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.

Year 7 Transition to the Latymer school

Transitioning to secondary school is a hugely exciting time for the incoming Year 7 students but can also involve a few changes which can cause anxiety (for both students and parents/carers!). Some of the differences between primary school and secondary school can include different classrooms, different teachers for each subject, bigger buildings, new travel arrangements, and mixing with new students.

At the Latymer School we have a structured transition programme so that all children, and their families, feel secure and well-prepared for the move to Latymer. We are certain that your child will find our school a caring and friendly environment in which every student is both academically challenged and supported. We hold welcome events in June, before students start in September. This provides children and parent/carers with an opportunity to meet some of the senior leadership team and the Year 7 Head of Learning, as well as to ask any questions.

All new students are invited to a Transition Day before they start at the school. They get a chance to meet other pupils in their form group and start making new friends. The day is a mixture of fun, group-building exercises and an introduction to some of the subjects that they will be studying.

When your child joins us in September, they will be placed in a form group within one of our six houses. Every morning, they will meet their tutor whose role is to oversee individual pastoral needs. Your child's Form Tutor will remain the same throughout the years. The Head of Learning will be the main point of contact, after the Form Tutor, for pastoral matters.

We treat the first few weeks at school in September as part of the transition process. This will include several Year Assemblies and form time activities which are designed to answer the many questions that new students might have and to help all students settle into the school.

Starting a new school is a hugely exciting time and we look forward to working with both our new students and their parent/carers throughout their time at the school.