TO READ & SO... The Alumnae Magazine of James Allen’s Girls’ School
FROM THE HEADMISTRESS
I am really excited to be able to introduce the latest edition of To Read and So and have another opportunity to write to JAGS Alumnae. It was a pleasure to meet so many of you at our Alumnae Lunch in May and hear all about the extraordinary things JAGS girls go on to achieve. Those who attended the lunch will have seen some of the changes to have taken place at JAGS over the last 12 months, the biggest of all being the completion of our new Community Music Centre. This will be open for school and community 2
James Allen’s Girls’ School
events from September and I hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us and see our new state of the art auditorium in action. In this latest edition of the magazine we share the stories of five alumnae whose classes range from years of 1988 to 2011 and have all gone on to make a positive impact in a variety of ways. You have the chance to read about extraordinary women who have made their mark by influencing those in the highest levels of power including the Supreme Court, Parliamentarians, Police Chiefs and President Bill Clinton. We
“We always look to keep in touch with our alumnae so we can keep them updated on life at JAGS but more importantly so we can hear all about your journeys. If you would like to tell us your own personal stories and share them with your peers, please do get in touch with our Marketing Team.”
Contents JAGS COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTRE Page 4
JAGS JOURNEYS Page 6
AN INTERVIEW WITH... ANDIE GBEDEMAH Page 7
EMILY XU Page 8
PORTRAIT OF A JAGS GIRL: TILLY SIMPSON Page 9
EMILY & AMY CHUNG Page 10
JULIA LALLA-MAHARAJH OBE Page 11
HOW A JAGS ALUMNA CHANGED THE LAW Page 13
JAGS ALUMNA CHRISTY BALFOUR Page 15
ALUMNAE LUNCH 2018 Page 16
EVENTS: JOIN US also speak to an Old Girl who has used the entrepreneurial spirit and love of art to build her own business and two extraordinary NHS doctors who can still make time to be active citizens in their local community. To give you a glimpse into life amongst the current JAGS girls, we have a profile of Chemistry student Emily Xu who was recently named Young Scientist of the Year at one of the country’s biggest science festivals and Tilly Simpson who will feature in our latest “JAGS Portraits” as a future veterinary surgeon. We always look to keep in touch
with our Old Girls so we can keep them updated on life at JAGS but more importantly so we can hear all about your journeys. If you would like to tell us your own personal stories and share them with your peers, please do get in touch with our Marketing Team.
Page 18
BURSARIES Page 19 Cover image: JAGS Pool 1973 (now Dining Hall)
I hope you enjoy this latest edition of the magazine and I look forward to catching up with many of you over the coming year. Sally-Anne Huang
To Read & So…
3
JAGS COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTRE As many alumnae will know, this year has finally seen the vision of bringing new state of the art music facilities to the school become a reality. Anyone who has visited, or even walked past, in recent weeks, cannot fail to have noticed the new appearance the magnificent Community Music Centre brings to the school. Some of you will have been lucky enough to have a sneak preview of the vast Vaughan-Williams Auditorium which is at the heart of the new construction. As well as the capacity to seat audiences of 500 people, the auditorium provides high-tech, professional lighting and sound that promises to take the teaching of music, as well as public performances here, to a new level. The centre will officially open in September but we have already moved the JAPS and JAGS music departments in. Many girls have been able to enjoy performing and rehearsing in the 15 practice rooms as well as the auditorium and we are all really excited about the opportunities ahead for the next school year after it has officially opened. We are very privileged to have received the blessing of the Vaughan-Williams Charitable Trust, which was set up by the composer’s widow Ursula, in naming the centre piece after the famous composer. He came to JAGS as director of music in 1904 and later introduced his friend Gustav Holst to the school. Having the Vaughan Williams 4
James Allen’s Girls’ School
Auditorium alongside the Holst Hall will be a fitting tribute reflecting the exceptional musical heritage laid down by these great names and continued here at JAGS into the twenty first century. Hugh Cobbe, Director of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust told us:
“Ralph Vaughan Williams would have been delighted that the new Community Music Centre at James Allen’s Girl’s School was to bear his name.
