Teacher Profile
Mr Stephen Graham, BA, MA, PGDipTh, PGCE
Classics (Greek, Latin, & Classical Civilisation)
I was educated for nine years in a Christian school in Northern Ireland. I soon fell in love with the study of the ancient world and classical languages. A move to a grammar school allowed me to pursue Latin to A-Level before reading Classics at Queen’s University Belfast (BA first-class Honours).
During my student years I really enjoyed teaching Latin and Classical Civilisation part-time at the Christian school I had attended and decided to pursue a vocation in education. Having graduated MA with Distinction in Classics, again from Queen’s University Belfast, I trained formally as a Classics teacher on the PGCE programme in Secondary Education at the University of Cambridge.
I have 15 years of experience teaching Latin, Greek, and Classical Civilisation to A-Level at prestigious schools in the independent sector and have successfully prepared a large number of candidates for Oxford, Cambridge, and other top universities.
In 2014 I returned to university in order to read Theology at the University of Oxford as part of my training for ordained Christian ministry (obtaining a PGDipTh). I enjoyed applying my knowledge of Greek and ancient history to the study of Scripture and the world of the New Testament.
My personal research interest is in the Latin literature of Renaissance Christian humanism, and I am passionate about bringing the riches of our classical heritage to contemporary Christian education.
I offer the following PX Classroom courses:
Key Stage 3 Classical / New Testament Greek Foundation
This one-year course is ideal for any KS3 student who wants to acquire the basics of Classical and New Testament Greek and to lay the foundations for further study at GCSE level. The course follows the ISEB specification for Common Entrance Level 1 and 2. The text book for the course is An Introduction to Classical Greek by Fred Pragnell and Kristian Waite.
GCSE Intensive Classical GreekÂ
This course is ideal for any ambitious student from about 14 and above who would like to learn ancient Greek from scratch and work at pace towards a GCSE qualification at the end of two years. The course follows the OCR specification for GCSE Greek. The text book for the course is John Taylor’s Greek to GCSE (two volumes, one for each year).
This two-year course is for students from about 14 and above with an interest in the world of ancient Greece and Rome – the world of the Lord Jesus and the Early Church. No prior knowledge of Greek or Latin is required. The course covers the OCR specification for GCSE Classical Civilisation using for the first year the text book OCR Classical Civilisation GCSE Route 1: Myth and Religion by Ben Greenley, Dan Menashe, and James Renshaw. Students study elements of the literature and visual/material culture of Greece and Rome and develop an understanding of their social, historical, and cultural contexts. Throughout the course we explore the differences between the Christian Church and the world in which it grew.
GCSE Latin
This course in the language of the ancient Romans and also of Christian scholarship until the Renaissance, is suitable for students from about 14 and above who have already studied Latin (for example, the KS3 Intermediate Latin PX Classroom with Mrs Lorna Clarke). It prepares students for the OCR GCSE qualification. As well as taking the compulsory language component we read some original Latin literature and study two topics on Roman civilisation and culture using ancient sources.