Private coeducational school in Ramsgate, Kent, accepting pupils of age 3-18 inclusive.
Motto: in bono vince (Conquer in good)
SLC was founded in 1879 as an evangelical Church of England college named South Eastern College. It is situated on the highest point of Ramsgate, and its main tower is used by Thanet's fire service for their practice drills. It lies on a premises of 150 acres and has four sections: the Nursery, the Junior School, the Middle School, and the Senior School.
The Junior School
The Junior School occupies the south-eastern end of the college premises, and is split up across College Road. On the western side of the road is the main building, usually decked in green ivy, turning red very briefly during autumn. This building is used as the house of the 'Master of the Middle and Junior Schools', boarding area for the middle and junior schools, and from this year onwards, the Sanatorium for the whole college. Also on this side of the road is the Hamblen block, used for Junior School teaching. This is connected to the main building via the Symonds hall, a games room and sometime assembly hall. Directly opposite this block is the aforementioned Master's garden, surrounded by hedges, and beyond this is the Roberts Hall, the Junior and Middle School's main assembly hall and music school. To the right of this, as we come from the Hamblen block, is the newly-refurbished school swimming pool, which now retains some heat.
Entering the Junior School's main building via a door tucked away by the bike shed and turning left down some steps, one comes to a storage area with a door to the tunnel. This is the means by which Junior School pupils access the other section of their premises. In this area, one will find a rather modern, flat-roofed building containing an IT suite and classrooms for young pupils along with the Nursery. Also here is an exit out the back to an Adventure Playground and to the College playing fields.
The Junior School offers scholarships at 8+ and is a member of IAPS.
The Middle School
The Middle School, as stated before, shares many facilities with the Junior School. For teaching purposes, it shares likewise with the Senior School. They do, however, have their own day area - the buildings formerly known as Cameron. In past times, these have been used variously as classrooms, a sanatorium, a boarding area, and as the premises of Cameron House, who joined with the top two years of the Junior School (since they both catered for the same age group) to form the Middle School. When one inspects the buildings, it is hardly surprising that they have been thus passed around. They are flat-roofed and the walls are made of chipboard, insulated with corrugated cardboard. There are stories of people punching the walls and their fists going straight through.
The Senior School
The Senior School occupies the northern end of the school's premises. As one walks up the gravel path connecting the Junior and Middle schools to the Senior School, one is greeted by the sight of the tallest building in Ramsgate: the main building of the Senior School. This is usually decked in a reddish ivy, which is green briefly at the very zenith of spring. This building comprises day and boarding areas for five of the school's six houses: Laing (day girls); Manor-Grange (day boys); Newlands-Deacon (day boys); Tower (boarding boys) and Lodge (boarding boys). It is either an irony or a malice on the part of the planners of this building that the boarding houses have their areas higher up in the building than the day houses. Also in this building are many of the staff's day studies, the staff common room, and the dining hall.
Attached to the main building is the school's chapel, one of the oldest parts of the college which is very well preserved, and along with the Library below it, is a listed building. The Senior and Middle Schools meet in here daily (except Saturdays) in the morning. It has two stained-glass windows which were put in in the last ten years. The Library is in three sections: the Memorial Library, the Scott Library, and the Reading Room. In here one can find a good collection of modern European literature, and one of the best local history collections in the area.
Continuing on in the same direction, one goes swiftly past the Headmaster's study to the main teaching block. This is on two floors, and is the epicentre of teaching for languages (ancient and modern), religious studies and philosophy, classical civilization, history, geography, mathematics, and social sciences. English is taught in classrooms below Chapel, near the Library. Also in this area is the Music School.
Connected to all of this is the Taylor Hall, where the Senior and Middle Schools meet on a Saturday morning, and where the school's drama productions are usually shown. It has lighting equipment, but the roof leaks and has caused them to short-circuit on more than one occasion.
Going out of North Gate and across a recently-established pelican crossing, one comes to the boarding area for Bellerby House (boarding girls.) This is a modern building, built soon after the college went coeducational in 1984. Turning right down the gravel path takes us to the teaching areas for design technology and the sciences. These are in red-brick and well facilitated.
St. Lawrence College is a member of HMC.
Sports Facilities
All pupils are required to do sport 3 times a week: on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoon. The school has facilities for rugby, football, netball, hockey - on a floodlit astroturf pitch found at the south end of the school - squash, badminton, cricket, tennis and athletics. The pitches, courts and halls for these are spread out across the premises, and take up most of the school's 150 acres. For equipment for these sports, once could visit the school shop (through the door to the bursar's study in the main building and on the left, which offers a small selection as well as standard school uniform.
St Lawrence College teaches based on the national curriculum, probably so as not to rock the boat. Able pupils are allowed to take, Maths, French and Religious Studies GCSEs a year early, but no others, because it affects league table position.
There is a school song, the first verse of which is as follows:
Pueri quater beati,
Hoc sub tecto congregati.
Quam debemus esse grati,
Quod sumus Laurentes.
Mare caerulum spectamus,
Leves auras inhiamus,
Nosmet ipsos collaudamus,
Qui sumus Laurentes.
Ergo fundatoribus,
in bono victoribus,
in bono victuri,
Gratias agamus!