“So much of his music was intended for the wider community and the Trust, set up under his widow’s will, very much has that in mind in its operations. We wish the new Vaughan Williams Auditorium every success.” Hugh Cobbe, Director of the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust
To Read & So…
5
JAGS JOURNEYS
Pam Cox (Ross) (PE teacher) (1949-1956) Attended the lunch this year for the last time at the age of 90! Pam started athletics teaching whilst at JAGS. Volunteered working with children with cerebral palsy for a number of years. Premier National ranking bridge player! Sara Holmes (Skinner) (1981) Director of Music at Rosemead Preparatory School, Dulwich (1986-Present). Barbara Ballard (Whitting) (1960) Retired from Social Research. Final job was in the Research Department of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York. 6
James Allen’s Girls’ School
Angela Angel (Winter) (1956)
Julia Record (1984)
We would like to give Angela a special mention for arranging a large group of attendees from her year for the alumnae lunch. They met to celebrate turning 80 this year and are all still in touch from their school days!
Global Director of Communications, Dorchester Collection (Hotel Group). Included in the PR Week 2018 Power Book as one of ‘the brightest and most influential PR Professionals in Hospitality PR around the world’!
Claire Wood (Corney) (1972)
Alison Rollin (Roper) (1963)
Presently working as Advisory Head for the Primary Team in a MultiAcademy Trust, supporting nine primary schools in Kent, East Sussex and S.E. London.
Although retired, Alison remains a Lay Chaplain at Harefield Hospital (Heart and Lung Specialisms) and is involved in many other church activities.
Myra Bartash (Hicks) (1956)
Marilyn Harper (Music teacher) (1992-2012)
Currently living in L.A., California but made it back to the alumnae lunch to see old school friends and celebrate a ‘significant year’!
Continue working as a piano teacher for JASSPA, based at JAGS. Organ teacher for the Royal College of Organists.
AN INTERVIEW WITH...
ANDIE GBEDEMAH Andie Gbedemah (Year of 2011) is another JAGS alumna able to influence those in power to help others. Part of her job as Public Affairs Officer at Dimensions is speaking to Government ministers, Police officers and MPs about the issues faced by people with autism and learning disabilities. Recently she spoke to Parliament about changes to the law that are needed to deal with hate crime.
the specific work we’ve done on changing legislation so they invited Dimensions to give evidence.
We spoke to Andie to find out more about what she’s been up to since leaving JAGS.
It was a bit nerve racking but when you’re passionate about something it becomes a pleasure to talk about. I could have sat in that room for hours talking about tackling hate crime.
What is Dimensions about? We’re a Not for Profit organisation supporting around 3500 people with learning disabilities and autism across England and Wales. We also do awareness raising and campaigning alongside this day to day support - that’s where my role comes in. What do you campaign for? Our work is centred around people having independent lives and choice and control within their lives. A big piece of work has been our anti hate crime campaign and putting that on an equal footing with the other forms of hate crime that we see. People with learning disabilities die on average 20 years earlier than people without which is a shocking statistic and 70% of people with learning disabilities and autism say that they’ve been a victim of a hate crime. We really focus on people understanding what their rights are and supporting them to advocate their rights themselves. How did your appearance in Parliament come about? Katie Price launched a petition last year around online abuse which led to a Select Committee inquiry. The committee knew of our hate crime campaign and some of
How did the inquiry go? Those inquiries lead to practical change. You know at the end there’s going to be some kind of action that the Government is going to engage with and that’s really powerful to know that you’re reaching that level and changing things there.
What do you hope will come of the hearing? We focussed on the problems with the law on hate crime and disability hate crime in particular. What we really want to see is an extension of the law on race and religious hate crime to make it easier to prosecute cases where there’s been a victim with a disability. It’s about challenging stereotypes out there, I see them challenged every day at work and it’s about supporting people to be more visible and for others to treat people with learning disabilities and autism with respect and to uphold their rights. What were the highlights of your time at JAGS? I ran in the mock election in Year 12 which was quite fun. There was also a termly newspaper that I worked on with some other girls in sixth form. It was called the Half Term Herald; I think we had four or five runs of it. Editing newspapers and running for elections? Sounds like working in communications and influencing MPs was all meant to be? I’ve definitely ended up doing something that always interested me when I was at school!
