I am very proud to be the Headteacher of The Royal Latin School, a co-educational grammar school of approximately 1230 students which includes a sixth form of 370+. Our school is one of the top-performing state schools in the country; results are consistently high.
Our students are well motivated and conscientious and they are able to make use of the opportunities which specialist science college status brings to the school. Students' personal development is outstanding and we are proud of the fact that ours is a caring, supportive and happy community which produces young people who 'show a maturity far beyond their years'. (Ofsted 2006)
Students benefit from experienced, committed and highly qualified teaching staff and from a curriculum that is rich, broad and challenging. Students are eager to do well and work confidently in lessons. Beyond the classroom there is a wide range of activities including sports, drama, music and community projects, visits and foreign exchanges.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us. If you would like to visit us we would be delighted to welcome you to the school.
The Royal Latin School has been based in Buckingham since its foundation. It is almost certainly the oldest school in the county. The first school building, the Chantry Chapel, is the oldest surviving building in the town and is now owned by the National Trust.
RLS c1891
The courtyard at Brookfield house
The main School Library is very well stocked, with more than 15,000 books, CD-ROMs, and computers equipped with a wide range of database software and broadband Internet access. mention building programme and modern amenities, building dates for canteen , library, new block.
We have an ongoing programme of redecoration and refurbishment aimed at maintaining a pleasant working environment for the whole school community.
Our Sports Hall opened in January 2004. It provides an outstanding facility for PE and Sports in the school and community. sized and equipment
Our 19th century Brookfield House reflected in the 21st century Sports Hall
VISION AND VALUES
Mission
To prepare young people to succeed in a rapidly changing world and to make the learning process as happy as possible.
Aims
To foster academic, moral, spiritual and personal development
To provide a caring and challenging environment
To encourage excellence
To develop students to become responsible citizens.
Culture
We seek to promote and encourage the following qualities in both staff and pupils:
self-respect, self-confidence and self-discipline
respect and tolerance for different ways of life, beliefs and opinions
a concern for equal opportunites and the challenge of stereotypes
consideration for others
courtesy of speech
an emphasis on quality and excellence
smart appearance - we are all ambassadors for the school
flexibility and adaptability to change
a sense of responsibility - both personal and collective.
Motto
High expectations for all (1993) Alle may God amende (Ruding 1471)
The Royal Latin School was designated as a Specialist Science College from September 2003. Our status gave us a wonderful opportunity to build on the very strong science foundations that already existed in the school. The additional resources that come into the school enable us to extend opportunities for our own students, for those in our partner schools and for members of our local community, so that everyone will benefit from training, expertise and the enriched curriculum experience that we are able to provide. Our aim, through Science College Status, is to raise levels of achievement in all curriculum areas.
Science College Mission
The mission of the Royal Latin School is to prepare young people to succeed in a rapidly changing world and to make the learning process as happy as possible. As a Science College we will foster in our students academic excellence, not only in science and maths, but across the whole curriculum. We will promote moral, spiritual and personal development; provide a caring and challenging environment; and help our students to become responsible citizens. Our students and staff will be active partners in a learning society with our family of schools and our local community, sharing resources and good practice. As a Science College we will promote an educational culture, which is scientific, technological, enterprising and vocational. Through our innovative practice and imaginative use of ICT in the delivery of the specialist and associated subjects, we will provide models of excellence both within the school and across our community. We will maintain a high post-16 participation rate in the specialist subject areas, and will provide young people with the skills needed to progress into employment, further training or higher education according to their individual abilities, aptitudes and ambitions.
Specialist Science School Community Projects
As part of our commitment to increasing the profile of science across North Bucks now that we are a Specialist Science School, The Royal Latin School has conducted a number of community projects during the last few years. Activities have included Science Fairs for Y2 and Y5 students and a series of Mathematics and Science Y6 Master and Improvement classes held after school at the RLS for pupils in our partner schools. Each lesson in the Maths Improvement classes involves material that enable the children to understand concepts that they had previously found difficult using fun and practical-based ideas. Each lesson in the Master classes involves stretching the children's understanding using fun and practical ideas. In addition, we provide modular science resources for loan to local primary schools to aid the teaching of science in KS1 and KS2.
Science Fairs
All of the Y2 students from our 17 partner schools have been invited to attend Science Fairs held in our larger Primary Schools (Winslow Combined, Buckingham Primary, Grenville Combined, and Bourton Meadow). The theme of the Y2 fairs was 'Household Science'. These experiments encompassed all aspects of science. Groups of three children were looked after by a sixth former who helped them to get the most out of the day. Each activity (Bath Bombs, Exploding Film Cases, Silly Putty, Water is Strange, Magnets, Electrostatics and Food Dyes) was run by an experienced specialist Science teacher.
All Y5 students from our partner primary schools have been invited to attend Science Fairs held at the RLS. The theme of the Y5 fairs was 'Scientific Questions', and experiments encompassed all aspects of science from Physics to Biology, from Geology to Chemistry. The children recorded their observations in a booklet they could keep as a record of their day. Again, each activity (Chocolate Geology, Bubbles, Fruit Batteries, Light, Fake Snot and Microscopes) was run by an experienced specialist Science teacher and groups of three students were assisted by a sixth former.
