Dame Alice Owen's School
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Dame Alice Owen's School is a mixed Grant-maintained school in Potters Bar. Originally based in Islington. The trustees of the Dame Alice Owen Foundation are the Worshipful Company of Brewers. It is more commonly known as Owen's.
The school has a strong academic reputation with well above average performances in both GCSE and A-level external examinations. The school is also partially selective by means of an entrance examination and this combined with its reputation means competition for places is extremely high.
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[edit] Life at the School
The school was founded in 1613 and has many traditions that can be traced to that time. The giving of 'beer money' to each pupil on the last day of each year is perhaps the most notable. In the days when the school catered for the poor boys of Islington, water was dirty and disease-ridden so the school provided the boys with money for beer instead. Today, the Master of the Company hands out a small sum of money to each pupil at the end of each school year in a ceremony conducted in complete silence and with the utmost deference to the Master.
Dame Alice Owen's School attracts pupils from an unusually wide geographic area. This is partly due to the historic connections with North London and because of the school's performance. There is a sharp contrast to the other two secondary schools in the area, Chancellor's School in Brookmans Park and Mount Grace School also in Potters Bar. Pupils come from as far afield as Ware and Hertford to the North and Harringey and Islington to the South. The size of the contingent of pupils from inside the boundaries of Greater London is illustrated by the buses that arrive at Owen's every morning. The 826 brings pupils from Hatfield, Brookmans Park and parts of Potters Bar and is a single decker vehicle. Barnet/Finchley and Southgate/Winchmore Hill are both served by three double-deckers each way each day.These busses are the 626 for Barnet and Finchley and 699 for southgate and Winchmore Hill. Many local residents resent the school as not enough of a local school for local children. These feelings are only worsened by the route through some of the town's quieter residential areas taken by streams of pupils each day on their way to Potters Bar Rail Station.
Some have also criticised the school on the grounds that it attracts a predominately white, middle-class type of pupil. Indeed, in purely academic indicators, Owen's often out-performs fee-paying schools. At age 11 many pupils are also encouraged by ambitious parents to sit the Owen's entrance exam in addition to tests for Grammar and Private schools. Although this image is slowly changing, Owen's is often called posh by pupils from other schools and is sometimes even labelled pretentious. As with all such criticisms aimed at Owen's these are partly but far from wholly true. It is notable though that many sixth-formers at Owen's either earn or are given sufficient funds to run cars. Parking around the school is a source of friction with local residents who in 2006 succeeded in making part of Dugdale Hill Lane resident's only parking. The one way section of Dugdale Hill Lane (known as Sawyer's Lane) is notorious for being the scene of accidents involving Owen's sixth formers and their cars.
Currently the school is undergoing lots of building work as it is rebuilding the maths and technology (MATS) block. This has cost the school its playground as the building is being built over the teachers car park who now park in the playground. The school suffered a tragic loss in 2005-2006 as head of sixth form and much loved teacher Greg brown suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. He will be missed by all.
[edit] Facilities
Dame Alice Owen's School has approximately 1400 pupils and over 100 permanent staff. Despite the age of some of the buildings on the Potters Bar site, the school maintains a pleasant environment for learning. Extensive green areas make for a beautiful site. Renewal and replacement of ageing buildings is given top priority by the school's governors and trustees, the Worshipful Company of Brewers. Construction is due to begin shortly on a new mathematics and technology block to replace an ageing structure dating from the school's move from Islington in the early 1970s. Computer facilities are first class with an extensive network for use by pupils. Registration is done electronically and most members of staff are equipped with laptops. Facilities are also excellent for both sport and music with a 300-seater concert hall (the Edward Guinness Hall), a gymnasium, sports hall, astroturf pitch, tennis courts and extensive grass pitches.
[edit] Achievement
The focus of both the previous head, Mrs Aldon T Williamson, and the current one, Dr Alan Davison, is on performance in public examinations. In 2006 the percentage of pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades at GCSE was 95.5 and the pass rate at at A-level was 99.3%. High achievement is not uncommon; nearly a quarter of the departing Year 13 achieved three or more As at A2 and each year the school receives a sprinkling of letters from the exam board congratulating individual pupils on achieving a mark that came in the top five nationally. Very few pupils drop out at 16 and many 18 years olds go on to top universities. The number gaining places at Oxford and Cambridge universities frequently reaches 20 and one 2006 leaver even gained a place at Harvard university in the United States. Owen's has come under criticism in the past for not catering for the under achievers and those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the same way as the high achievers. However, in recent years facilities have been improved and more specialist SEN staff have been appointed. Lower down the school endeavour is encouraged by a system of commendations and merits and pupils deemed to be eligible are encouraged to participate in National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth programmes.
[edit] Sport and Music
Extra-curricular activities are fostered 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 (NYO). In recent years the pupils have organized popular and original music events based around more modern music in the Edward Guinness concert hall.
Sport is important at Owen's and teaching is aided by superb facilities. Football is the school's strong point with teams participating in county and national competitions. Cricket and athletics dominate in the summer months and the school often triumphs at District Sports, an athletics meeting held at the Gosling Stadium in Hatfield. 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 organized). The school has also produced a string of England quality Badminton players.
