Дэйм Элис Оуэн мектебінің тарихы және дәстүрлері

School in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England

Dame Alice Owen's School was founded in 1613 by the English philanthropist Alice Owen (née Wilkes; 1547 – 26 November 1613). Owen decided to found a school to thank God for saving her when she was a child after she narrowly avoided being struck by an arrow, which passed through her hat, in the fields in Islington; the exact nature of this event is disputed. The death of her third husband (the judge Thomas Owen) in 1598 caused Alice Owen to be free to carry out her plans. On 6 June 1608, she acquired a licence to purchase of ground in Islington and Clerkenwell, on which to build a hospital for 10 poor widows, and to confer power over that land (and some other land; in total, it was worth £40 a year) to the Worshipful Company of Brewers (her first husband, Henry Robinson, had been a member of the company). The site had been called the "Hermitage" field. In 1609, Owen officially gave authority over the charity she had founded to the Brewers' Company; by indentures dated in that year, she had given the company an annual payment of £25 to support her almshouses. After founding the almshouses in 1608 on the site, which was on the east side of St John Street, in 1610 Owen obtained the right to build a school and chapel in the same location. It was built between 1610 and 1612 and probably opened in 1613. Three iron arrows were fixed into a gable in the building, to commemorate the time when she was almost hit by an arrow; Owen also erected a free chapel there. On 20 September 1613, she made rules for her school (and the almshouses); notably, the school was to take thirty boys – twenty four from Islington and six from Clerkenwell – and be inspected by the Brewers' Company once a year. The rules also stated that the school's headmaster was to be paid five pounds every three months and be given a house to live in for free; he was to teach writing, mathematics and bookkeeping. Her will (which was dated 10 June 1613), directed the yearly purchase of land worth £20 in order to pay the headmaster's salary. The first man to hold the position was William Leske, who held the position until 1614 before resigning. Samuel Lewis Jnr writes that according to John Stow's Survey of London, building the school and almshouses, as well as purchasing the land, cost £1776. To provide her charity with an income, the executor of Owen's will, Sir Thomas Rich, bought a farm in Orsett in Essex for £22.

The school has maintained many traditions from the time of its founding, such as the giving of a small amount of "beer money" to every pupil. This is a reminder of the school's long standing close association with the brewing industry and the Worshipful Company of Brewers. Pupils in Year Seven receive a special five pound coin in a ceremony at Brewers' Hall in London, while the older years are given money at school by the Master of the Worshipful Company of Brewers on the last day of the academic year. (A memorial to the people who died in the bombing was unveiled in 2005 at City and Islington College, at the former site of Dame Alice Owen's School's playground). The first official history of the school, by Reg Dare, was also published that year; there was also a Thanksgiving Service at St Paul's Cathedral on 30 April. A new building, part of the girls' school, was opened in October. Funds were raised to purchase a residential centre for both of the schools to use. Pupils stayed there for periods of several days and learned there; the centre, which was located outside London, was called Harrock House. It opened in May 1965, and closed in 1985 due to the cost of maintaining it. The two schools merged in 1973 and were run as a mixed school while pupils were transferred in stages to the school's current location in Potters Bar in Hertfordshire between 1973 and July 1976. The former boys' school building has now been demolished; the girls' school building is now part of City and Islington College.

On 2 November 1990, the Duke of Edinburgh visited the school and opened a new building for physics and information technology that also houses a library, called the Edinburgh Centre. Later that year, a new teaching block known as the "Brewers Education Centre" was completed, after over a year of construction. The building was formally opened in 2021 in a ceremony with the Worshipful Company of Brewers. The building cost approximately £5 million, with funding coming from the UK government and the Brewers' Company. The Bernard Ryan Centre was due to undergo extensive renovation in 2023.

To commemorate the school's quatercentenary in 2013, the school established a 400th Anniversary Committee chaired by the musician Gary Kemp (with Peter Martin, the chair of governors, as vice chairman), which organised several events. Kemp is an Old Owenian (former student) who met some of the future members of his band Spandau Ballet at the school. Construction was set to start in February 2013. The film director and producer Sir Alan Parker (also an Old Owenian) featuring performances by various groups of students, as well as members of Spandau Ballet (including Kemp). A Thanksgiving Service was held at St Paul's Cathedral

In conjunction with the celebrations, a 400th Anniversary Appeal was set up to raise £1 million towards a new science building for the school. It was launched in February 2011 by Lord Robert Winston. Kemp was the chairman of the appeal; he said that the school needs assistance "to support the scientists of tomorrow". The new block was unveiled by Lord Winston in 2014 (some of the funding came from the appeal). The school's governing body consists of thirteen Foundation Governors (whose appointments are endorsed by the Worshipful Company of Brewers, since they are trustees of the Dame Alice Owen's Foundation), two elected teacher governors, the headteacher and three elected parent governors.

