Dame Alice Owen's School
Established	1613
Type	voluntary aided comprehensive
Headteacher	Doctor A J Davison
Founder	Dame Alice Owen
Specialism	Languages
Location	Dugdale Hill Lane Potters Bar Hertfordshire EN6 2DU England
LEA	Hertfordshire
Ofsted number	117579
Students	1434
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11 to 18
Website	damealiceowens.herts.sch.uk
Coordinates: 51°41′27″N 0°12′26″W / 51.69076, -0.20719

Dame Alice Owen's School is a mixed voluntary aided secondary school in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England, founded in the London Borough of Islington. The trustees of the Dame Alice Owen Foundation are the Worshipful Company of Brewers. It is more commonly known as Owen's. Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... In a voluntary aided school (many of which are church schools) the governing body, as opposed to the Local Education Authority, employs the staff, and decide admission arrangements but the school is nevertheless funded by the state and does not charge fees. ... A comprehensive school is a secondary school that does not select children on the basis of academic attainment or aptitude. ... Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, looking north towards the railway bridge Potters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom,[2] located 16 miles (25 km) directly north of London. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... A Local Education Authority (LEA) is the part of a council in England or Wales that is responsible for education within that councils jurisdiction. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ... Ofsted logo The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial government department, established in 1993 under the Education (Schools) Act 1992. ... Coeducation is the integrated education of men and women. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... In a voluntary aided school (many of which are church schools) the governing body, as opposed to the Local Education Authority, employs the staff, and decide admission arrangements but the school is nevertheless funded by the state and does not charge fees. ... Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, looking north towards the railway bridge Potters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom,[2] located 16 miles (25 km) directly north of London. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Islington Town Hall The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in North and Inner London. ... The Worshipful Company of Brewers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ...

The school has above average performances in both GCSE and A-level external examinations.^[1] The school is also partially selective by means of an entrance examination. 30% of places are offered for academic ability and 5% for musical ability, and 10% of places are reserved for children living in Islington. Students are drawn from a wide area and the school is heavily over-subscribed.^[1] GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, usually taken by students during the optional final two years of secondary school (Years 12 & 13*, commonly called the Sixth Form except for Scotland), or at a separate sixth form...

History

The school was founded in 1613 by Dame Alice Owen and has maintained many unique traditions from that time, such as the giving of a small amount of 'beer money' to every pupil^[2] and the school's long standing close association with the brewing industry and the Worshipful Company of Brewers^[3]. Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... The Worshipful Company of Brewers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ...

Having narrowly missed being struck by a wayward arrow earlier in her life, Dame Alice Owen interpreted this as a message from God and founded a school - originally for 30 boys - in Islington, London as thanks. Arrows feature prominently on the school's crest, which is in itself largely identical to the crest of the Worshipful Company of Brewers; other motifs include barrels and hops. For other uses, see Islington (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

After the foundation of the boys' school, a girls' school was built over two and a half cenuries later in 1886, which eventually merged with the boys' school and in 1973 relocated to its current location in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.^[4]. To this day, several roads on and around the site of the original school maintain names such as Owen Street, Owen's Row and Owen Court. Year 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, looking north towards the railway bridge Potters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom,[2] located 16 miles (25 km) directly north of London. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ...

Beer Money

During their first year at the school, all pupils attend a formal Beer Money ceremony at The Brewers Hall in London where they receive a commemorative crown from The Master of the Worshipful Company of Brewers. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Worshipful Company of Brewers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ...

Pupils in their later years of education complete the ceremony at the school itself, but still receive the money from The Master. Traditions dictate that during the ceremony, pupils must queue and approach The Master one at a time - pupils are told not to speak and that they should simply hold out their hand and nod when they have been given their money. It has been noted by many that by not thanking The Master, this ceremony is at odds with the school's polite and respectful ethos.

Pupils receive legal tender for Beer Money, with the amount depending on the pupil's age. Typically amounts vary from £1 for the most junior pupils, ranging to £5 for the more senior pupils. Senior prefects receive approximately £50 in recognition of their additional commitments beyond their own study.

Academic activity

The focus of the Head, Dr Alan Davison, is primarily on performance in public examinations. In 2005 the percentage of pupils achieving 5 higher grades at GCSE was 92%^[1] and the pass rate at A-level was 99.3%.^{[citation needed]} Almost all 18 years olds go on to university.^[1] In 2005 22 students obtained a place at either Oxford or Cambridge.^[1] GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Extra-curricular activities

Extracurricular activities are encouraged at Owen's. The music department is one of the best in the area and many pupils play in the acclaimed school bands, orchestras and choirs as well as county music groups and in some cases the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. In recent years the pupils have organized popular and original music events based around more modern music in the Edward Guinness concert hall. The National Youth Orchestra (full name National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain; abbreviation NYO) is a symphony orchestra drawn from the best British teenage instrumentalists and composers. ...

Foreign Languages play a prominent part in Owen's extracurricular activities. The school is (apparently) a specialist Language College and students are able to study either Italian or Japanese after school from Year 8 onwards during 'Twilight Lessons'. Pupils may also extend their GCSE 'Short Course' language qualification (in either French or Spanish) and they can also study German and French and Spanish to a 'Full Course' qualification by studying after school in Year 11. Other extracurricular languages taught at Owen's include Portuguese and Chinese. The specialist schools programme is a UK government programme which encourages secondary schools to specialise in certain areas to boost acheivement. ... Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the UK. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. ...

Sport is important at Owen's and teaching is aided by superb facilities. Football is one of the school's strong points with teams participating in county and national competitions (The Year 9 team winning the national final in 2007).^{[citation needed]} Cricket and athletics dominate in the summer months and the school often competes in District Sports, an athletics meeting held at the Gosling Stadium in Welwyn Garden City. Rugby is also popular with many boys and the first XV have for the past two years played in a floodlit festival, competing against other Hertfordshire schools at the ground of Hertford RFC. Hockey and Netball form the mainstay of girls PE but individual talent is also catered for in non-team sports such as tennis, swimming, cross-country running and even golf (an annual match between the governors and pupils and staff is organised). The school has also produced some England quality Badminton players. Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Welwyn Garden City is a town (not a city) in Hertfordshire, England. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ... Hertford (standard pronunciations /hɑtֽfəd/ and /hɑֽfəd/; local pronunciation /[h]ɑːʔֽfəd/) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is in the East Hertfordshire district of that county. ... This article is about the game. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the sport. ...

There a also a number of popular lunchtime or after school clubs such as computer club and the excellent Anime Club.

School song (abridged version)

References

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Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... The Middlesex Guildhall at Westminster Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and was the second smallest (after Rutland). ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... For other uses, see February (disambiguation). ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Dame Alice Owen's School website