Alleyn's School

Alleyn's School
Motto	God's Gift
Established	1882 as a separate school, although direct descendant of Edward Alleyn's original foundation of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich founded in 1619.
Type	Public School
Headmaster	Dr. Colin Diggory
Chairman of the Governing Board	Prof. Ajay Kakkar
Founder	Edward Alleyn
Location	Townley Road Dulwich London SE22 8NU England
Students	1100 (approx.)
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11 to 18
Houses	8 (See Houses)
Colours	Red, White and Black
Former pupils	Alleyn's Old Boys / Girls
Affiliation	Alleyn's College of God's Gift
Website	www.alleyns.org.uk

Alleyn's School is an independent, fee-paying co-educational day school situated in Dulwich, SE22, South London. It is a registered charity^[1] and was originally part of the historic Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundation, which also included James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS), Dulwich College and their daughter schools (JAPS and Alleyn's Junior School). The official religion is Church of England; the school is also listed in the Good Schools Guide.^[2]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Edward Alleyn 1.2 The College of God's Gift 1.3 The Second World War 2 Post-war 3 May 2009 H1N1 flu cases 4 Headmasters 5 Development of facilities 6 The Edward Alleyn Building 7 School charities 8 Extra-curricular activities 8.1 Theatrical activities 8.2 Sport 9 Publications 9.1 Scriblerus 9.2 Lower School Magazine 9.3 Blue 9.4 Edward Alleyn Club Magazine 9.5 End of term newsletter 10 Fees 11 Positions of responsibility 12 Houses 13 Victor Ludorum 14 Notable alumni 15 References 16 External links

History

Edward Alleyn

Edward Alleyn was a prosperous Elizabethan actor and proprietor of taverns, bear-pits and three brothels, whose Rose and Fortune theatres rivalled Shakespeare's Globe. In 1619 he established his "College of God's Gift" (the gift of love) with twelve students. Alleyn's School is a direct descendant of Edward Alleyn's original foundation and was established as a boys' school in 1882. It still exists as part of a foundation alongside Dulwich College and JAGS - it split with Dulwich College after the "Dulwich College Act" of 1857, with the upper school of the original foundation moving to a new site further south and the lower school staying put, becoming an independent boys school in 1882 and later also moving to its own site.

The Worshipful Company of Saddlers in the City became a generous sponsor of scholarships and new buildings after establishing a link with the school in 1970. Some of the original school buildings date from Alleyn's independence in 1882, but the School has followed a programme of continuous development since the 1970s.

The original school is now the foundation chapel and the offices for the Dulwich Estate, which belongs to the foundation schools. Alleyn's became a public school with the election of the Headmaster to the Headmasters' Conference (HMC) in 1919. It was a Direct Grant School from 1958 until the abolition of that status in 1975. The Governors then opted for outright independence and co-education.

The College of God's Gift

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 Master and Warden were also chosen, with the criteria being that they had to be unmarried and with the surname Alleyn. However, the rule that the Master and Warden had to be unmarried was not strictly adhered to.

Because the Masters and Wardens had to have the surname Alleyn, this limited the applicants mainly to family of Edward Alleyn. First, Thomas Alleyn, a cousin of Edward took the post of Master in 1629, followed by Mathias Alleyn in 1631. His son, John, succeeded as Master in 1669.

It was not easy for the Foundation to run smoothly. The four parishes, as beneficiaries, were always claiming "rights" from the Foundation estates. Separately, the Masters generally seemed very unsuitable people to have in control of the College. A notable exception to this was James Allen who eventually formed James Allen's Girls' School which was at the time for poor boys and girls in Dulwich, however subsequently has become exclusively a girl's school by an Act of Parliament in 1841.

