Civilisation for the first time [ E1, E2].

To underpin this, Scott, Morris and Savani (another SAAH PhD) wrote a book [ R7] for teachers, pupils and the wider community synthesising SAAH research and ULAS excavations in Leicester; Ainsworth, in collaboration with A-G and other colleagues, developed accompanying teaching resources [ E8]. ACC is distributing 2,000 free copies of [ R7] to schools across the East Midlands (on hold due to Covid-19); the book is also on sale with profits invested in outreach activities. LitRW resources can be downloaded via CfA’s national hub [ E7, E8]. A website RomanLeicester.com was launched at the CBA Festival of Archaeology 2020 to facilitate wider engagement with SAAH projects on the Roman world and local Roman collections through collaborative events and resources, and to serve as an information and LitRW resource hub for teachers, young people and the wider community [ E7, E8].

Reach: ACC supported provision of equal opportunity for pupils facing multiple disadvantages across the East Midlands [ E2]. Having begun with three schools in 2015, in 2020 ACC is providing LitRW resources [ R7, E8] and research-led support for a network of c.90 East Midlands schools [ E2]. ACC supported after-school club sessions for 807 pupils; designed and delivered LitRW taster sessions to c.1,690 pupils [ E2], and provided training and support for 229 teachers and PGCE students (with 166 on a waiting list) [ E2]. Cumulatively, 6,658 pupils studied the classical world for the first time in taster sessions or dedicated LitRW units within the KS2/3 curriculum for History and/or English in 2015-20 [ E2].

ACC dramatically increased participation and social inclusion in Leicester. In 2014, <2% of Leicester state schools taught classical subjects, far below the national average (25%, compared to 75% independent according to CfA). Between 2015-2019 ACC provided LitRW research-led GCSE Classical Civilisation training and support for 38% of Leicester’s academies, 41% of primary schools within LE1-3 postcodes and 31% of state-funded secondary schools [ E2, E3, E7]. Thirteen schools in Leicester embedded LitRW for Yrs 3-9 (KS2/3) [ R7, E8]. The success of LitRW inspired eleven schools to introduce Latin and three to introduce GCSE Classical Civilisation [ E2]. 24 East Midlands schools are on a waiting list for LitRW training. The value and impact of LitRW is reflected in the GBP54K funding awarded by CfA since 2015. ACC now co-ordinates Leicester and East Midlands Classics Network on behalf of CfA, and LitRW was showcased by them as best practice [ E1, E7].

Significance: The programme resulted in profound changes to educational and pedagogical practices in schools, many in areas of high deprivation and with high proportions of disadvantaged pupils and/or those with English as an Additional Language (EAL) [ E2]. Medway Community Primary School (MCPS) introduced the study of the classical world for all Yr 3-6 pupils from 2019: “I was attracted to this programme because of the innovative and engaging approach which introduces Latin in the context of life in the Roman world with an emphasis on the experiences of ordinary people from diverse backgrounds living under Roman rule... this approach was especially appealing… because we are a school with nearly 100% EAL pupils” (Year 3 teacher, MCPS) [ E5]. Winstanley School incorporated LitRW within KS3 History: “[your] support… has enabled us to shape lessons that give the students the opportunity to really think deeply about the nature/impact of the Roman conquest of Britain. The information about the Hallaton Hoard has been particularly useful as it has made us think about whether we approach the issue of conquest in a way that is too simplistic” (History teacher, Winstanley School) [ E4]. Crucially, these opportunities are available to all in these schools, not just selected groups.

ACC’s collaboration with Lionheart Academies Trust (LAT) comprising six secondaries, four primaries and a sixth-form college in Leicester, has been especially fruitful, achieving national recognition as best practice [ E3, E7]. LitRW support transformed LAT’s delivery of the national curriculum for History and English at KS2/3 and enabled many teachers to tackle new challenges, profoundly impacting job satisfaction and career opportunities: “ Classics has changed my experience of teaching. After 8 years of English teaching, it's been great to learn something new - I prefer it to teaching English now” (English & Classics teacher, Beauchamp College) [ E3, E7]. In 2017-18 ACC supported clubs in three LAT secondary schools. An instant success, they featured very positively in Cedars Academy’s Ofsted report [ E7], and had excellent retention rates [ E2, E3]. Teachers reported an increased appetite for literature, ancient history and archaeology and University collaboration was very popular [ E3, E7]. Inspired by the success of the clubs, LAT introduced a 12-week classics unit to the Yr 7 English curriculum across its secondary schools (1,373 pupils in 2019-20) [ E2, E3].