The experiments for the fairs were hands-on and completely novel. They were designed to get the students to start thinking for themselves and asking questions that, we hope, they will continue to ask as they look at the world around them.
The Big Bug Show attended the fairs, during which the children got the chance to handle Big Bugs (Hissing Cockroaches, Giant Millipedes, Spiders and Giant African Snails).
Our hope is that the children, after having attended the day, will want to continue to carry out scientific experiments at home with with their parents or guardians. All of the ingredients for the experiments are readily available from supermarkets or hardware stores. Instructions for the experiments carried out at both Y2 and Y5 fairs can be found by clicking on the links below.
Clicking on the links below will enable you to get a flavour of the Science Fairs we have held thus far.
The Royal Latin School builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills that pupils have gained in their primary school. Our aim is to develop thoughtful, confident young people, while encouraging them to prepare for their examinations.
When students start in Year 7, they are placed in form tutor groups for all their lessons. Throughout their school career, all the pupils in a form belong to the same House, and the six Houses compete enthusiastically against each other in a variety of activities including Sports, Drama, Music and Maths.
As pupils get older we may regroup them for lessons in ways which encourage them to reach their individual learning potential. We pride ourselves on the level of academic and pastoral support given to our pupils. The Key Stage Management Teams and form tutors work together to support, encourage and oversee the personal development and academic progress of pupils. Teaching and Learning Support Assistants are provided to help teachers and pupils in lessons.
We welcome the participation of parents in the life of the school and in the education of their children. Regular contact between home and school is a key factor in pupils’ success at Key Stage 3.
The curriculum for this key Stage is both broad and balanced. Based on the National Curriculum programmes of study and assessment, it offers a stimulating and academic basis for all future years within the school.
Our Citizenship programme combined with PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) encourages our young people to develop good attitudes and behavior and to take their place as responsible members of society, The PSHE programme also includes topics on relationships, rights and responsibilities, sex education and careers.
Key Stage 4 (pupils aged 14-16)
During the two years that lead to important GCSE examinations, we aim to develop the full potential of each pupil. Challenging educational and personal targets are agreed with every pupil on an individual basis.
All pupils study English, English Literature, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, a foreign language, Information Technology, RS, PE & Games and PSHE. They can choose a number of other options to suit their individual needs from the Options Brochure which is available towards the end of Year 9. Pupils also have Careers education and guidance, together with work-related learning to enable them to make appropriate choices so that they can progress to the next Key Stage and beyond.
Pupils receive PSHE lessons and pupils are also encouraged to develop study skills to equip them for the increasing demands of further academic studies. Form tutors and the Key Stage Management team continue to provide help, advice and guidance so that pupils mature into responsible young adults.
Key Stage 5 (students aged 16-18)
Key Stage 5 offers Sixth Form students the opportunity to take their studies to A-level as part of a lively and enthusiastic academic community. Students who have demonstrated at GCSE that they have the potential for further study are able to choose from twenty-five subjects (subject to demand, staffing, timetabling and individual GCSE targets).
In Year 12, our Sixth Formers study four or five subjects as A/S level, and usually three or four to A-level in Year 13. The majority of our students take up places in Higher Education, and some proceed to Oxford and Cambridge. Part of the PSHE programme in Year 12 and 13 is devoted to careers advice and helping students as individuals select appropriate Higher Education courses.
Wider opportunities available to our Sixth Formers include the Community Sports Leaders Award; Critical Thinking A/S; and preparation for adult life including budgeting and nutrition. Opportunities exist for community service both inside and outside school, in places such as hospices and local primaries.
Sixth Form Prefects take a lead in organising the younger pupils in conjunction with the staff. They can also serve as House Captains, supporting the various House competitions that take place throughout the year.
Sixth Formers benefit from the support of form tutors and the Key Stage staff experienced in guiding and assisting young people to achieve their potential. Full details about our Sixth Form, including our entry requirements, are explained in the Sixth Form brochure; available on request by external students from January. Interviews for a place in the Sixth Form are arranged from March onwards.
We aim to increase pupils’ knowledge and understanding of language, consolidating and extending their grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils are helped to develop as skilled communicators in speech and writing. They will be encourage to write in a range of different forms and styles for different purposes and different audiences, and will be given many opportunities to draft, edit, and proof-read their work, by hand and on computer.
Pupils will read and discuss a wide variety of literature, including stories, plays, and poems from different times and cultures; they will study newspapers and advertising, and take part in role play and debate. They will give talks and take part in group presentations. There are opportunities for keen writers to enter national creative writing competitions.
We aim to support, stimulate and challenge all those studying mathematics, whether to gain an essential qualification, to provide background knowledge for other subjects or as an important subject in its own right.
Pupils at all levels take part in the Maths Challenges, and in team competitions, master classes and Sixth Form study days. Investigative and open-ended work is part of the curriculum at all levels and all Schemes of Work contain IT-based activities that are fully integrated into the teaching programme.
In all Key Stages, pupils have access to appropriate higher level material. There is also a well-established programme of activities beyond the core curriculum.