The Second World War

During World War II, many pupils at Alleyn's were evacuated to the countryside, however some wished to stay in London, and for this reason the South London Emergency Secondary School (SLESS) was set up and housed in Alleyn's buildings from March 1940 to March 1945. This was not undertaken only to give the boys who wished to remain in London a proper education, but in conjunction with the London County Council Education Department, to offer a grammar school education to others whose schools were evacuated but did not themselves wish to leave London. SLESS kept Alleyn's buildings alive.

On the roll were 240 boys from seventeen local schools (114 from Alleyn's) and eleven masters from six schools. The Acting Headmaster (taking over from C. R. Allison) was C. Hack, and the Second Master (who subsequently became headmaster) was C. F. Tyson. The rest of Alleyn's was evacuated to Rossall School.

The school was divided into houses as before. Games were played, fives was taught to newcomers and holidays were filled with "Holiday Clubs". The fields were used for sport, however some became unusable due as the old elm trees were felled by the blast. Underground shelters were dug between the running track and Woodwarde Road for use by local residents. The shelters for the pupils were in the basement (now home to the Maths Department), and lessons were frequently undertaken here due to enemy air activity.

The Royal Air Force housed their barrage balloon crews in the local brick and concrete buildings at the bottom of the school fields. The huge balloons would constantly overshadow the school's main building, and, at times, settled on the School's roof.

All staff had to undertake fire watching at nights and at the weekends. In 1942 the General Schools Certificate (GSE) was undertaken whilst the lights were failing and bombs dropping. Despite this, fourteen received Matriculation and five the Certificate.

Post-war

The post-war years saw the development of the School as an Independent Public School developing in three very contrasting areas, the theatre, medicine, and the military. In particular, the secondment of the Head of English, Michael Croft, to set up the National Youth Theatre was the start of the worldwide youth theatre movement, and the School has produced an unusually high number of eminent actors and musicians. At the same time, the Music Department developed a close relationship with Benjamin Britten, providing a considerable number of boy sopranos for his works, and in particular the young David Hemmings who started his stage career as Miles in the opera Turn of the Screw.

May 2009 H1N1 flu cases

On 4 May 2009, six children in Year 7 were diagnosed with Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 2009 swine flu outbreak.^[3] The school was closed for one week to contain the outbreak and exams were rescheduled. All pupils and staff were offered a course of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, distributed from the School. All the infected pupils responded to treatment, and were named with quotes in the newspapers.^[4]. Other pupils have had it since.

Headmasters

The Revd J. H. Smith	1882-1902
H. B. Baker	1902-1903
F. Collins	1903-1920
R. B. Henderson	1920-1940
C. R. Allison	1940-1945
S. R. Hudson	1945-1963
C. W. Lloyd	1963-1966
J. L. Fanner	1967-1975
D. A. Fenner	1976-1992
Dr. C. H. R. Niven	1992-2002
Dr. C. Diggory	2002-Present (retires 2010)

Development of facilities

Since 1970, Alleyn's has had continuous development, both in physical buildings but also in the facilities it offers. A new lower-school building was built in 1975, followed by the swimming pool/gym complex. In 1983 the new Sports Hall was created, which is now a prominent feature of the school. In 1990 (completed in 1992) the new Music School and Junior School were added.

The Junior School was subsequently opened to 200 boys and girls aged from 4 to 11, and is successful for preparing entry into the Senior School (and other, external schools) in a supportive atmosphere tailored to the children's needs, participating in a great range of activities through a structured timetable.

The Great Hall was refurbished in 2000 and in 2002 the new library was opened. A new theatre complex is planned for late 2008, with construction starting in the summer of 2007.

The facilities that are offered at the school have increased in par with the buildings. The addition of the Lower School meant that the students in the lowest two years (7 and 8) could be educated semi-separately from the rest of the school, providing a sheltered environment. The swimming pool block and sports hall have increased the facilities for the physical education activities run at the school, as have the music school and expanded library for musical activities and a general work area respectively.