To Read & So…
7
EMILY XU Emily Xu is a 2018 leaver and left her mark in her final year. In April she scooped the GSK Young Scientist of the Year Prize at the Big Bang Fair, the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK. Emily won the prize for her project to look at new methods for separating different types of molecules that react differently once inside the human body but can be very difficult to distinguish, as they are mirror images of each other. This process could be very helpful in the pharmaceutical industry – in the case of ibuprofen, this could help make it more effective; in the case of thalidomide, this could have eliminated negative effects. This is the latest prestigious recognition of Emily’s work which has previously won her a Nuffield Foundation Scholarship and a Gold award from the British Science Association. 8
James Allen’s Girls’ School
Over 500 finalists from across the country were selected to show their ideas at The Big Bang Fair where ten were then shortlisted to pitch Dragon’s Den-style to a panel of VIP judges - including Nikki Yates (Senior Vice President, GSK Europe), Andrew Smyth (Rolls-Royce aerospace engineer) and Alex Deakin (Met Office meteorologist and weather presenter). After winning the prize Emily showed her project to thousands of visitors to The Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham. Then the next day she also sat on the BBC Breakfast sofa alongside other winners from the day where she talked to the presenters, and millions of viewers watching about her work. A fantastic role model for girls in STEM in JAGS and beyond and a young scientist with a very bright future.
PORTRAIT OF A JAGS GIRL:
TILLY SIMPSON from his intestine. When I was told that the vet opened him up and massaged his intestine to move the object down towards his colon, I was both terrified and amazed. She had saved Max’s life, and I immediately wanted to be able to do the same for someone else one day. I’ve been doing work experience since I was 14 years old, working at two city farms, a riding school, an equine vet’s and two small-animal practices.
“As soon as I turned 16, I emailed local vet practices to ask for work experience.” I loved one of the practices so much that I have now been working there every Saturday and look forward to it every week. I started off mainly cleaning in the prep room and watching consults and surgery if possible, but now I also help hold the animals, run blood tests, analyse urine samples, collect and label prescriptions, check stock and sterilise instruments, as well as chatting to the owners, which I love. Tilly Simpson is about to start her final year at JAGS in Year 13 and will soon be recognised around the school in a new “Portrait of a JAGS Girl”. Tilly will be seen showing her love of music and French as well as her career ambition: to become a Veterinary Surgeon. She has built up an impressive understanding of the profession through work experience and shares her knowledge and experience with other JAGS girls by running the school’s Veterinary Society and on her personal website. I’ve always wanted to be a vet; ever since I was little when I used to insist on going to the vets every time my cat needed a vaccination, just because I was in awe of the vets and loved watching them. I think one of the main things that inspired me was when my cat ate a rubber swimming goggle strap and had to have an operation to remove it
The vets and nurses are so lovely and helpful because they teach me new things every week so I feel like I’m getting a better impression of what it’s actually like to be working in a vet’s practice. Seeing a range of cases from happy to incredibly sad has given me an insight into the difficulties of the profession, but I’m still determined to become a vet because now that I’ve had this experience, I can’t imagine myself in any other job. I started my vet blog a couple of months ago with the aim of recording and researching interesting things that I see or hear about at the vets or in the news. It means I gain a better understanding of what I see, read and hear about by explaining to other people. If you would like to take a look at my blog, the link is: www.mathildasimpsonvetblog.wordpress.com
To Read & So…
9
