Alleyn's School is a 4–18 co-educational, public, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundation, which also included James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) and Dulwich College.
It became a public school with the election of its headmaster to the Headmasters' Conference (HMC) in 1929, but, like Oakham School, subsequently operated as a direct grant grammar school, from 1958 until the abolition of that status in 1976, after which its governors opted for outright independence and co-education.
It is very strong academically and usually outperforms its sister school Dulwich College at both GCSE and A-Level.
Contents
History
Edward Alleyn
In 1619, Edward Alleyn established his 'College of God's Gift' (the gift of love) accommodating twelve poor brothers and sisters (“pensioners”), plus providing education for a further twelve poor scholars: Alleyn's School is a successor of Edward Alleyn's original foundation, the scholars of which it inherited when it was established as a boys' school in 1882. (Together with Dulwich College, it is also a successor of the original Corporation’s 1842-founded Grammar School.) It still exists as part of a foundation alongside Dulwich College, and JAGS.
For the original College of God's Gift, 24 students had to be chosen from the four parishes with which Edward Alleyn had been connected. Saint Giles, Camberwell (in which Dulwich was situated), Saint Saviour, Southwark (where the Bear Pit stood on Bankside), Saint Botolph, Bishopsgate (where Alleyn was born), and Saint Giles, Cripplegate (home to the Fortune Theatre).
The Lower School
The 1857 Act for confirming a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners for the College of God's Gift in Dulwich in the County of Surrey, also known as the Dulwich College Act, mandated that the College of God's Gift be wound up, and that “Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift”, its replacement, create an "Upper School", which became Dulwich College, and a "Lower School", which became Alleyn's; both in the further 1882 reorganisation.
Separation from the College of God's Gift
In 1869, the upper school moved away to a new site further south (“The New College”), but the lower school remained at “The Old College” and the old Grammar School buildings until 1887, when it moved to its current site which contained new buildings. The original school location is now the foundation chapel and the offices for the Dulwich Estate, which belongs to the two schools.
Independence and co-education
It became a public school with the election of its headmaster to the Headmasters' Conference (HMC) in 1929, but, like Oakham School, subsequently operated as a direct grant grammar school, from 1958 until the abolition of that status in 1976, after which its governors opted for outright independence and co-education. Their Chairman Lord Wolfenden explained the decision in the House of Lords on 12 November 1975:
As a responsible body of Governors, we were confronted with an extremely difficult decision. The dilemma is this. Should we, as the phrase goes, "take our place within the pattern of the local education authority", or should we, on the other hand, go independent? In relation to the former of those alternatives, there are two relevant considerations. The first is whether the past history and present nature of a school fits in with the overall structure of the pattern of the local education authority for children in the Dulwich area. The answer is that it clearly does not. A long-established grammar school, annually recruited to carry out what has for long been recognised by a substantial number of LEAs as its specific academic purpose, does not easily transform itself overnight into a comprehensive school to serve a limited catchment area. Even if it could do that, with extraordinary metamorphoses of staff and objectives, there is no evidence whatever that any local education authority would be prepared to absorb it. So the dilemma is resolved, your Lordships may say. Yes, but at what cost? Alleyn's School has no option, whatever its wishes might have been, but to go independent.Doctrines and ideologies apart, what does this mean in real life? It means that there will now be in Dulwich two independent day grammar schools, one of 1,300 boys and the other of 800 boys, within a couple of miles of each other. It also means that in order to maintain Alleyn's as an independent school its fees, with the removal of direct grant, will have to be put up to something like those of its consistently independent neighbour, Dulwich College. What sense does it make to have over 2,000 places in independent boys' grammar schools, at independent school fees, in one district of South London? We, the Governors of Alleyn's 1847 School think it makes no sense at all, so we are intending to make Alleyn's into a co-educational school. Then, in the Dulwich area, there will be an independent boys' school, Dulwich College, an independent girls' school, James Allen's School, and an independent coeducational school, Alleyn's.
Development
Alleyn's started developing a new theatre complex, named the Edward Alleyn Building, on 10 February 2007. The £8.5 million building was completed in 2008 and had a Grand Gala Opening in 2009.
Extra-curricular activities
The school has one of the largest Combined Cadet Forces in the country, where students can choose between joining the Royal Navy Section, Army Section or RAF Section. The Alleyn's CCF is led mainly by its Cadet NCOs who are sixth form students who teach the younger cadets. These are led by a team of Senior Cadet NCOs under the Cadet RSM and members of the adult staff. The CCF is also linked to the Alleyn's School Rifle Club which competes in various cadet smallbore and fullbore target rifle competitions.
The Alleyn's CCF offers a JNCO CADRE, a leadership and infantry training programme, as well as visits to European battlefields, military bases in England and Wales, and recent courses in Northern Sweden and Cyprus. The Alleyn's CCF takes part in annual parades in Dulwich Village with the contingents of Dulwich College and JAGS on Remembrance Sunday. For Remembrance Sunday 2022, Alleyn's was invited to provide a party of cadets from the Army Section for the arrival of HM The King at the Cenotaph.
Music and drama also form a large part of life at Alleyn's with dramatic performances at the Michael Croft Theatre and musical performances at the Royal Festival Hall and St John's, Smith Square, in addition to musical tours to Italy, France and Poland.
Heads of the school
1882–1902: The Rev. J. Henry Smith (head of the Lower School at Dulwich, 1875–1882)
1919–1940: R. B. Henderson
1945–1963: S. R. Hudson
1963–1966: Charles W. Lloyd
1967–1976: J. L. Fanner
1976–1990: D. A. Fenner
1992–2002: Dr Colin H. R. Niven
2002 - 2010: Dr Colin Diggory
2010–2020: Dr Gary Savage
2020: Mr Andy Skinnard (interim)
2021– : Jane Lunnon
Alleyn's Old Boys and Girls
School alumni are known as Alleyn Old Boys and Girls, or Alleyn's Old Boys and Girls. This should not be confused with Old Alleynians, the name of Dulwich College alumni.
Stuart Blanch, Baron Blanch (1918–1994), Bishop of Liverpool, 1966–1975, Archbishop of York, 1975–1983
Tom Brooke
Nancy Carroll (born 1974), actress
Jack Chalker (1918–2014), artist
Eden Cheng
Cyrus Chothia
Jonathan Clark, bishop
Donal Coonan
Ray Cooney (born 1932), playwright and actor
Sir Henry Cotton (1907–1987), golfer
Francis Cubbon
Theo Dan
Peter Darling, choreographer
Nicholas Day, actor
Luc de Fougerolles
Mike Edwards, cricketer
Kenneth Farrington
C. S. Forester (1899–1966), novelist
Rich Fownes
Pixie Geldof
Julian Glover (born 1935), actor