This research aims to explore the ways in which creative writing may be used as a pedagogical tool in the Latin language classroom, in particular how creative writing may benefit students in Latin prose composition. The lesson sequence delivered as part of this research was undertaken in an academically-selective, independent coeducational school in an affluent, inner-metropolitan area. The sequence of four 60-minute lessons formed part of the language (as opposed to literature) portion of timetabled Latin lessons for a group of nine Year 12 students (aged 16–17). As part of their language lessons, the students had been following a course of study in prose composition based upon Andrew Leigh's (2019) Latin Prose Composition: A Guide from GCSE to A Level and Beyond1. The lesson sequence was intended to build on this work by making use of, and thus consolidating, grammatical constructions and vocabulary which the students had already encountered in the context of prose composition. The sequence was designed in such a way that students were required to apply their linguistic knowledge in new and creative ways. Students' responses to the various activities were positive and they expressed enjoyment in the methodologies.

This action research project investigates the effects of the use of ‘free composition’ in the teaching of Latin to a group of Year 10 pupils. By ‘free composition’ I mean pupils were not given English sentences to translate into Latin, as is the case in many Latin course books (see, for example, Cullen and Taylor's Latin to GCSE (2016)), but were told to use simple Latin sentences to tell a story of their own devising. The focus of the study will be on analysing pupils’ perceptions of the value of free prose composition and how free prose composition can be used to analyse pupils’ understanding of grammatical features by investigating the types of errors which they made.