The Edward Alleyn Building

Alleyn's started developing a new theatre complex, named the Edward Alleyn Building, on 10th February 2007. It was planned to be finished before Founders Day (28 June) in 2008. The building will include a state-of-the-art theatre, conference facilities, dance studio, a new café, classrooms, and a sixth form study area. The building was completed in 2009 and had a Grand Gala Opening featuring many performances by several pupils and oldboys.

School charities

There are a number of different charities that the school donates to. Each term the Charity Committee, run by staff and pupils, chooses a charity to raise money for. The charities often have a connection to the school, and are usually dedicated to helping children. This term, (advent) the school will be raising money for the NSPCC, the middle school have chosen this charity

Extra-curricular activities

The school has a Combined Cadet Force and a Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. There is also a volunteer work programme: gardening for the elderly in the surrounding area of Dulwich and Fun Fizzical, working with children with special needs and disabilities in Sydenham.

Theatrical activities

The school's pupils operate their own independent theatrical company, the Bear Pit, which maintains traditions thought to date back to Shakespeare's company, whence the large number of performers in the alumni list. It was in particular active in the establishment of the National Youth Theatre, established in 1956 by Michael Croft, the Head of English, and its performers were active in the more developmental wing of the London theatre in the 1960s - the uniforms of the film of Oh What a Lovely War were copied from originals unearthed from the depths of the Cadet Force stores, for example! The Bear Pit does not constrain itself to school pupils, however, as it has a vocation in the community and has developed strong relationships with other state schools in Southwark.

Sport

Alleyn's has a strong record in sports, and caters for every level of enthusiasm and ability. The sports hall, swimming pool and the new all-weather surface for hockey and tennis enable everyone to enjoy games periods even in winter. Sport for all and physical fitness are seen as preparation for a healthy and active life.

During the first year pupils are introduced to a variety of sports: swimming, football, hockey, netball, basketball, gymnastics, dance, water polo, cross country, fives, tennis, athletics, rounders, fencing, and cricket. Trampolining, badminton and volleyball are introduced in the Middle School. In the Upper School, weight training, squash, golf, and horse riding are added to the list of sports available.

There is regular county and regional representation in gym, swimming, hockey, cricket, badminton, fencing, basketball, fives, judo, netball, football, athletics, cross country.

Extracurricular sport at Alleyn's extends to regular sports tours at home and abroad. In addition to the annual school ski trip the last 18 months has seen a boys' cricket tour to Barbados (July), a girls' hockey and netball tour to Barbados (October), a mixed hockey tour to the Netherlands (October), a boys football tour to the Netherlands (October) and boys football tour to Duisburg in Germany (August).

After the separation from Dulwich College, Alleyn's was initially not allowed to play rugby football. Upon the split the two schools played a rugby match to determine which school would have the right to play the game. When Dulwich College won they confirmed their right to play rugby, whilst Alleyn's would play association football. Alleyn's did make tentative moves towards introducing rugby football very briefly in the late 1970s when the then chaplain (a keen rugby player) set up a team and began organising matches. There was little interest, however, and the attempt did not survive the chaplain's retirement. Especially as the matches played resulted in severe losses despite valiant attempts by the team. This explanation contradicts the popular rumor that Rugby stopped at Alleyn's in the 1970s due to a boy breaking his neck and dying when a scrum collapsed. another attempt was made to introduce rugby in 2007/8 when a DT teacher, Mr MacMillan, showed enthusiasm and began an exclusive lunchtime club. whilst the club ran through winter it never gained enough following or reached a high enough standard to form a team.

Publications

Scriblerus

Scriblerus is the official school magazine, which provides a summary to the previous year in the form of reports on sport, clubs and societies, academic results and field trips throughout the year. A large section of the magazine is devoted to the activities by the CCF and DofE activities.

Scriblerus is published in early July, in conjunction with the end of the Trinity term. It is free of charge, as it is considered promotional material by the Senior Management Team.

Lower School Magazine

The Lower School Magazine is edited by the Deputy Headmistress of the Lower School and features content written by the lower school pupils, much like Scriblerus. It is naturally focused on the youngest two years which form the lower school, and is aimed at the pupils rather than parents (arguably, unlike Scriblerus).

