James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) A GSG School
- James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS)
144 East Dulwich Grove
London
SE22 8TE - Head: Mrs Alex Hutchinson
- T 020 8693 1181
- F 020 8693 7842
- E [email protected]
- W www.jags.org.uk/
- A mainstream independent school for girls aged from 11 to 18 with a linked junior school
- Boarding: No
- Local authority: Southwark
- Pupils: 900; sixth formers: 213
- Religion: Church of England
- Fees: £28,224 pa
- Open days: Check out website for open mornings, tours and taster days.
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
- Linked schools: James Allen's Junior School
What The Good Schools Guide says..
The learning environment is dynamic and fast-paced, and results are excellent across the board. ‘Girls need to enjoy the cohesive pace and challenge,’ says head, but she insists it’s not an exam factory.The MFL offering is vast, with a carousel of six on offer – French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish – from which girls select two to study in the lower school. French and Spanish are the most popular at GCSE but school commits to run any, even if numbers are low. Parents praise the teachers, about a third of whom are male. They are ‘great’, we heard, and ‘don’t take themselves too seriously – engaging in activities and letting their hair down, which...
What the school says...
Our prep school is known as James Allen's Preparatory School and takes girls 4-11, but is part of James Allen's Girls' School.
Entrance criteria for the senior school is as follows: 11+ applicants attend a pre-selection morning in the autumn term, followed by the entrance exam in January. There are no one on one interviews except for scholarship assessments. They are assessed in Mathematics, English and Reasoning. 12, 13 & 14+ Chance Vacancy applicants are assessed in Mathematics, English, and Reasoning in early January. 16 + applicants are invited for interview and sit a Critical Thinking test and essay in November; offers are dependent on GCSE results and a reference from the previous school. Applications for all year groups should be made by the end of October in the year preceding entry. Up to around 20 Academic scholarships are awarded on the results of the 11+ Entrance Examination and we also offer scholarships in Music, Art and Sport. Scholarships are valued between £1000-£4000 per year. Lastly, means-tested bursaries are available across all year groups. ...Read more
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Curricula
Cambridge Pre-U - an alternative to A levels, with all exams at the end of the two-year course.
Other features
All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.
What The Good Schools Guide says
Head
Since 2020 Alex Hutchinson, formerly head at Woldingham School. Read chemistry at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and gained her PGCE at the university of Bristol before teaching science at Clifton College for six years. A series of equally well-known day and boarding schools followed with roles including head of science at St Mary’s Ascot, head of sixth form at both Central Newcastle High school and Wimbledon High School, before deputy head and head at Woldingham School.
A highly effective head who, incidentally, taught chemistry for a year at JAGS some time ago. ‘I always thought I would love to return, it had such a lovely feel about it.’ By her own admission, ‘a fast talker', she is erudite, dynamic and very likeable from the outset which endears her to pupils,...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
We are not a schoool which specialises in SEN and we have no in-class support or withdrawal teaching, other than for a statemented severely hearing impaired pupil. We do have a SENCO and staff alert her to pupils whom they think should be tested for SEN. We have a number of girls with mild dyslexia, mild dyscalculia and mild dyspraxia. A few use laptops. Candidates with SEN have to be of the appropriate academic standard for entry to the school, but are given extra time in the English Entrance examination and are able to use a laptop for it. Our SENCO provides some one-to-one support for individual pupils outside of lesson times and provides all staff with guidance and strategies for teaching pupils with SEN. We endeavour to provide extension work for gifted and talented pupils in all areas and have allowed exceptionally talented musicians to have a reduced academic timetable to allow extra practice.
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder | Y |
| HI - Hearing Impairment | Y |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty | |
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment | |
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability | Y |
| PD - Physical Disability | |
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty | |
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health | Y |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication | |
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty | |
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | Y |
| VI - Visual Impairment | Y |
Who came from where
| School | Year | Places | Scholarships | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broomwood Prep – Girls | 2024 | 8 | 1 | |
| Eaton House the Manor Girls' School | 2024 | 8 | 3 | 2 x sports and 1 x music scholarships |
| Eaton Square Prep School | 2024 | |||
| Finton House School | 2024 | 5 | ||
| Herne Hill School | 2024 | 4 | ||
| Hornsby House School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| James Allen's Junior School | 2024 | 93% went to the senior school | ||
| Newton Prep | 2024 | 6 | 1 | 1 Academic Scholarship |
| Queen's College Prep School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| St James Preparatory School | 2024 | 1 | ||
| Thomas's Battersea | 2024 | 4 | ||
| Thomas's Clapham | 2024 | 2 |
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