EMILY & AMY CHUNG Sisters Emily and Amy Chung (class of 2000 and 2006 respectively) have both forged successful careers in the NHS. However, showing the true JAGS ethos they still manage to find time in their busy lives to be active in the community with their Burmese Supper club which they set up 2013. Can you give a brief overview of your studies and work since leaving JAGS? Emily: I left JAGS in 2000 and took a gap year working in the pharmaceutical industry before starting my medical degree at Bart’s and the London, qualifying in 2007. After this, I completed my foundation and core medical training in East London, before starting specialty training in Genitourinary Medicine in North Central London in 2012. Amy: I left JAGS in 2006, also took a gap year before starting my medical degree at King’s College London, qualifying in 2014. After this I completed foundation training in Basingstoke and Southampton and started psychiatry training in 2016 in East London. What area of medicine to you currently work in and where do you work? Emily: I am specialising in genito-urinary medicine -which covers the diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections including HIV and other blood borne viruses. Currently I work at the Mortimer Market Centre in central London. Amy: I am specialising in psychiatry and currently work in community services in East London. How did the Supper Club come about? We went to a dinner that was part of a local Supper Club series in 2013 and thought, with our Burmese heritage, we could do a Burmese dinner. At that time, there was only one Burmese restaurant in London and therefore it was not that easy to find the food! We served 60 diners three courses at the first Supper Club and got some amazing feedback. From there, we continued to challenge ourselves with various different menus and raise money for charity with the proceeds. 10
James Allen’s Girls’ School
Where do you hold the club and where do you guests come from? Most of our dinners have been in a cafe/bar in Stratford overlooking the Olympic Park. The guests are varied - some have Burmese heritage and are looking for somewhere to reminisce, others have travelled to Myanmar and many are purely curious. We were on the cover of the Observer as part of a feature on the Best 50 Things in Food for 2018. Where do you get your cooking ideas from? Our knowledge of Burmese cooking comes from our Mum, who was born in Myanmar and our Grandma. Since doing the Supper Club, we have picked up more recipes from visiting Myanmar and have practised and put our own spin on some dishes. Can any former or current JAGS girls join the club? Anyone can attend our Supper Clubs! Tickets are purchased online in advance and sell out very quickly and indeed we have had several “old girls” come to events, which has been lovely. Have you cooked for any interesting guests and are there any interesting stories of your guests? We have fed The Guardian restaurant critic, Grace Dent, and she has been a huge supporter of us, which has been unbelievable and led to some wonderful opportunities such as taking part in London Food Month in 2017 and being in the Observer Food Monthly as the best thing she ate in 2017! What do you find most rewarding about running a community event like this? Going out to meet our guests is very enjoyable and so far, many of them seem to have enjoyed it! After many of our events we have donated all profits to charity, which is also very satisfying. What’s next for the Supper Club? There remains demand so we hope to continue. We are asked if we open a restaurant, but we wouldn’t want that. We enjoy our jobs and strongly believe in the NHS.
For more information and tickets visit: https://rangoonsisters.wordpress.com
JULIA LALLAMAHARAJH OBE Julia Lalla-Maharaj OBE (class of 1988 ) built a successful career in transport infrastructure on leaving JAGS but 15 years in, she wanted to discover more about life beyond the day job and began volunteering overseas. Since learning about Female Genital Cutting whilst working in Ethiopia she has dedicated her life to ending this terrible practice. She spoke to To Read and So about her journey in setting up the Orchid Project which has made her one of the most prominent global campaigners for change. I understand you were inspired to campaign against FGC whilst volunteering in Ethiopia. What work were you doing at the time and how did you come across the issue? My voluntary work was on a project called “Valuing Teachers” As part of that, I began to hear more and more about a practice called female genital cutting, or FGC, yet it was often whispered about and talked about secretly. On reading more, I discovered that 74% of all girls in Ethiopia are cut, often before they are 5 years old. I learnt that the physical and psychological impacts of the practice were often devastating and can last a lifetime. I began to realise that I had a choice to try to do something about it - and that if someone like me couldn’t raise their voice, who could?
