Dame Allan's Schools is a collection of Independent schools in Fenham, in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It comprises a coeducational junior school, single-sex senior schools and a coeducational sixth form. Founded in 1705 as a charity, the original schools are two of the oldest schools in the city.
History
They were founded by Dame Eleanor Allan, the daughter of a local goldsmith and the widow of a tobacco merchant, to provide a proper education for "40 poor boys and 20 poor girls of the parishes of St Nicholas and St John". The schools were endowed with land at Wallsend, to the east of Newcastle. The original school seems likely to have been near St Nicholas's Church, and certainly was by 1778. It moved to Manor Chare near All Saints' Church in 1786, to Carliol Square in 1821, to Rosemary Lane off Pudding Chare in 1861, and to Hanover Square in 1875. The school then moved to College Street in Newcastle in 1883 and remained there until 1935 when it re-located to the present site in Fenham. Until 1988 the schools operated as separate boys' and girls' schools with a joint governing body. The governors then took the decision to appoint a principal with overall responsibility for the management of the two schools. At the same time, they created a joint mixed sixth form and reintroduced a mixed junior school. The plural, "schools", refers to the fact that Dame Allan's operates in a diamond format. In effect, Dame Allan's consists of 4 different schools: the co-educational Junior school for nursery to Year 6 are located in a separate building in Spital Tongues; the single sex boys' and girls' schools for years 7 to 11; and the co-educational sixth form.
Facilities
A number of new classrooms were built between 2004 and 2005 to replace older facilities, with some intended specifically for the sixth form centre. The Sixth Form Centre was opened by Queen Elizabeth II during an official visit on 14 October 2005 and was named the Queen's Building. September 2012 saw the opening of the new nursery and junior school in Spital Tongues. 2015 saw Dame Allan's chosen as the recipient of a £250,000 grant to help fund a £500,000 project. The grant was given by the Reece Foundation which promotes the improvement of education in engineering, technology and related subjects. The new facility will build on the Schools' existing master class programme.
Academics
All schools are private, and potential candidates must pass written exams and an interview. The fees are currently around £4,412 per term in the Main Schools and £4,312 per term in the Junior Department. These fees include books and external examination entry fees, but do not include meals. Scholarships of up to 50% are available on the basis of academic merit, and bursaries of up to 100% are available on the basis of academic merit and financial need. Being a private school, Dame Allan's does not strictly adhere to the National Curriculum. It does enter all its students in public examinations such as GCSEs and A-levels, so the subjects taught are closely tied into their national counterparts. All students must study English, mathematics, and the sciences to GCSE level, and it is strongly recommended that at least one foreign language be studied to this level. Sixth form students have a much wider range of study, with no mandatory subjects and the introduction of many new subjects in year 12, including A-levels in politics, psychology, sports, business and theatre studies. Dame Allan's is an Anglican school. In 2005 the school recorded its best ever set of exam results, including a handful of Top 5 results in several subjects, notably GCSE languages. Furthermore, two pupils were awarded 6 grade As at A-level. The school consistently performs to an extremely high standard in public examinations, with the girls' school often slightly outscoring the boys' school at GCSE level. The school has not yet been inspected by OFSTED but received a positive report from the independent schools Inspectorate in 2000. The 2000 inspection summarised the schools as "a civilised and civilising community... a well-rounded education for pupils from the age of 8 to 18" and the 2006 report states "Dame Allan's are good schools with several great strengths and no significant weaknesses. The schools succeed very well in their key aims of providing a broad education for their pupils, where academic success is greatly valued but so is the moral, social and spiritual development of pupils."
