Would you like to volunteer to help with the next Reading ancient schoolroom? No experience or prior knowledge is necessary for most roles, just enthusiasm for the ancient world: we will provide all training and equipment. Here are the roles available:

Literature teachers: assigning reading and writing exercises and going over those exercises with participants when they have been done. There will always be at least three teachers in the schoolroom at a time, but unless there are problems each will work independently. For this role you will need to wear a costume (provided by us) and remove any signs of modernity (e.g. glasses,  watches, and plastic jewelry; contact lenses are fine to wear). Approximately 8 hours of advance preparation, including a visit to the University of Reading to rehearse with the ancient writing materials, are necessary for this role before the event starts. People who like working with children and/or have experience of teaching would be especially good for this role.

Maths teachers: teaching participants to do addition, multiplication, and division in Roman numerals using a counting board and abacus. (This is easier than you think, and training will be provided!) For this role you will need to wear a costume (provided by us), remove any signs of modernity (e.g. glasses,  watches, and plastic jewelry; contact lenses are fine to wear), and be willing to sit on the floor. Approximately 6 hours of advance preparation, including a visit to the University of Reading to rehearse with the ancient equipment, are necessary for this role before the event starts. People who like maths (whether or not they are good at it) and those who like working with children and/or have experience of teaching would be especially good for this role.

Latin teachers: teaching participants a bit of Latin using ancient textbooks. For this role you will need to know some Latin (how much depends on the level of the pupils; some are beginners but others fairly advanced), wear a costume (provided by us) and remove any signs of modernity (e.g. glasses,  watches, and plastic jewelry; contact lenses are fine to wear). The advance preparation requires 1-4 hours depending on the level. People who like working with children and/or have experience of teaching would be especially good for this role.

Costumers: helping participants get dressed for the schoolroom and collecting costumes from participants as they leave. People with good dress sense would be especially good for this role. No prior preparation is required, and wearing a costume yourself is optional.

Costume and equipment care: people to wash and repair the costumes, sharpen the pens, repair the wax tablets, patch the papyri, copy more texts onto papyrus, etc. Training will be provided if needed, but if you have specific craft skills already and can think of something you’d like to contribute, please let us know!

Purveyors of magical gems, curses, painted Greek pottery, Roman calendars, reed pens, home-made ancient ink, etc.: These activities are not part of our core offering, but we sometimes provide them and can train volunteers as needed. Or if you have specialised knowledge of some aspect of the ancient world that would fit well into an ancient school, maybe you would like to team up with us and gain impact for your research by adding it to the ancient schoolroom? Some of our best activities started life this way, and we think the people who proposed them would agree that it’s a win-win proposition.

Graffiti artists: telling participants about Roman graffiti and helping them make some of their own (on a piece of paper that they will take with them when they leave). Significant prior knowledge of Latin (at least 2 years) is needed, as is the time to research Roman graffiti and plan your own workshop; this will take 4-12 hours depending on your background. Wearing a costume is optional, since the graffiti workshop takes place outside the schoolroom. People who like working with children and/or have experience of teaching would be especially good for this role.