We aim to develop each pupil’s confidence in his or her ability to be a successful scientist, particularly as the need to anaylse scientific information logically and critically will be important in our students’ future lives.
Pupils study a wide range of science topics drawn from the areas of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Much of the experimental work is approached in an investigative style, so that students learn how to pose questions and then plan and carry out practical work to answer those questions.
A number of extra-curricular activities are on offer including a successful Science club, master classes, and open lectures.
The Humanities curriculum encourages pupils to develop enquiry skills, together with an emphasis on the ability to analyse and interpret information from a wide variety of sources and across a range of media. History, Geography and Religious Studies are taught in line with the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3, whilst at the same time reflecting the dynamism, flexibility and topicality of the subjects.
Humanities is brought alive through discussion, project work, simulations, role play, games, wall displays, debates, group and pair work, videos and use of IT as well as formal lessons and independent learning.
We are proud of our local fieldwork opportunities in Years 7 and 8 and residential studies in Years 10 and 11. We believe these experiences to be vital components in helping our youngsters make informed decisions about the world around them.
The subjects of Business Studies and Economics provide a better understanding of the world in which we live.
For students of Business Studies the focus is on solving the problems of businesses. A case study approach is often used to demonstrate how to overcome the difficulties of lack of finance, intense competition and motivating the workforce, to name but three areas of study. We encourage students to be positive and creative in their approach to this subject and to look to the business environment for real world ideas.
Economics is the study of the systems that provide us with the goods and services that we need and want. Economists seek an understanding of how to appraise and improve these systems and our course provides real insight into the world of the economist.
Technology equips young people with the confidence and insight to operate effectively within a highly technological world and be able to think their way logically through problems they might come across in everyday life. In technology lessons, pupils are presented with a variety of activities involving design and production. Areas of study include resistant materials, food, graphics, textiles and electronics. Students are encouraged to develop key basic skills and knowledge of safe practice before embarking on more advanced problem-solving challenges.
All Key Stage 3 pupils study both French and German. In Key Stage 4 they can continue with either or both languages: it is also possible to take a GCSE in Spanish from Year 10, thus making it possible for our most gifted linguists to study three foreign languages. In the sixth form students may be offered French, German and Italian to A/S and A-Level, and Spanish may be introduced in the future.
Pupils have the opportunity to take part in both French and German trips including an exchange with a school in Munich. Our pupils are also involved in debates and reciprocal visits with a school in Buckingham’s twinned town of Mouvaux.
The Arts curriculum encompasses four disciplines: Art, Music, Drama and Dance. Our central philosophy is to encourage all pupils to take an active role in the arts, whilst ensuring that individual pupils and groups make strong progress and perform to the best of their abilities.
There are also solo and group performing opportunities, as well as classroom based lessons supported by specialist teachers and visiting artists. We stage an impressive number of productions and house competitions each year.
We have gained national recognition through the Artsmark Silver Award and a considerable number of students enter national competitions.
ICT has a key role to play in enhancing teaching and learning in all subjects. All students are expected to develop their ICT skills and be able to use ICT with competence and discrimination.
The school has seen a large expansion in its ICT facilities in recent years, with a number of rooms fitted with electronic whiteboards and computers. We also have two lecture theatres with fully interactive ICT facilities. All members of the school community have e-mail and Internet access and we are developing our e-learning curriculum with significant resources now available to students on-line. ICT is taught both as discrete lessons and within other curriculum subjects.
Sport encourages pupils to enjoy physical activity, to develop a healthy lifestyle and to gain academic qualifications. Pupils will improve their level of fitness, developing a wide range of physical and mental skills in both individual and group situations, as well as the ability to manage the spirit and ethics of competition as both performer and observer. Pupils are encouraged to fulfill their potential by evaluating and improving performance and by developing their aesthetic awareness and decision-making skills in a variety of situations.
We also offer a range of activities on an extra-curricular basis, and provide links with local, regional and national associations.
The sports hall has been an excellent addition to our department and significant improvements have already been made in a variety of sports. We have achieved the coveted Sportsmark Award in recognition of our excellent provision.
ADMISSIONS
Admissions 11-16
Sixth Form Study at The Royal Latin School
For admission arrangements and subjects on offer, please download our brochure for 2007-2008. Please note that Law will not be offered in the future.
Subjects on offer at AS Level (2008-9)
The provisional option blocks for September 2008 will be posted here later in the academic year.
Entry Requirements for the Sixth Form
A minimum of 5 passes (A* - C) at GCSE level including Maths and English (also at A* - C), with 'B' grades in the subjects to be studied at AS level. There are exceptions to this general rule, e.g., Italian requires A* or A in a foreign language at GCSE level. A supportive reference is also a requirement. All prospective students are interviewed. Students study a minimum of 4 AS subjects; some take 5 in Year 12. Most students then drop down to 3 A2 subjects in Year 13.
Enrichment Programme
Some students follow CSLA (Community Sports Leader Award); others perform community service within the school with Year 7 or 8 pupils; many students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Other AS subjects may be available by way of enrichment if timetable constraints allow.
