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9th Sep 2026
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Life after the bell at Dame Allan’s Schools: 200 clubs, a cathedral concert and national sports finals

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Walk through Dame Allan’s Schools in Newcastle once the final bell’s gone, and you’d be forgiven for thinking the day’s only just getting going.

Nearly 200 clubs run across the schools every week, and not one of them is treated as a bolt-on.

Theatre lights are up, someone’s drumming out a rhythm in a rehearsal room, a rugby squad’s jogging out onto the pitch, and somewhere in a lab a robotics team’s arguing good-naturedly over a circuit board.

This is what life beyond the timetable looks like at Dame Allan’s Schools, and it’s central to how pupils grow here.

IT’S WHERE CHARACTER GETS BUILT

“Co-curricular life at Dame Allan’s is not an add-on to the school day,” says Mr Terry, Director of Co-Curriculum at Dame Allan’s Schools.

“With almost 200 clubs on offer across the Schools each week, it’s a vital part of who we are. From the sports pitches and theatre to rehearsal rooms, laboratories and the great outdoors, our pupils are busy long after lessons end.”

“They train, perform, compete, explore, debate and create. In doing so, they discover strengths they didn’t know they had and interests that often stay with them for life. The co-curriculum is where character is built. It’s where friendships are strengthened, talents emerge and pupils begin to understand what they’re truly capable of.”

It’s a bold claim, but it doesn’t take long looking through what’s on offer to realise it might actually be an understatement.

DISCOVER CO-CURRICULUM AT DAME ALLAN’S

THEY’VE WELCOMED SOME BIG NAMES

For four years, senior pupils have had a rare chance to learn from people who’ve done extraordinary things through The Lectures series.

Past speakers include former Dragon’s Den star and entrepreneur Sara Davies, Warburtons chairman Jonathan Warburton, co-founder of Green and Black’s chocolate and journalist Jo Fairley and historian and TV presenter Lucy Worsley. Most recently, pupils heard from cricketers Marcus North and Ryan Campbell on connection and coaching, scientist Giles Yeo, former fighter pilot Mandy Hickson, and concert pianist Nicholas McCarthy, who lost the use of his right hand at birth and has since performed all over the world.

IT’S ABOUT GETTING MUDDY, COLD AND OUT THERE

Not all learning happens indoors. Dame Allan’s Outdoor Leadership and Education programme, known as OLED, gives pupils plenty of reasons to get properly stuck in, in the best possible way. Huge numbers sign up for Duke of Edinburgh awards each year, with record-breaking success at Bronze, Silver and Gold level.

For pupils in Years 8 to 13, the Combined Cadet Force offers something different again, building confidence and what one recent piece called “commando spirit.” This October, the CCF achieved its best-ever result in the Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy, a proud moment for the whole programme.

IT’S ALWAYS CENTRE STAGE HERE

The performing arts at Dame Allan’s Schools reach well beyond the school gates. Pupils perform in hospitals, churches, prize givings and open mornings, and recent leavers have gone on to Rambert, leading dance and music conservatoires, and theatre training programmes like Project A at Newcastle Theatre Royal.

Dance pupils can try everything from ballet and jazz to contemporary and hip hop, often coached by genuine specialists, including a British Olympic breakdancing coach, with performances at Dance City. This year’s whole-school production of Oliver! brought together pupils from Year 7 right through to Year 13, while every year group in the Junior School stages its own production, with every pupil taking part.

On the music side, the Spring Concert was held for the first ever time at Newcastle Cathedral, alongside two standout initiatives: an endangered instrument scheme and new Changing Voices scholarships, launched with the Cathedral to support boys through voice break.

IT’S BEEN A WINNING YEAR ALL ROUND

On the sports pitches, it’s been a golden run. The 1st XV reached the National Vase Final at Twickenham, a day that brought generations of Allanians together in the stands. The U14 netball team made the national finals for the first time in 17 years, while U16, U13 and U12 Hockey teams reached national finals in Nottingham and Lilleshall.

The junior flag football team charged ahead to national finals too, and a newly launched rowing programme gives pupils yet another option to try. Senior Sports Day, held at Gateshead Stadium, sees over 700 pupils compete across 16 events. Even esports get its moment, growing from informal club sessions into national champions’ success.

Whatever a pupil’s passion, whether it’s the stage, the pitch, the fells or the chessboard, the message from Dame Allan’s Schools in Newcastle is simple: there’s a place for you, and probably several.

As Mr Terry puts it, that’s exactly where character gets built.

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Rachael Ellis

Head of Content

After gaining a first in her BA Media and Journalism degree at Northumbria University, Rachael worked at Newcastle’s leading regional newspaper with her stories being picked up in national and global newspapers. She spent two very successful years giving a voice to those communities across the North East who otherwise…