James Allen's Girls' School - Jags History

Jags History

The school is part of The Dulwich Estate the foundation established by Edward Alleyn, which also includes Dulwich College and Alleyn's. It was founded by a Master of Dulwich College, James Allen, in 1741, as a free reading school for the local poor. James Allen was born on 4 May 1683 in Hornsey (a village which was later absorbed into north London) but later moved to Sussex. His father, also James Allen, drowned in an accident in 1690, after which his mother, Elizabeth, moved the family to Westminster and remarried.

By 1701, James Allen was a clerk in the Cursitors' Hall, the clerical branch of the Court of Chancery. In 1712, he became the Warden and later Master of the College of God's Gift at Dulwich. Allen believed that there ought to be a school where poor boys could learn to read and write, and girls to read and sew. He purchased the freehold of six houses in what is now Kensington Church Street, the annual rental of which provided income for the school. The Reading Schools opened on 25 June 1741 in Dulwich Village, with two mixed classes of children between six and ten years of age. Tuition was free. Entry was restricted to the children of poor families living within a one mile radius of Dulwich.

James Allen died on 28 October 1746, leaving a bequest to his school to secure its future down the centuries. The final part of his legacy was used to establish the Scholars' Fund in 1997.

By 1814, the school was expanding rapidly. It had been renamed the Dulwich Free School. In 1842, the boys were removed to become the nucleus of Alleyn's School nearby. The remaining girls were the first pupils of JAGS as a single sex school, as it is now.

The school moved to its present building in September 1895, and has undergone continued development since. Recently, the old swimming pool has been converted into a dining hall and four new classrooms and some Drama rooms have been built. JAGS usually has a four class entry at 11+ (sometimes 5), with some 750 girls in the senior school and over 1,000 in the three schools combined. Staff is mixed female and male.

The school prides itself on its high academic standard and the quality of its artistic, sporting and cultural provision. It ranks high in national school league tables, normally inside the country's top 20 schools scheme. The Southwark Schools' Learning Partnership is a collaboration of eleven schools, eight state and three independent, a sharing of ideas for teachers and pupils.

The Dulwich Decorative and Fine Arts Society meets in JAGS' sixth form lecture theatre.