Access to the classical world proved particularly beneficial for those children often described as reluctant readers – including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN); for example, it “ prompted autistic learners to engage… in a way that more traditional KS3 English lessons have not” (Director of English, LAT) [ E3]. Teachers described improved levels of pupil enthusiasm and engagement and improved vocabulary and grammar [ E3]. In 2019 LAT introduced a 12-week history module ‘Roman Leicester’ for Yr 7 pupils (1,373) across six secondary schools, using LitRW [ R7, E8]: “ LitRW offers schools the opportunity to be demographically and geographically relevant…our children are fascinated to learn that Roman Leicester was as multicultural as millennial Leicester is” (Director of English, LAT) [ E3].

ACC’s training and resources inspired teachers to develop teaching materials based on SAAH research and local archaeological heritage, e.g. imaginative lesson plans encouraging pupils to engage with descriptions of local excavation and discovery, and to respond creatively to these [ E3]. LAT introduced Latin to all primaries, is now offering GCSE Classical Civilisation, and appointed a Head of Classics in 2019. A Classics Ambassador (a LAT English and Classics teacher), funded by CfA since 2019, works with ACC to support East Midlands schools introducing classical subjects for the first time [ E1, E3].

In 2019, ACC supported LAT’s successful bid to open a new inner-city free school in Leicester. Opening in 2022, its curriculum will incorporate classical subjects for all pupils from Yr 7. ACC is providing training and support for teachers as it prepares to open in an area of high deprivation: “ our bid was bold and unusual (we were told) in that [it] was so firmly academic. There were six other bids but it was the message that classical subjects act as a means for social justice (which was also grounded in our proven success at our schools as a result of our work with the University of Leicester and CfA) that meant ours was the successful offer” (Head of English, LAT). [ E3]

Training students and future teachers : Since 2015, 113 UoL students from diverse backgrounds have helped to design and deliver the programme, with 15 taking supervisory roles [ E2, E7]. This accredited volunteering and internship programme was recognised as best practice nationally, with Scott awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2017. ACC developed a partnership with UoL School of Education, and LitRW training was incorporated within the PGCE curriculum from 2018/19 [ E2, E6]. ACC provided LitRW teacher training as part of Historic England’s Heritage Schools Programme, which they identified as best practice [ E7]. Through collaboration with independent schools ACC established a network of experienced classics teachers to mentor those with no prior experience.

Facilitating school and community engagement with local heritage: ACC collaborated with local arts and heritage organisations, including Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (LAHS); Heritage Schools (Historic England); the Leicester Creative Business Depot (LCBD) and the Friends of Jewry Wall Museum to co-deliver events, activities and resources linked to Leicester’s Roman heritage (reaching c. 3,279) [ E2, E7], such as Roman Leicester Days and Roman Leicester in Minecraft events at LCBD for the 2019 and 2020 CBA Festivals of Archaeology (listed as a 2020 Festival top ten event) funded by a LAHS grant [ E7].

LitRW has promoted and facilitated school and community engagement with the Jewry Wall Museum collection and Roman baths site during an extended closure for renovation. The value and impact of LitRW is reflected in the commissioning of Scott and Morris to write Jewry Wall site guides (for adults and young people) using [ R7] as a template (funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) published April 2021). The GBP11.7M refurbished Museum will tell stories of everyday Roman Leicester through the city’s unique Roman collections, much enhanced by ULAS projects. This collaboration is ensuring that SAAH research and ULAS discoveries underpin future Roman heritage presentation in Leicester, and that this is engaging, relevant and accessible to diverse communities and particularly the city’s culturally plural population.

ACC is on a trajectory of expanding reach regionally [ E2]. The flagship for this effort is collaboration with Chester House Estate (CHE), a GBP12.7M project funded by NLHF and Northants County Council in an area identified as a ‘social mobility cold spot’ in the 2016 Social Mobility Index published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. CHE will serve as a hub for ACC’s work in Northamptonshire and bordering counties. SAAH research and LitRW informed the development and delivery of a pilot school and community education programme (NLHF and ESRC funded) at CHE in 2019 [ E7]. This focused on collaborative excavation on the site of a Roman small town [ E2, E7] and led to a formal partnership. A major CHE Oct. 2020 launch event (funded by CfA) had to be deferred due to Covid.

Promotion of best practice: ACC’s achievements were showcased by CfA [ E2, E7] and LitRW inspired Warwick University’s Classics Network to develop a schools programme based on the archaeology of Roman Coventry and Lunt Fort, to be launched as part of the Coventry City of Culture celebrations 2021 [ E7]. The impact of LitRW resulted in collaboration with the British School at Athens to make their resources accessible for teachers new to the classical world [ E7]. A pilot programme designed with Tufts University (USA), to run from January 2021, embeds digital language tools and material in the Perseus Digital Library within LitRW [ E7]. ACC’s developing collaborations and reflexive research will ensure that SAAH scholarship on the classical world is relevant, accessible and transformative for new, multicultural audiences regionally, nationally and, increasingly, internationally.