Trustees

All trustees of Classics for All were taught Classics in state schools.

Sarah Jackson OBE, Chair

Sarah is CEO for the charity, Working Families, and has more than 20 years’ experience of managing and fundraising in the not-for-profit sector. Sarah’s love of Classics was sparked by Barclay Millar, one of the authors of Ecce Romani, who strode across her classroom at Perth Academy proclaiming “ambulo… I walk … ambulance!” She went on to study Classics and Italian at Oxford. Sarah passionately believes that Classics provides a vital opportunity to widen the cultural and linguistic horizons of every child.

She shares the vision of other founders of Classics for All that the classical community is an untapped resource which, with funding, can bring untold educational benefits for state school pupils now and in the future.

Graham Shaw, Treasurer

Graham is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He is currently a Managing Director in the London office of a global investment bank.
Graham served as Honorary Treasurer of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) and was closely involved in the decision by JACT and Friends of Classics to launch Classics for All. Discouraged from dropping Latin at the age of 14 by a wise teacher, Graham was taught Greek after school, attended JACT Greek Summer Schools and went on to read Classics at Worcester College, Oxford.

Graham is strongly committed to making classical subjects available to state school students who currently do not have that opportunity. He believes in the ability of dedicated and motivated teachers to bring this about, as long as they are given the appropriate resources.

Jeannie Cohen, Co-founder and Executive Secretary, Friends of Classics

Jeannie’s interest in Classics was initiated by the passion of her Latin teacher, who also offered lunchtime lessons in Greek to anyone who was interested. Jeannie has taught Classics in both the independent and state school systems for many years. She was Executive Secretary to the Joint Association of Classical Teachers, and has, for nearly 20 years, helped Peter Jones run Friends of Classics, which gives grants to schools to fund the purchase of Classics textbooks.

In addition, Jeannie has been Chair of Governors at a local primary school for the past 9 years.

Dr Peter Jones MBE

Dr Peter Jones took early retirement in 1997, from the Classics Department in Newcastle University and since then – for more than four decades – he has been a driving force and advocate for the teaching of Classics in state schools. In 1991 he co-founded Friends of Classics to raise money for the provision of Classics books to schools wishing to introduce Latin and Greek.

He writes an ‘Ancient and Modern’ column for The Spectator, reviews for The Sunday Telegraph, Literary Review, and the BBC History Magazine. He appears regularly on BBC Radio Four and gives talks to schools, adult groups and businesses. He has published extensively on Homer, widely on the ancient world in general and particularly on Ovid and Virgil.

His Learn Latin and Learn Ancient Greek columns from The Daily Telegraph are best-selling books. He is Director of the Project that produces the Reading Greek series, for which he was appointed MBE.