You spoke about the matter at Davos. What was the reaction you received? Davos was an incredible moment. Everyone had said to me: “you can’t talk about vaginas at the World Economic Forum.....!” but in fact, I found the opposite. World leaders and others actually wanted to devote time to talk with me and find out more about the issue and why it happens, as well as what they could do to help. How did you go about setting up the Orchid Project? What does the Orchid Project do to bring about change? When I realised that I felt so passionately about systemic change and about grasping the opportunity to end FGC within our lifetimes, I felt I had to take the leap. I spent about a year researching and working with others, then volunteered in Senegal and the Gambia, where I came across a model of change that led me to believe that sustainable change is possible. Here I learnt FGC is social norm, for this to change, whole communities must decide together to end the practice. Orchid Project’s partner in Senegal, Tostan, takes a human rights-led approach to empowering communities. In this model, FGC often isn’t mentioned for many months, until a community has learned more about their rights and responsibilities, not only to be equal, but to
To Read & So…
11
be free from all forms of violence, and to uphold the rights of others. This leads to many deliberations within the community. After 30 months, the community are offered a choice of whether they want to stop cutting their daughters, and the majority of the time, they decide to abandon the practice. Orchid Project has learned from that model and we act as a catalyst to accelerate FGC abandonment globally by sharing this social norms approach. We have gone on to support many communities to also take part in this amazing change. We work with partners and associates in India, Kenya, Tanzania, Somaliland, Senegal and West Africa to run programmes and share best practice, knowledge and research. Orchid Project also advocates on the global stage to ensure that governments prioritise ending FGC within our generation, and most recently I moderated a panel discussion on FGC at the 62nd UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. How do you think FGC can be eradicated given it is so inherent in some cultures? Social change is a fascinating thing - it doesn’t follow a straight line - there are many drivers that lead communities to make a choice to stop cutting their daughters. The biggest opportunity is when communities see their peers choosing to make change. We know that a practice like footbinding in China ended in less than ten years through a similar model that we use - FGC could be the same.
12
James Allen’s Girls’ School
How did it feel to raise the matter with Bill Clinton? Have you spoken to other influential figures about the issue? I seem to have an uncanny ability to find influential people and talk to them about how it’s possible to end FGC - these have ranged from Malala, through to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Hillary Clinton, Justin Trudeau and my own personal favourite, the wonderful Dawn French, whom we are so honoured to count as one of our supporters. What results and successes have you seen since you started your work with the Orchid Project? I’m so proud of the successes I’ve seen since stating Orchid Project. In 2017, 247 communities in Senegal that had been touched by our Social Mobilisation Programme declared abandonment of FGC. These 247 communities now join the 8,500 in Senegal who’ve declared abandonment. As well as this, through our work with partner SAFE Maa in Kenya, 33% of families in the Loita Hills Masaai community have transitioned to using an alternative rite of passage, so their girls can graduate into womanhood and remain uncut. It’s amazing to see these kinds of statistics as a result of our work through partners within communities, but there is still a long way to go. UNICEF and the UN Population Fund estimate that a further 68 million girls will be cut between 2015 and 2030 if we do not accelerate global efforts, but this is what spurs me on because I know how essential this work truly is.
HOW A JAGS ALUMNA
CHANGED THE LAW Solicitor at UNISON, Shantha David (Year of 1992) made national headlines last year after successfully challenging the Government over the introduction of employment tribunal fees. She helped secure a landmark ruling that the Government acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally by charging up to £1600 to individuals bringing claims against their employers. As well as being good news for workers around the country, the verdict led to personal celebrations for Shantha who won a series of awards for her work on the case, including: the Outstanding Achievement award at the Modern Law Awards 2018, the Halsbury Rule of Law award at the Lexis Nexis Awards 2018 and she has just been named Liberty Human Rights Lawyer of the Year.
as Prime Minister. I watched him giving his first address followed by Nelson Mandela and it was incredible!”. She then tried her hand at a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property law, inspired by her interest in music law which stemmed from singing in the Prissian Theatre as Sarastra in The Magic Flute and other performances whilst at JAGS. After a period working as a journalist at a legal publication, she went on to qualify as a barrister, but it was whilst temping for Unison in 2002 that she found the right area of law for her.
