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Alleyn's School is an independent, fee-paying co-educational day school situated in Dulwich, South-East London. It is part of Alleyn's College, which also includes James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS), Dulwich College and as well as their daughter schools (JAPS, DCPS and Alleyn's Junior School). The official religion is Church of England.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Edward Alleyn 1.2 The College of God's Gift 1.3 The Second World War 1.4 Headmasters 2 Development of facilities 3 The Edward Alleyn Building 4 School charities 5 Extra-curricular activities 5.1 Sport 6 Publications 6.1 Scriblerus 6.2 Lower School Magazine 6.3 Blue 6.4 End of term newsletter 7 Fees 8 Houses 9 Trivia 10 Notable Alumni 11 References

Edward Alleyn was a prosperous Elizabethan actor and proprietor of taverns, bear-pits and owned 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.

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.

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 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.

• 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 (2003-Present)

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 new 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.

Alleyn's is currently developing a new theatre complex, named the Edward Alleyn Building. Building started on 10 February 2007 and is planned to finish before Founders Day (28 June) in 2008. The building will include a state-of-the-art theatre, conference facilities, dance studio, a new café and a sixth form study area.

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.

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.

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, and cricket. Fencing, 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.

Extra-curricular 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), and a boys hockey tour to the Netherlands (October).

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.

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 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).

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

As of September 2006, the termly fee (payable three times annually) is £3827. 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, and would possibly only be able to do so with this fee reduction.

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	Boys' Tie Colours		Current Administration
					Housemaster	Current House Captain
Brading's	Br	1907		Brown	Mr. Reid	Mia Neve
Brown's	Bw	1907		Green	Mr. Alldrick	Thomas Scott-Soundy
Cribb's	Cr	1907		Purple	Mrs. Connolly	Fynn Clive
Dutton's	Du	1921		Dark Blue	Ms. Chandler	Charles Gallagher-Powell
Roper's	Ro	1907		Yellow	Mr. Cochrane	Alexander Senn
Spurgeon's	Sp	1907		Pink	Mr. Geldard	Eleanor Lyons
Tulley's	Tu	1907		Red	Mr. Sherlock	Giles Clifford
Tyson's	Ty	1921		Light Blue	Miss. Legg	Natasha Greenwood

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). House badges were introduced in 2004.

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.

• Alleyn's is considered to be one the best co-educational school in the country by the Good Schools Guide.^[1]

• 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.

• 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 ^[2]
• 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
• 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
• Terence Higgins, Baron Higgins (born 1928), politician
• Mickey Stewart (born 1933), cricketer
• Julian Glover (born 1935), actor
• Simon Ward (born 1941), actor
• Kelvin MacKenzie (born 1946), former editor of The Sun
• Ajay Kakkar, Professor of Surgical Science, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London
• Douglas Higgs (born 1951), Director, Molecular Haematology Unit of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford
• Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (born 1965), television presenter
• Samuel West (born 1966), actor
• Ed Simons (born 1970), one half of the Chemical Brothers
• Jude Law (born 1972), actor
• Gabriel Prokofiev (born 1975), musician and producer
• Felix White, guitarist and vocalist of The Maccabees
• Jack Peñate, singer-songwriter
• Alexandra Shaw, singer-songwriter
• Stuart Blair, back-up bassist for The Flaming Lips
• John Stride, actor (born 11th July 1936)
• Michael Edwards, cricketer (born 1st Mar 1940)
• Kenneth Farrington, actor (born 18th April 1936)

• Buxton Field Centre
• Good School Guide Entry
• Online plans for the new theatre

1. ^ http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/?100172&Retry=
2. ^ http://www.jstor.org/jstor/gifcvtdir/ap001719/1479571x/ap030022/03a00130_S.1.gif?config=jstor&K=user@user_response/81p9ap4Rb14HnND-y0/40/4kkiOT0W/31479571x.ap030022.03a00130.0/2CVBaDPtCCybsRYe2oZ2zZ