The Alleyn’s Experience

Co-educational Alleyn’s is a forward-thinking community currently celebrating its 400-year history with the same ethos with which it began – inclusivity and ambition.

Alleyn’s attracts boys and girls from all backgrounds. It is proudly co-educational, creative and progressive, always looking to the future as it constantly builds on its strong, 400-year old foundations. There is a unique energy to the school; pupils and staff are kind, reflected through the volunteering in the local community, and there is a vast range of co-curricular activities and clubs on offer including CCF, music, drama and the Duke of Edinburgh scheme – the largest school programme in the south-east. It is from this context and with an outward-looking attitude that Alleyn’s welcomes candidates from all walks of life.

The school community is made up of children from a rich variety of social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, who arrive at Alleyn’s from both the state and private sector. The school provides a great deal of financial assistance for families, occasionally through scholarships but principally through a significant number of means-tested bursaries.

What sets Alleyn’s apart from other schools is their transformational bursary scheme, covering the education and making provision available for other key elements such as uniform, school trips and school lunches, encouraging those who might not otherwise consider an independent school to do so.

It is something which Headmaster Dr Gary Savage set out to do when he arrived at the school, and this year Alleyn’s have formalised their intention to increase their bursary offering. At the moment around 10% of all Senior School pupils receive help with fees and the school is currently fundraising with the goal of doubling that figure to 20% in the near future.

Celebrating 400 years of history is an excellent time to raise awareness of this ‘open door’ policy. “It is where we came from, where the school’s roots lie, and it is still very much the way we want to be going, both today and long into the future,“ says Dr Savage. There are good relationships with a great number of state and independent schools and Alleyn’s is a member of the Southwark Schools Learning Partnership, as well as the London Fee Assistance Consortium, a group of London schools who highlight the availability of bursary places. It is also a supporter of the London Academy of Excellence in Tottenham.

Families are fully encouraged to come to visit the school on one of the many open days during the academic year. The very popular Year 6 taster day, Experience Alleyn’s, is held in September, and allows boys and girls to try activities ranging from sport, art and music to drama, cookery and science to get a sense of school life. Sign-up for the limited places opens in July.

“A day spent with us will show the child what we are all about and hopefully the lively, buzzy atmosphere will leave them enthused and excited about what we have to offer. We want children and families to come to see for themselves what an Alleyn’s education looks like,” says Savage.

When Edward Alleyn established the Foundation of the College of God’s Gift four centuries ago, his goal was to make a difference to the lives of local people, an ambition valid today through help with fees, fundraising for bursaries and extensive community and partnership work. The school shares its facilities for thousands of hours a year and pupils gain more of an understanding of the world around them by spending time volunteering and on outreach work.

Dr Savage concludes, “We are so much more than one thing; we offer so many different things to so many different people. Diversity is at the heart of what we do and there are myriad opportunities ranging from the academic to the sporty or creative. Please don’t be put off because we are independent – our door is open to all.”