Four of Birkdale's Upper Sixth travelled with Mrs Sherborne to Malvern St James School, to take part in the Pan-European Cicero Europa Competition. This is the second time the competition has been run, and the second time Birkdale has entered. After James Mullen won a Commendation last year, he was determined to win one of the main prizes this time. He, along with Beth Kirk and Alastair McCloskey, took the Classical Culture exam, whilst Gabor Fellner took the Latin paper.
The competition takes place simultaneously in France, Spain, Italy, Andorra and the UK, with a live link-up at the start. James won 3rd Prize in the UK for Classical Culture, and Gabor won 3rd Prize in the UK for Latin.
This is an innovative competition organised by teachers of Latin in several different European countries for their 6th form students, illustrating that Latin provides a worthwhile and valid reason for young people to interact with each other across their national boundaries. Boris Johnson, a Classicist himself, is a keen supporter of the idea. He recently gave his personal congratulations to the organisers of the competition and asked them to pass on his delight and his genuine admiration for the high academic standards shown by all the competitors.
