Our school’s strong inclusive values meet the diverse needs of Latymer students in an environment where differences are respected and celebrated. Our core values, which centre on good manners and showing respect and consideration for others, help engender a strong community bond.

Emotional wellbeing

We recognise that on their journey towards academic excellence each student will face individual challenges and pressures. The Latymer School is committed to maintaining positive emotional wellbeing for both students and staff, ensuring that all members of the community feel happy, secure and able to thrive during their time at the school. To do this, we promote a culture where all members of the school community feel they are valued and able to share their concerns, should they arise.

The school engages all members of its community as providers of pastoral care and places a high importance on positive interactions between staff, students and home. All staff receive training on how to recognise mental health warning signs and the best practice strategies for acting.

The strong pastoral programme, led by the Heads of Learning, Assistant Heads of Learning and tutor teams, also ensures every student and parent has a named point of contact who will work closely with them during their school career. Such members of staff are always on hand to discuss academic and emotional progress, and to act as mentors to pupils experiencing barriers to learning.

Where appropriate, we liaise with external services to ensure that, as far as possible, students receive the support that they need.

Student voice

The Latymer School strives to improve its provision by encouraging students to participate in decision-making, and highlight issues that are relevant to them. This is done through a system of student leaders, composed of the School Council,  Senior Pupils, Form Representatives and Student Action Groups.

The School Council follows the Smart School Councils model, which aims to involve every pupil in the decision-making process and promotes engagement across all year groups. Student involvement in the School Council aids the development of key skills for life, such as research, action planning, collaborative work and debating skills.

Students in each Form Group are given the opportunity to stand as a Form Representative, elected via an anonymous vote. Form Representatives lead Class Action meetings, where the views of students in every Form Group are canvassed and future topics for discussion are proposed. Students are organised into small groups within a Form, which are each allocated one vote per topic. This encourages students to participate in informed debates and discussions regarding topical issues. The School Council uses a bespoke piece of software, written by Latymer students, to collate both the results of the vote and the new topics which have been proposed.

The intention is that students will not just highlight things that they would like to change, but that will spend time researching alternatives and solutions, and then propose these ideas to the Senior Leadership Team. The School Council Committee updates students on the latest developments via Year Assemblies and the School Council notice board. Parents are additionally urged to stay informed via our website.