Royal Latin School

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:

Uniform

Years seven to eleven: School blazer, black trousers, black skirt for girls, black socks/tights, white regulation shirt, school tie (red, black and house colour) 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.

Student positions

Prefects are chosen from the members of the Sixth Form lower sixth during the first half of the autumn term. House captains are chosen after selections for head and deputy head girl and boy have been made, and this is usually done by the candidates making speeches in front of their houses, and the house voting on the two best candidates. This is open to any lower sixth former in the designated house and not just prefects.

Every year, two male and two female members of the upper sixth are made head boy, deputy head boy, head girl and deputy head girl respectively. All Lower Sixth can self-nominate themselves for these positions and short-listing is done by voting on those students who have chosen to sign up, with staff having three votes, and each student in the lower sixth having one vote, for male and female categories. Interviews with the candidates decide the final results, with the headmaster having the final say. The positions are usually announced during March.

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.

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 (as many similar establishments were) 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.

The Chantry Chapel 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.

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 (both indoor and outdoor) 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, completed in 2015, as part one of the 600 campaign. The building was officially opened on October 2nd 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.

Old Latins