“I cross-qualified as a solicitor and got a job there and that’s where I stayed. So I got there in the end!”
Victory did not come quickly, or easily as the High Court and Court of Appeal repeatedly ruled against Shantha and her team in six successive hearings. “We always thought that our best chance was the Supreme Court. That is the law-making forum and its judges are willing to consider basic and important principles. This led them deciding that the constitutional right of access to justice was essential to the rule of law and guaranteed by Magna Carta.” When Shantha left JAGS in 1992 she wasn’t sure what career she wanted, but two years into her History and Politics degree at the University of London, she realised she wanted to be a lawyer. She explored many different paths in her legal career before settling into employment law. After graduating from the College of Law in 1998 she took up an internship at the United Nations in New York working in the international treaties department, which was a real eye opener. As well as working on the (Princess Diana) Landmines’ Treaty, she saw world leaders in action at the UN General Assembly. “It was in Tony Blair’s early years
The highlight of her varied legal career to date came at the end of last year when she was thrust into the public eye after forcing the Government to overturn its policy on tribunal fees. “It was overwhelming really. After four and a half years working in a cave of legal arguments, witness statements, last-minute dashes to court and more mundane and repetitive tasks, there was suddenly a big light shining on me and it did feel peculiar.” She recalls. “My children thought it was great! My daughter said ‘Mummy’s been on BBC News so she must know what she’s talking about!’ Although it didn’t mean she listened a few days later when I asked her to tidy her room!”
To Read & So…
13
“The textiles department at JAGS was also a huge influence on me, and really helped encourage my love of textiles.”
14
James Allen’s Girls’ School
JAGS ALUMNA
CHRISTY BALFOUR Christy Balfour (Year of 2009), is a tapestry weaver who set up her own studio three years ago. Her love of weaving began when she was a child and continued through her time at JAGS and has led to her exhibiting her work across London. She spoke to To Read an So just after finishing a month long residency at the Barbican Centre. Can you give a brief overview of your studies and work since leaving JAGS? After leaving JAGS I did a foundation course at Camberwell School of Art, and then a BFA at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford. After graduating I undertook a year and a half internship at a small homeware business before setting up my own studio in 2015 and becoming self-employed. I’ve been working full time as a weaver ever since. How did your love of weaving come about? When did you decide to make it into a business? My mum gave me a toy loom when I was about eight! So I’ve always been weaving in some form. The textiles department at JAGS was also a huge influence on me, and really helped encourage my love of textiles. What products and activities does your business offer? I weave both large scale rugs and more detailed wallhangings and I also collaborate with designers to produce new work entirely. For example, I recently completed a commission of hand-woven linen shutters for a house in Shoreditch. I also teach workshops and run demonstrations. Where have you exhibited your creations? What have been the highlights so far? The highlight has definitely been displaying my loom and
woven at the Barbican this year. Other highlights include exhibiting at London Design Fair two years running, and collaborating with Craft Central in Clerkenwell to run pop-up shops and workshops. How can JAGS girls see more of your work or join you for a workshop? You can view my work online on my website www.christabel-balfour.co.uk or on my Instagram! I will also be exhibiting at London Design Fair again in September. What were the highlights of your years at JAGS? I really enjoyed exhibiting my A Level work in Year 13, and having my work shown at Dulwich Picture Gallery as part of the student show there. Although to be honest my fondest memories of school were just mucking about in the sixth form common room. Did you face any challenges whilst you were at the school? I am hard of hearing and one of the only pupils there at the time with a physical disability. Listening in a class room environment all day every day was really challenging at times, but the staff and students were both amazing, incredibly supportive and inclusive. Are there any memorable teachers or fellow pupils from your time at JAGS? I have very fond memories of my 6th Form Politics teacher and form mistress Mrs. Barton- I often wonder what she would make of Brexit! Also the Art Department, particularly Ms Payne, who always encouraged me to work on the quality of my craftsmanship, advice I’m still following in my work today.
