Reperietis partem nova latina Pupils coegi ut proventus studium classica.

For those not up to scratch on their Latin, that is 'pupils will learn Latin as part of a new drive to increase interest in the classics.'

Wallington County Grammar School has began teaching Latin as part of the 'Love Latin' scheme, which is being pushed by London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Mayor Johnson, a strong advocate of the language, wants to see 2,000 pupils taught in the first year of the scheme.

Sixty volunteers have been recruited and 60 state schools, including three Mayor's academies, will benefit from the scheme.

Wallington County Grammar School, which stopped teaching Latin six years ago, has seen a resurgence in popularity of the subject and it was partly down to pressure from the pupils that lead to the school to open the subject up again.

Funding will allow educational charity the Iris Project, with whom the Mayor has teamed up with, to increase weekly Latin tuition in the state primary schools.

Mr Ben Greenley, teacher of classics and Latin at the school, said: "The boys have been very enthusiastic about Latin. They understand how Latin as a base subject permeates many different subjects.

Latin sometimes creates images of old teachers dusting down the books, but we are trying to make it more interactive and show how it relates to the modern day world."

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'I firmly believe that the Classics have a vital role to play in the development of young minds, instilling in them invaluable analytical skills, providing a universal spanner for many other languages and engendering logical acuity that can be applied across other subjects and situations in life.

There is still an undeserved cultural divide in the way that the Classics are perceived, which perhaps explains why only 20 percent of state schools provide some form of Classical education, unlike 75 per cent of private schools."