Early democracy is where the class are at. Like the Ancient Greeks, the Class 5 student or eleven-year-old child is still dependent on support but now want their say. They are desperate for freedom of movement, independence and feelings of control over their own lives, while still learning about the responsibility which comes with this. Our curriculum caters for these developmental changes as we take on the responsibility of caring for our new Class 1 buddies (see pictures above) and prepare for debating.
The following verse is is from Sophocles Antigone...
But none more wonderful than man.
The storm-grey seas yield to his prow.
The huge crests bear him high.
Earth holy and inexhaustible,
Is graven with shining furrows
Where his ploughs have gone,
year after year,
the timeless labour of stallions.
The light boned birds,
And beasts that cling to cover,
The lithe fish lighting their reaches of dim water,
All are taken,
Tamed in the net of his mind.
The lion on the hill,
The horse and windy maned,
Resign to him
And his blunt yoke has broken
The sultry shoulders of the mountain bull.
Words also, and thought as rapid as air,
He fashions to his good use.
Statecraft is his,
And his the skill that deflects the arrows of snow,
The spears of winter rain.
From every wind he has made himself secure,
From all but one….
In the late wind of death
He cannot stand.
O clear intelligence!
Force beyond measure.
O fate of all man,
Working both good and evil.
When the laws are kept,
How proudly the city stands!
When the laws are broken,
What of the city then?
Sonia Davidian
Class 5 Teacher