To Read & So…
15
ALUMNAE LUNCH 2018
16
James Allen’s Girls’ School
Thanks to all the alumnae that attended our lunch in May this year. It was great to see so many past pupils including a large contingent from both 1958 and 1988! We hope to see more alumnae next year at the annual lunch on Saturday 11 May 2019.
To Read & So‌
17
EVENTS JOIN US Village Books & JAGS present An Evening with Graham Norton Saturday 29 September 2018 7.30pm
JAGS Christmas Concert Tuesday 11 December 2018 7.30pm
Spring Concert Wednesday 20 March 2019 7pm
Vaughan Williams Auditorium
Vaughan Williams Auditorium
Music Scholars’ Lunchtime Concert Friday 1 March 2019 1.15pm
Alumnae Reunion Lunch Saturday 11 May 2019 11am-4pm
Vaughan Williams Auditorium Booking via Eventbrite
Village Books & JAGS present An Afternoon with Jaqueline Wilson Sunday 18 November 2018 3pm
St Bride’s, Fleet St
Vaughan Williams Auditorium Booking opens soon Choral & Orchestral Concert Thursday 14 March 2019 7.30pm ‘His Dark Materials’ Senior School Production Wednesday 28 – Friday 30 November 2018 7.30pm Prissian Theatre
JAGS
Founder’s Day Celebration 29 June 2019 from 1.30pm JAGS Playing Fields
Vaughan Williams Auditorium
Spring Concert Wednesday 20 March 2019 7pm
Founder’s Concert Tuesday 2 July 2019 7pm Vaughan Williams Auditorium
Vaughan Williams Auditorium JAGS Christmas Carols 6 December 2018 7.30pm Southwark Cathedral
18
James Allen’s Girls’ School
Keep an eye on the JAGS website for more information on all events.
BURSARIES
AN INDIVIDUAL’S PERSPECTIVE My mum and my teachers at primary school encouraged me to apply for a JAGS bursary. Just seeing how happy the girls looked on the JAGS website made me try harder for the tests. I arrived knowing no one but I’m very open and everyone was so friendly. Also, there is no discrimination here: being on a bursary doesn’t make you different.
“What’s special about JAGS? The girls here want to give back.” I’m one of those people who likes to get involved. Choir, orchestra, auditioning for play, studying Ancient Greek… if there is an opportunity to learn something new I will take it. What’s special about JAGS? The girls here want to give back. There are lots of volunteering opportunities. For instance, I help with the Saturday Literary Scheme helping young kids with their reading. JAGS giving more bursaries means more girls getting the education they deserve. So, my message to other girls in communities like mine is, if you think you’re smart enough and you have the drive, go for it! Zenisha Peterkin Y13
NURTURING TALENT: A SIMPLE, BUT AMBITIOUS PLAN JAGS has always been generous with bursaries. Now the school is preparing to do more. Plans are underway for a major, long-term bursary fundraising campaign. The aim? To reach a position where no girl academically suited for JAGS is denied a place because her parents cannot afford it. Sally- Anne Huang: ‘If she is right for JAGS and we are right for her, then she should come.’ The benefits for girls awarded bursaries are obvious. But there are two further important reasons behind the ambitious scheme. Firstly, there is a consensus among staff, governors and parents that the school gains as a whole by having a diverse pupil population. Secondly, the bursary scheme enables JAGS to forge even stronger links with the local community.
Currently, 13% of JAGS girls receive financial assistance, and the average fee remission is 87%. The forthcoming campaign will give alumnae the opportunity to support deserving girls with donations from a few pounds a month upwards. Sally-Anne Huang: ‘Wide participation is a key aim for us. It would be lovely to see a really significant percentage of old girls being part of this - each at a level that suits them.’
Find out more
The campaign is set for formal launch within the next year. But the school welcomes early support from alumnae. So, please contact the Marketing team if you would like to find out more and discuss a possible donation - marketing@jags.org.uk
To Read & So…
19
James Allen’s Girls’ School 144 East Dulwich Grove London SE22 8TE Telephone: 020 8693 1181 www.jags.org.uk