Slip is an old English word for clay and End is a common part of place names in Bedfordshire and not unknown in other counties.

It is, therefore, possible that Slip End was named in the early 19th century because of the small number of houses built near the new brickworks in an area not previously developed with the older settlements of Woodside and Pepperstock to either side.

Another plausible explanation is that 'the slip' in fact is a very deep deposit of clay, situated between the stratas of chalk which form the bedrock of Central Bedfordshire.

A century after its foundation, the school moved to its present site on Rossway which previously had been clay pits for local brick production.

The Peter Edwards Hall and Playing Fields are situated at the Luton end of the village, next to the church.