THE first batch of state school classicists in Oxford have scored straight As and more have enrolled for its next course.

East Oxford Community Classics Centre has Latin sessions after-school and its first four students – from Cheney School and The Cherwell School – all achieved As at AS-Level.

A national grant of £10,000 has seen the centre expand and it will now offer Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation courses to pupils.

The centre’s director Lorna Robinson said: “I’m delighted. It was really exciting news.

“They all worked really hard throughout the year and it has been brilliant.”

Dr Robinson took half the 4pm-6pm sessions and Julia Thorn, a classics teacher from independent school Tudor Hall in Banbury, taught the other half – both as volunteers.

Tarika Sullivan was one of those successful students.

The 17-year-old from The Cherwell School will continue to complete her Latin A-Level this coming year and wants to study classics at university.

She said: “It’s been really useful for me.

“I did GCSE Latin and Greek at my previous school and I wanted to carry on Latin.

“The centre is run very well and it is all set up for you.

“It is a really good opportunity for people to learn a great subject.”

With the grant money, issued by national charity Classics for All, the centre will aim to grow.

Dr Robinson said: “We are forming a classics hub so children from other state schools can come and sit GCSE and A-Level exams. All the teaching will be done at Cheney School.

“We are picking up more students from more schools and word is spreading that here is somewhere to come and learn.”

September’s AS-Level Latin course has nine students, with those from Cheney, The Cherwell School and Matthew Arnold School signed up.

More are expected to enrol to do AS-Level classical civilisation, for which the centre has just started advertising, and a further four will learn GCSE Ancient Greek at the centre.

The grant has also enabled the centre to run summer schools, offering seven to 14-year-olds introductory language courses and classical-themed activities. Over three days this week, 45 students made the most of the free course.

Dr Robinson said: “We had a real mix of local children from all different schools.

“We even had children coming from as far as Essex and London as well as the community in Oxford that we want to help.”

Some of the city’s independent school teachers helped with the three-day course, which saw a range of stalls with ancient artefacts on display.

Classics teachers from Oxford High School, Headington School, Magdalen College School and St Helen and St Katharine all shared their knowledge with the enthusiastic bunch.