The new CF School, set to open in September next year, will have an unusual compulsory subject on its curriculum – Latin.
Every child in the new high school, which will cater to Years 7 to 11, will learn the ancient language as a core part of the timetable.
The school’s founder, Nicola Sowerby, told the Compass that children at Clever Fish – the forerunner of CF School – have already been learning Latin over the last two years.
“We are the only school on island where children study Latin up to GCSE level,” Sowerby said.
When Clever Fish’s principal Stephanie Rasmussen joined the school, she asked if she could teach Latin to the students, as she had been previously been a Latin teacher, Sowerby explained.
“Research has shown that children who study Latin perform much higher in English and modern foreign languages. Our children who are learning it are doing extremely well in other languages and English,” she said.
She added that there is also indications that students with qualifications in Latin have better chances of getting into a top tier university.
Many words in modern European languages, including English, Spanish, French and Italian have their roots in Latin.
Students at the new school also study Spanish through Year 9, when it becomes an additional, optional, subject for GCSE.
The land for the new school, beside the Island Primary School at the Buttonwood Park off Linford Pierson Highway, has been cleared, ready for construction to begin.
Once CF School is up and running, Island Primary will act as a feeder school – with its graduating students being given priority for placements. Once those numbers are filled, if there are places available, children from other schools will be considered, Sowerby explained.
Ensuring that its pupils know what ‘carpe diem’ and ‘veni, vidi, vici’ mean, is not the only unique element of CF, which will be teaching the British curriculum, leading up to Cambridge IGCSE level.
It will also have some of the smallest pupil/teacher ratios of a high school on island, with classes restricted to a maximum of 15 students per teacher.
Harking back to its roots, CF will be offering after-school programmes that will be included in the school fees. These include sports clubs, homework help and subject clinics.
Clever Fish originally opened in 2016 as an after-school programme, with camps and tutoring, and began operating as a school in 2020.
Sowerby said, once the CF School opens, subject clinics will be available for any student needing extra assistance, so they don’t need to take external tutorials.
“The formal school day will end at 3:30pm, but the teachers will be on site until 5:30pm providing the sports clubs and subject clinics, as well as general homework help,” she said.
The work of Clever Fish teachers was commended by the Office of Education Standards in its November 2023 report on the school. That report noted, “Through the effective coordination of support and dedicated teachers, barriers to learning had been successfully removed and this enabled students, including those who may have been at risk of academic failure or social exclusion, to thrive and succeed.”
“That is exactly what we pride ourselves on doing,” Sowerby said.
The school will hold its first information evening for the parents of prospective students at 6pm on Tuesday, 9 April. For details of the venue and more information, email [email protected].
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Spanish would be far more useful.