The school is partially selective by means of an entrance examination; roughly a third of pupils are selected based on academic ability, while others are chosen because of musical skills, having a sibling at the school or living in the school's catchment area (which includes Islington, from where 20 pupils are admitted yearly because the school was previously located there). 200 pupils are admitted to Year 7 annually; this is the school's published admission number. Sixty five children enter through the entrance examinations each year (there are two, which take place on different days – the first tests verbal reasoning and English and the second tests mathematics) There are 22 places available for children who live close to the school; this criterion was introduced in 2008 to give priority to those who live locally. There were 38 applications under this criterion in 2018. Tatler have described the admissions procedure as "mind boggling". In 2013, it received 665 more applications than there were places. as of 2016, fewer than a quarter of applications succeed; ten people apply for every place offered to external candidates to the sixth form. (the government never implemented the rule). The school has reported that many families buy or rent houses near the school that they only live in for a short time in order to obtain a place at the school for their children, then move back to their original homes soon after. The school believed that this practice disadvantages families that have lived in the area for a long time. According to the school, half of the pupils who had received places due to proximity to the school in 2008 had moved back to previous homes which were further from the school by 2010. The school introduced several rules to combat this problem; one requirement is that families who retain a previous home within 50 mile (80 km) of the school must live in the new home for 36 months before applying to the school, else the new address will only be treated as a temporary address. This was increased from 24 months for the 2018 and 2019 admissions. In 2018, a parent objected to this change on the grounds that it disadvantaged families who did not want to sell their former homes, arguing that the concerns about families moving away from the area after obtaining a place were not applicable to him and that school made the change without thinking of people in his situation. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator, which works with the Department for Education, did not uphold the objection; it ruled that the arrangements did not affect a particular racial or social group and that they were fair. In 2013, Davison criticised Hertfordshire County Council and the British government for their alleged lack of response to fraudulent applications for the places at the school available based on residence (it was claimed that in order to qualify, people were renting or buying houses near the school without living in them). He said "[p]eople will do anything to [obtain a place at the school]".

In terms of exam results, the school is one of the highest ranked state schools in the country. In 2022, 40% of all Year 11 GCSE entries were graded 9 (old A*), and 93% of all Year 11 students secured 5 or more grades 9 4 (the grade range for a pass.) At A Level, 44% of all entries were graded A*, 92% were graded A* B and all entries secured a pass grade. Around 90 per cent of students enter higher education, with a significant number going to Oxbridge. Dame Alice Owen's School has been a Science Specialist School since 2007 and 43 per cent of students go on to study science. The school holds regular lectures, organised by its science society, for students. The school aimed to attract additional government funding, with over £250 000 already raised as of 2011, to support the construction of a new science block, which finished in 2014. School trips accompany students' learning, with many trips international, for example Religious Studies trips to the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica, as well as Geography and History trips to Iceland and Ypres. There are also opportunities for students to visit the school's partner school in Tanzania.

The school has had many notable former pupils, who are referred to as Old Owenians. Those for careers in the entertainment industry include Fiona Wade, an actress in the soap opera Emmerdale; Dame Beryl Grey, a ballerina; Jessica Tandy, an Academy Award winning actress; Both Tony Hadley, lead singer and Gary Kemp, the lead guitarist and songwriter for the band Spandau Ballet, and Sir Alan Parker, a film director. Sportsperson alumni include the gymnast Gabrielle Jupp; Jodie Williams, a sprinter; Paul Robinson, a professional footballer, and Dame Mary Glen Haig, a gold medal winning fencer at the Commonwealth Games. Old Owenians notable for their achievements in science are Frederick Gugenheim Gregory, a botanist who won the Royal Medal; Leslie Reginald Cox, a palaeontologist, and the chemist Leslie Orgel, who is known for inventing Orgel's rules. The Marxist journalist and historian Andrew Rothstein also went to the school. Two former Labour MPs have attended the school: Ronald Chamberlain, MP for Norwood, and Millie Miller, leader of Camden Council and MP for Ilford North. The politician Alan Amos, who was the Conservative MP for Hexham, taught at the school between 1976 and 1984.

Ronald C. Puddephatt, 1973–1976