A long-dead language is being brought back to life at state schools in Oxford thanks to a travelling enthusiast of Latin and Greek - and with help from Harry Potter too.

Dr Lorna Robinson, 27, was working at a private school when she decided it was wrong that state school students were missing out on the classics. Dr Robinson, of Franklin Road, Oxford, said: "I was working in this very posh independent school and I just thought I am surrounded by privilege, why don't I try to take classics to state schools as well?' "Our culture, history and literature are imbued with references to Roman and Greek civilizations - courses in these subjects should be at the disposal of every state school student."

She has started the Iris Project to work with schools in the county doing workshops and courses in classics, talks and themed days.

She believes learning Latin serves as a foundation for learning modern languages.

At Cheney School, Latin teacher Julian Armistead said the language was coming back into fashion and about 70 students were now taking it. The first lesson at AS-Level started this week.

He said: "Latin is something different. Kids will know there is Latin in Harry Potter and that has brought the subject into focus. We are one of very few Oxford state schools who offer Latin and there has been a real resurgence and enthusiasm in Latin recently."

Dr Robinson's project includes Iris magazine, which aims to make classics more accessible, free to all state sector schools.

She said: "A lot of people I told said they thought no-one would be interested, but I have been surprised by the good response I have had from schools so far. It's really exciting."

She is in talks to bring classics workshops to other schools in the area.

A keen supporter of the project, Boris Johnson MP, is coming to Cheney School on December 8 to talk about classics. The Iris magazine is launched on September 18.

For more information, contact the Iris project at editor@irismagazine.org or see www.irismagazine.org