Masterclass: Anglo-Saxon

We were delighted to welcome Mr Jonathan Muir from St. Edward’s, Oxford, who gave a fascinating masterclass about Anglo-Saxon to children in Forms IV – VI.

He explained how our alphabet derives from Anglo-Saxon and how the letters we recognise have a different sound. He also introduced us to letters which have long since disappeared.

Mr Muir explained the origin of many of our place names and why we have so many silent letters in English.

It was a great insight into the development of the language we use every day and encouraged the children to analyse what they read and think about its origins. The session culminated in the children reading a piece of Anglo-Saxon out loud.

Huge thanks to Mr Muir for visiting us and delivering such an interesting talk.

Owen Venables
Head of French