Blue

Blue is the termly magazine produced by Tyson's House to raise money for charity. This charity is determined by Tyson House, and tends to reflect the long term association that Tyson's have with certain charities. Tyson's House delegates the editing of the magazine to a year 13 student each year. Last issue Blue raised over £300 for the school charity. Blue was set up in 1999 by Mrs Thompson (Housemistress of Tyson's).

Edward Alleyn Club Magazine

This is the magazine for Alleyn's alumni and it is produced twice a year. Former pupils who supply their email addresses also receive an alumni e-bulletin each term. For further details, see [www.edwardalleynclub.com], the website for Alleyn's alumni.

End of term newsletter

The end of term newsletter is produced at the end of each term by the headmaster.

Fees

As of March 2008, the termly fee (payable three times annually) is £4027. This fee is reviewed every year by the school's governors, and in recent years has increased 21%. The fees are reduced if the child's parent is a teacher at the school, however the child must still pass all entrance requirements. Teachers with children actively send them to Alleyn's. Bursaries and Scholarships are available.

Positions of responsibility

School Captain	Vice Captain	Vice Captain
Julian Mack	Poppy Terry	James Gallagher-Powell
Roper's	Tulley's	Dutton's

Houses

The house system was inaugurated in 1907 during the Headmastership of F. Collins. It was at this time that the first six houses were created, with the latter two being added in 1921.

House	Abbr.	Founded	House Colours		Current Administration
					Housemaster	House Captain	Vice House Captains
Bradings	Br	1907		Brown	Mr. G Reid	Nancy Best	George Warner
Browns	Bw	1907		Green	Mr. R Alldrick	Maya Peilow	Alexander Lee
Cribbs	Cr	1907		Purple	Ms. S Connolly	Elizabeth Laurence	Edward Johnson, Emily Malkin
Duttons	Du	1921		Dark Blue	Mr. J Shelton	Rosemary Harris	Felix De Grey, Holly Marston
Ropers	Ro	1907		Yellow	Mr. P Cochrane	Clare Le Voir	Thea Hope, Cal Robinson
Spurgeons	Sp	1907		Old Rose	Mr. L Geldeard	Evan Williams	Timothy Quicke, Jessica Webster
Tulleys	Tu	1907		Red	Mr. P Sherlock	Charlotte Sandberg	Mawutor Adabadze, Anna Wilson
Tysons	Ty	1921		Light Blue	Mr. N Green	Frederick Ward	Abigail Bainbridge, Kamala Dodd

Originally the house colours were not allowed to be any shade of blue, since this was the colour designated for Oxford and Cambridge and it were thought 'inappropriate' to have blue as a House colour as that was associated in one's mind with the two universities.

In 1921 when two new houses were created (due to their increasing role in the school but also to allow for knock-out sports and inter-house competitions), Henderson (the headmaster) had no qualms about the use of university colours, hence allowing them to use dark blue (Oxford) and light blue (Cambridge).

The colours denote the house colour, which appears on the school tie for middle-school pupils and on the "house shirts" which are used during inter-house sports competitions. Until 1984 the colour was also found on the school cap (for boys). All middle school and upper school pupils have badges of their house colour with a silver Alleyns crest on it. Teachers also have these. House badges were introduced in 2004 and the house scarf in 2007.

Pupils with relatives who are either currently attending or have previously been pupils are allocated to the same house as those family members.

When house names are quoted on paper the apostrophe is almost always not included (e.g. Cribbs not Cribb's). Some believe this is because the house names are now disassociated with the original housemasters, so an apostrophe is not necessary.

Alleyns Lower School does not use the house system, but rather competes for ones class in 'inter-form competitions'. Pupils are then allocated a house at random (unless relatives are in or have been in the school in which case they are allocated to that house) in year 9, the beginning of the Middle School.

