September 2007 Select  here   for a full pdf version of the document

JAGS is a much larger and more complex organisation than many people realise; this Annual Report of the JAGS Charity attempts to provide just a flavour of our many and varied activities. One only has to visit JAGS on a Saturday to begin to realise quite how much takes place on our site. JASSPA, our long-running Saturday School for the Performing Arts, now provides classes and lessons for some 450 students, from tiny tots to older teenagers. They play instruments, sing, dance, act and listen to story-tellers. Close by, our Saturday Literacy Scheme for local primary school pupils aged 6 and 7, with JAGS girls as mentors, is alive with activity. The sports facilities, swimming pool and gym are filled with local families, while out on the field a football team for the very young may be enthusiastically honing their skills. From time to time we also house courses in the Holst Hall and surrounding classrooms for teachers from all over the country, a chance for them to exchange views and to be inspired with new ideas. I am sure that our Founder, James Allen, would be delighted to see all this and would feel proud that his legacy had survived so well. Tradition is very important to all of the JAGS Community: we strive to uphold traditional values – care, courtesy and consideration. However, we have also embraced new technologies. All areas of the school now share a single ICT platform and staff can access information and communicate with one another rapidly from many different parts of the site. Interactive whiteboards, digital projectors, laptops and PCs are to be found from the Pre-Prep to the Sixth Form, although we are also determined to retain such skills as eloquent speaking, good handwriting and drawing from close observation.

The most exciting and far-reaching event of 2006-7 was the commencement of our major building project. The bulldozers moved in to the Old Pool Hall area at the end of June and by September 2008 we should have a wonderful two-storey purpose-built dining hall, a cafeteria for the Sixth Form, sports teams and community groups, a block of new classrooms, seminar rooms and staff offices and a new drama studio. Many thanks to the Dulwich Estates whose recent distribution has helped to make this project possible. JAGS is very fortunate to be in such good heart, this would not be possible without the tireless efforts and enthusiasm of all our pupils, staff, parents, governors and supporters. It is a real privilege to be part of such a talented and vibrant community.