Students can ‘appreciate Harry Potter a bit better’ as schools offer Latin to Year 11 and 12 students

Education Minister Sabine Winton says students will be able to “appreciate Harry Potter a bit better” after it was revealed Latin would be offered as a subject for senior secondary students for the first time in almost 20 years. WA’s School Curriculum and Standards Authority recently notified schools a new Latin course would be available for them to offer from next year. The course, borrowed from the NSW Education Standards Authority, will be accessible to WA Year 11 students next year and Year 12s in 2027. Ms Winton commended the move and said schools were listening to the needs of their students. “Schools will always be in the best position to come up with or to work on the kinds of courses that are of interest and demand for their students,” she said on Monday. “This latest push for Latin in a number of schools is no different to a whole bunch of courses that change and evolve over time in schools. “That’s what makes our education system such a great place — that schools respond locally to meet the needs of their students. “It will probably make you appreciate Harry Potter a bit better.” Many of the spells from JK Rowling’s fantasy series Harry Potter are derived from Latin. The “Accio” spell, also known as the Summoning Charm, is a direct translation of the word “summon.” “Lumos”, a charm that turns their wand into a flashlight, is a derivative of the Latin term “lumen” which means “the light”. And “Crucio”, a cruel spell that inflicts immense pain on their opponent, means “torture”. SCSA made the arrangement to revive the language following a request from Immaculate Heart College — a small Catholic school in Chittering — where Latin is compulsory for students in Years 7 and 8 and an elective for Years 9 and 10. The school’s Latin teacher, Scott O’Callaghan, said he had asked SCSA a year ago to consider re-introducing the subject so that students could continue it to Year 12 as an ATAR option. “It just sharpens the intellect,” he said. “It was the language of academia in western universities up until not that long ago. It trained the minds of students through millennia in clarity of thought.” Latin students who sit the Year 12 exam will be able to count the language towards their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank for the first time since 2007. Advocates say the language of the Roman Empire underpins terminology used in medicine and science and provides a foundation for learning other languages.