The School and its buildings

Our School was established on Church Street, Edmonton soon after 1624, and has occupied its present site on Haselbury Road since 1910, the same year that the current school motto QUI PATITUR VINCIT (Who endures wins) was introduced by Richard Ashworth, the Headteacher of that era.

Much of the North end of the school dates from 1910 with substantial additions including The Great Hall, in 1928 and further development particularly the Gymnasia and Technical Labs in 1966. A new £1million Performing Arts Centre was built in 2000. Apart from general teaching rooms there are a large number of rooms dedicated to specialist teaching. There is a suite of 12 Science laboratories, all of which have been fully re-equipped and modernised in the last 5 years. Our 6 Technology rooms have similarly been upgraded.

There is a suite of specialist ICT rooms which are used extensively in the teaching of a large number of curriculum subjects. The suite contains over 200 modern PCs, all networked and widely accessible to pupils and teaching staff. Pupils have controlled access to the Internet and there is a comprehensive Intranet service. Increasing use is being made of interactive whiteboard and wireless technology and we have developed home to school links to provide students and staff with remote access to learning resources.

The School has the benefit of a large Library with some 20,000 volumes in stock and a chartered librarian to offer help and advice. In addition a separate Learning Resources Centre contains a further 2,000 reference volumes, a wide selection of periodicals and ICT facilities. All our pupils are trained in ways of retrieving information for their school work and for their interest and are encouraged to use the facilities for study at lunchtime and after school. There is a newly refurbished Connexions Careers Library with extensive on- and off-line facilities for accessing the latest data on university courses and avenues for future career development.

For the Sixth Form, there is a large Common Room and a quiet Study area with computer access.

The Music, Drama and Media Studies departments have specialist facilities in their dedicated building, offering a range of studios, larger spaces for music and drama and air conditioned individual music practice rooms.

There are 2 gymnasia for PE, and approximately 12 acres of playing fields laid out, according to season, for football, hockey, rugby, cricket, rounders and athletics. Tennis is played on the tarmac area at the rear of the School. A 4 Badminton court Sports Hall was commissioned in 2006. The building also houses a Sports Science and two further classrooms, a Fitness Room, and a new Dining hall and kitchen.  Girls' and Boys' Changing Rooms & Showers have been refurbished as have all toilet facilities over a four year development program. 

Our Great Hall, with a fully equipped stage and seating for over 1000 people, is used for whole school assemblies, concerts, drama productions and other major school events.

The Latymer Foundation
In 1624, a City merchant Edward Latymer bequeathed certain property to trustees on condition that they were to clothe and educate “eight poore boies of Edmonton”. With this endowment the School was first established close to Edmonton Parish Church. The original endowment and those of subsequent benefactors now comprise The Latymer Foundation at Edmonton. This supports the School in many ways - ownership of the Field Centre in Snowdonia being one. The debt we all owe to the memory of Edward Latymer is recognised each year at our Foundation Day services.

The School and its Governors greatly value the degree of independence bestowed by its founder's generosity and its Voluntary Aided status which have allowed it to develop traditions of excellence in many spheres while staying firmly anchored in the maintained sector of education.