In 1913, a pair of enterprising British women founded Norfolk House School, an all-girls school on what is now the Pemberton Woods Campus. Miss Atkins and Miss McDermott were dedicated to a rigorous education in academics, arts, and values. 20 years later, Glenlyon Preparatory School for boys was established on the Beach Campus location by Major Ian Simpson. In 1986, the schools joined together. In 2013, GNS celebrated its 100-year anniversary since the founding of Norfolk House. GNS's nearly 700 students occupy two campuses: the Beach Drive Campus, and the Pemberton Woods Campus. The Beach Drive Campus is located near Willows Beach in Oak Bay and is home to students in Junior Kindergarten through to Grade Five. The campus is focused around the former home of Sir Francis Rattenbury. Until 2003, the Beach Drive Campus was known as the Junior Boys Campus, reserved for boys from Kindergarten to Grade 7, while girls in grades Kindergarten to Grade 12 attended classes on the Pemberton Woods Campus. In 2003 the school restructured its approach to co-ed learning, and for the first time, female students were allowed on the Beach Drive Campus. The Beach Drive Campus became a primary campus with Grades K to 5 in single-gender classes sharing a co-educational environment. The Pemberton Woods Campus became a Grades 6 to 12 campus with Grades 6 to 12 in co-ed classes. In 2012, the school became fully co-educational from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12. The Pemberton Woods Campus, home to students Grades 6 through to 12, combines the old Norfolk House Campus with a number of new buildings built after the amalgamation. Each Campus has its own Principal, while the entire school is administered by the Head of School, Mr. Chad Holtum. In 1996, the school was accepted as an International Baccalaureate World School and began offering the IB Diploma to students in Grades 11 and 12. This was followed by authorization to offer the IB Middle Years Programme in 2004 and the IB Primary Years Programme in 2007, making GNS one of a few schools in Canada to offer the full IB continuum. As one of only 5% of IB schools in Canada authorized to offer the full continuum of IB programmes, GNS is proud of its unique 'IB Advantage': a 21st-Century approach which educates the whole child and creates global thinkers. GNS offers 5- and 7-day Family Boarding options for students who are not residents of Victoria. In June 2007, the Board of Directors approved a plan for comprehensive campus transformation. In 2009, an artificial turf field was installed. In the spring of 2013 Denford Hall, seating over 350, was completed. A further campaign was launched in 2018 to refurbish the school's two campuses, at Beach Drive and Pemberton Woods, which was supported by a $5 million donation by Gordon Denford. On Friday, May 24, 2019, the school celebrated the official opening of the school's new Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten facilities and the re-dedication of the Boathouse, one of the buildings originally designed by Francis Rattenbury. Together these buildings comprise the first completed projects in the upcoming multi-phase capital campaign initiative that, once completed, will fully transform both the Junior School campus and the Middle and Senior School campus on nearby Bank Street.
Debate
GNS's Senior Campus is known for a successful debate program. The school occasionally sends debaters to the Worlds and regularly sends students to the Junior and Senior National debate tournaments and seminars.
Athletics
Glenlyon Norfolk identifies three girls sports and three boys sports as the ‘major’ sports of the School: Girls Field Hockey, Basketball, and Soccer; Boys Rugby, Basketball, and Soccer. In these 6 sports, the explicit goal is being competitive at the Provincial level. Since 1986 the Gryphons have won Vancouver Island Championships and Independent School Championships 38 times in 14 different sports and Provincial Championships as follows: Boys Rugby , Tennis, Climbing, Girls Soccer, Boys Soccer, Boys Basketball, Golf.
Clubs
GNS provides a wide variety of clubs including the Tech Team, the Gryphon Newspaper, the Photography club, the Round Square and the Positivity Project.
