Royal Latin School


The Royal Latin School is a co-educational grammar school in Buckingham, England, with one of the most distinguished histories as a grammar school in the country. It has continually existed for almost six hundred years; receiving a Royal Charter in this time and moving premises three times. In September 2011 the school became an academy. It takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18 and has over 1260 pupils, including a sixth form of 390 pupils. It maintains a staff of just over 160. In September 2003 the school was designated by the Department for Education and Skills as a specialist school in science. It was successfully redesignated in 2007 and achieved a second specialism as a training school.
Since the county's boundary adjustments of 1974 placed Eton College in Berkshire, the Royal Latin School claims the distinction of being the sole pre-Reformation grammar school in the county. The Royal Latin School was graded as outstanding in the 2009 report by Ofsted.

History

The school has played a significant role in the town of Buckingham, it being its most prominent school, since its earliest recorded reference in 1423, although it is thought that the school may date from the 13th century, possibly 1268. A very small establishment at first the school taught only six poor boys.
Although Buckingham's citizens supported Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary Tudor, and were opposed to the Reformation, the Chantry Chapel in which the Royal Latin School was based, rather than being destroyed by Edward VI was instead converted into the Royal Latin School. King Edward VI granted a charter for the school, for 30-40 pupils, in 1548 with an endowment of £10 and with 12 trustees. A major fire in 1696 destroyed the Master's House which was rebuilt by Alexander Denton, complete with a garden.
The Chantry Chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist and Thomas a Beckett had an original Romanesque doorway, it served as the main school room. Early 19th century Master was Oxford educated aristocrat Rev William Eyre, MA vicar of Padbury. It remained the home of the Royal Latin School until 1907 when Buckinghamshire County Council provided major new buildings for the school in Chandos road, now the site of Grenville School and did so again in 1963, when the school moved to Brookfield House, formerly The Mount. Numerous extensions in 1963 were opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, with further extensions being gradually added over the next few decades. The warm brown brickwork of the 1963 extensions complements the stone built structure of the earlier buildings, the whole being enhanced by its parkland setting on the outskirts of Buckingham. Brookfield House and its grounds have been expanded over recent years to accommodate the growing size of the school and the fact that many of the older buildings, given the larger number of students, were becoming inadequate for use on such a large scale.
In 2006, the U15 rugby side made school history by becoming the first side from the Royal Latin to reach the semi-finals of the Daily Mail Vase, the English schools' annual rugby union cup competition. The U15s surpassed this record in 2013 reaching the final at Twickenham Stadium, where they beat Felsted School 19-13 to win the vase.
The U13 girls team won girls nationals in 2015 and where unbeaten in the 2017-18 season.
In 2015, the first of three projects known as the 'RLS 600 Campaign' was completed. This was a two-storey science laboratory with 13 classrooms for expanding further the knowledge of sciences for the students. The next two projects will be a Sports Campus, and an Arts department, built before the 600th anniversary of the Royal Latin, in 2023.
In February 2017, a 'no phone' policy was introduced to the school.

School buildings

Brookfield House: Formerly the boys' boarding house. A former hunting lodge, once frequented by the Prince of Wales, that houses the school offices and reception, the school library, conference room, art department, music department and some science and drama laboratories and rooms.
Rotherfield House: Formerly the girls' boarding house. A lodge that houses the Sixth Form classrooms, common room, etc., in addition to the school lecture theatre, school archives, a computer suite and alumni rooms and offices.
Main Block: Built in 1963 by Fred Pooley CBE, this houses the school hall, old gymnasium, stage and drama department, student reception, school offices, English department, humanities department and the dining room.
Technology Block: Also built in 1963 by the same architect, this houses the technology department, including cooking rooms, wood and metal workshops and classrooms.
Former Science Block: Now used by the SCITT for teaching training.
New Block: This building, built in 2001, houses the mathematics department, the languages department, the economics and business studies department and some science laboratories.
Sports Hall: Built in 2003 on the site of the headmaster's garden outside Brookfield House, this houses the PE department which also use the old gym.
Discovery Centre: A 12 classroom building dedicated to the sciences that also contains conference rooms, completed in 2015, as part one of the 600 campaign. The building was officially opened on 2 October 2015 by Robert Winston and John Bercow.
The school regularly uses the church of St Peter and St Paul's in Buckingham for its annual carol service and Founder's Day service, which is held on the feast day of St John, the patron saint of the school. The church is also used for various concerts throughout the year.
The Chantry Chapel, the school's former chapel, is now owned by the National Trust and is too small to accommodate the entire school, thus necessitating the transfer of all school religious ceremonies to the parish church.

Organisation

Houses

Each pupil, upon entrance, is placed into one of six houses, named after founders of the school at various stages in its history. The six houses are:
HousesSignificance
BartonInvolved in founding schools both in the Chantry Chapel and in 1468, a grammar school in Thornton. These were combined to form the Royal Latin School during the 16th century.
DentonAlthough Isobel Denton was mistakenly claimed to have founded the school during the sixteenth century, in the late 17th century Alexander Denton rebuilt the master's house following a destructive fire.
NewtonGabriel Newton founded Green Coat Schools throughout England including in Buckingham. He provided an annual endowment of £26 which was transferred to the Royal Latin school in 1904.
RudingJohn Ruding was awarded the title of Archdeacon of Lincoln and Prebendary of Sutton upon Buckingham in 1471 and was therefore responsible for funding the upkeep of all church owned buildings including that which subsequently housed the Royal Latin School.
StrattonStratton left support for the Buckingham Chantry Chapel to support his soul in purgatory when he died in 1268. The chantry priest he funded, later started the school at Buckingham.
VerneyAs the school grew during the early 20th century it was forced to move from the Chantry Chapel to a new purpose built site on Chandos Road, a move made possible by the work of Lady Verney.

Uniform

Years seven to eleven: School blazer, black trousers, black skirt for girls, black socks/tights, white regulation shirt, school tie and black shoes. A black v-neck jumper may be worn.

Sixth Form: Smart clothing, matching dark suits with a jacket for girls and shirt and tie for boys.

Headmasters and headmistress

Old Latins