The Iris Project

The Iris Project is an educational charity which was started in 2006 by Dr Lorna Robinson in order to bring ancient languages and culture to inner city state schools and communities. Saying that the decline in the study of classics was "a real concern" and that the study of classics should not be confined to pupils at independent schools, she launched the project to considerable media interest.

The project started off offering a magazine, Iris, free for state schools and weekend/lunchtime classes, and soon expanded across London and Oxford to many state schools as a part of the literacy curriculum.

Iris magazine

In September 2006, the first issue of Iris magazine was published, a new Classics magazine which aimed to present Classical topics in a fun, accessible, light-hearted, modern and unusual way. The first issue featured articles such as the academic Dylan Evan's quest to re-establish Plato's Academy, a mock report on the ancient Olympian messenger system, a look at the prevalence of melting women in Ovid, amongst others. Later issues have included an article by Sarah Annes Brown on modern re-interpretations of the Classics, a piece on the more gruesome elements of ancient medicine by Professor Helen King and InterViews with prominent Classicists.

As well as serious articles by enthusiasts and academics on Classical topics, the magazine set out to have a quirky and gently irreverent approach to the ancient world, and therefore included a fashion page, quizzes, a myth debunk page, advice from ancient deities and even a soap-opera inspired by the BBC's Life on Mars series.

All of these things were intended to make the subjects fun and accessible to school students and adults who may not have had any access to the subjects before.

From issue two, Alex Williams joined Iris as co-editor and since then has written the myth pages and advice column, amongst other things.

The tenth issue of Iris is out in September 2009.

The magazine is published three times a year to coincide with school terms, is free to state schools, and available by subscription to everyone else.

Notable issues include:

Issue One (Autumn 2006) “If Ovid and Horace were alive today, they would be the biggest paid executives in Hollywood ”: Iris chats to Colin Dexter about Classics and the modern world"

Issue Two (January 2007) A chat with Boris Johnson

Issue Three (Summer 2007) An interview with Bettany Hughes, TV historian

Issue Six (Summer 2008) A chat with Ian Hislop, Editor of Private Eye

The London Latin Project

In September 2006, Lorna started piloting Latin on the KS2 literacy curriculum to large mixed-ability classes in inner city schools. She used a course which she developed specifically for this pilot scheme, that delivered Latin using activities and the myths of Ovid. The lesson plans were designed to support and enhance the national curriculum literacy strategies, and to provide an exciting, original and accessible introduction to Latin. Activities were varied and lively, examples including the use of jigsaw pieces to teach inflection, making spider webs to display how Latin and English words were connected, making road signs to teach imperatives, and inventing ancient menus to introduce vocabulary and aspects of ancient culture. The course also encouraged children to explore ancient myths in a variety of ways, from drama and story tellings to artistic reinterpretations.

The pilot proved to be very popular and successful, and as a result, from September 2007, twenty state primary and secondary schools started classes in Latin using the same course. From September 2008, forty state primary and secondary schools became involved in a range of inner London boroughs including Lambeth, Southwark, Brent, Tower Hamlets, Islington, Camden and Newham, as well as the schools continuing in Hackney. At this time The Iris Project began to run the scheme in conjunction with University College London and King's College London, and arranged for the students to received training from the King's College London Classics PGCE Department as part of the project.The participating schools expressed the importance of the role of Latin in helping support and enhance literacy skills.

The Hackney Schools Greek Drama Project

In 2007, playwright Graham Kirby joined The Iris Project as the co-originator (alongside Dr Robinson) of a new pilot project funded by University College London and run with the help of student volunteers.

The project started in 2008, running in two schools in the London Borough of Hackney with a series of workshops that introduced Greek mythologies and history to Year 6 and Year 7 pupils.

The culmination of the year-long Project was on 7 July 2008 with a free performance at the Bloomsbury Theatre of Aristophanes' Frogs and Peace, translated and adapted by Graham Kirby. The project was viewed as a success by academics and seen as an important contribution to widening access to Classics. Professor Chris Carey commented: "These plays are an ideal vehicle because they are enormous fun and can be appreciated by a wide audience. The children did a very good job; I was impressed that they were never intimidated by the scale of the theatre. They put a lot of work into learning their lines and getting into character." .

Latin in the Parks

In summer 2008, Dr Lorna Robinson set up a new project for adults who had never had the opportunity to study Latin. Running twice-weekly in Oxford with occasional sessions in London, the project ran throughout May,June and July and will continue in 2009. The sessions are held in local parks, and have met with enthusiastic success.. They involve a mixture of an introduction to Latin through translating adapted versions of the myths of Greece and Rome, and informal talks on various aspects of the ancient world, such as Roman religion, roles of women, a history of the Roman republic, exploring the representation of various mythical figures in ancient literature and art, amongst many other topics.

Early Day Motion

In July 2008 an Early Day Motion was tabled by Tom Brake MP who praised the Iris Project:

"That this House welcomes the initiative of the Iris Project, Latin in the Park, as an excellent opportunity for people from all backgrounds to learn Latin and about ancient culture free of charge in a friendly and relaxed setting; recognises that the project enables adults and families to explore various aspects of ancient culture, such as women in the ancient world, religion, the history of the Roman Republic and other subjects; further recognises that Latin may be viewed as an elite area of study discouraging wider participation; and draws attention to the fact that this initiative promotes access to the classics amongst all and any local communities."

At the time of writing, EDM 2016 was signed by 31 other MPs. They were: Angus McNeil, Jeremy Corbyn, David Lepper, Andrew Dismore, Gordon Marsden, Lynne Jones, Edward Davey, Peter Bottomley, Stephen Williams, Kelvin Hopkins, Joan Humble, Alan Simpson, Brian Jenkins, Edward O'Hara, Michael Fallon, John Battle, Andy Slaughter, Greg Pope, Richard Shepherd, John McDonnell, Malcolm Bruce, Ann Cryer, Bill Etherington, Mark Fisher, Don Foster, Ian Taylor, Philip Davies, Mark Hunter, Vincent Cable, Martin Horwood, and Susan Kramer

The Iris Festival of Greek Drama

In June 2009 the Iris Project will launch a new Classics festival at The Scoop in central London. The Iris Festival of Greek Drama will take place on 17 - 19th June 2009 with a double bill of Greek Drama performed by inner London state schools, an afternoon of activities and workshops, and an evening performance of a tragedy.

The festival is being officially opened by Boris Johnson.

All festival events are free to members of the public.

Patrons

Boris Johnson is a patron of the project. Other patrons are distinguished academic Professor Chris Carey, journalist and arts correspondent of The GuardianCharlotte Higgins, historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes, journalist Dr Peter Jones, renowned educationalist and philosopher Mary Warnock.

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