Victor Ludorum

The Victor Ludorum is the annual trophy contested for by each house during the school year. The winning house is determined by the amount of points it has won throughout the course of the year in inter-house sporting events, within years 9-13.

Notable alumni

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• Sir Frederick Keeble (1870–1952), Sherardian Professor of Botany, University of Oxford, 1920–1927, Scientific Adviser to ICI, 1927–1938, and Fullerian Professor, Royal Institution, 1938–1941
• James Bolivar Manson (1879–1945), painter and Director, Tate Gallery, 1930–1938
• Arthur Watson (1880–1969), Editor, Daily Telegraph, 1924–1950
• Arthur Ewins (1882–1957), chemist
• Alexander Glenny (1882–1965), immunologist
• C. S. Forester (1899–1966), novelist [1]
• Sir Harold Bishop (1900–1983), Director of Technical Services/Engineering, BBC, 1952–1963
• Sir V. S. Pritchett (1900–1997), writer and critic
• Harry Guntrip (1901–1975), psychotherapist and Congregational minister
• Sir Henry Cotton (1907–1987), golfer
• Sir Ronald Leach (1907–1996), Senior Partner, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.
• Sir Frank Young (1908–1988), biochemist and first Master of Darwin College, Cambridge, 1964–1976
• R. V. Jones (1911–1997), physicist, military intelligence expert, and Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, 1946–1981
• Sir Joe Hooper (1914–1994), Director, Government Communications Headquarters, 1965–1973, and Government Intelligence Co-ordinator, 1973–1978
• Stuart Blanch, Baron Blanch (1918–1994), Bishop of Liverpool, 1966–1975, and Archbishop of York, 1975–1983
• Frank Thornton (born 1921), actor
• Terence Higgins, Baron Higgins (born 1928), politician
• Mickey Stewart (born 1933), cricketer
• Julian Glover (born 1935), actor
• Ken Farrington (born 1936), actor
• John Stride (born 1936), actor
• Michael Edwards (born 1940), cricketer
• Simon Ward (born 1941), actor [2]
• Kelvin MacKenzie (born 1946), former editor of The Sun
• Ajay Kakkar, Professor of Surgical Science, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London (Roper's house. Also a school governor)
• Edward Harding (born 1949), Keyboards for Spencer Davis Group
• Douglas Higgs (born 1951), Director, Molecular Haematology Unit of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford
• Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (born 1965).^{[citation needed]}, television presenter and architect[3]
• Samuel West (born 1966), actor [4]
• Ben Jacobs (born 1969)^{[citation needed]}, singer-songwriter, Jamiroquai or Max Tundra
• Ed Simons (born 1970), one half of the Chemical Brothers [5]
• Nancy Carroll, RSC actor [6]
• James Hyland (born James Donovan; 1973), actor/writer [7]
• Jude Law (born 1972),Movie actor [8]
• Donal Coonan, presenter of Channel 4's web show, thisisaknife
• Stuart Blair, back-up bassist for The Flaming Lips
• Neil McCaul, actor, Heil Honey, I'm Home
• Rich Fownes (born 1983), songwriter/Nine Inch Nails bassist
• Jack Peñate (born 1984), singer-songwriter [9] (spurgeon's house)
• Felix White, guitarist and vocalist of The Maccabees [10]
• Florence Welch (born 1987), vocalist of Florence and the Machine (spurgeon's house)
• Robin Shroot (born 1988) Birmingham City F.C. midfielder
• Mark Fisher (born 1960), keyboardist of Matt Bianco

References

External links

• Alleyn's School website
• Alleyn's School, Registered Charity no. 1057971 at the Charity Commission
• Edward Alleyn Club, the alumni association of Alleyn's School, website
• Buxton Field Centre
• Profile at the Good Schools Guide
• Online plans for the new theatre
• Profile at Nappyvalleynet.com

Coordinates: 51°27′17″N 0°04′55″W / 51.45472°N 0.08194°W / 51.45472; -0.08194