Women of Alleyn’s: Fifty Years Forward

As Alleyn’s gears up to celebrate 50 years of co-education from September 2025, a special reunion lunch brought together some of the School’s trailblazing first female students for an unforgettable reunion.  

Hosted by the Edward Alleyn Club and the School at The Artist Residence in London’s Pimlico, alumnae from the Class of 1977 to 1987 reunited to reconnect, reminisce, and celebrate their role in Alleyn’s co-educational journey.  

Jackie Francis nee Kidd (Cribb's 1982) was among the alumnae to join the lunch. She said: 

“The event enabled so many of us to pause our busy lives to mark an historic change in Alleyn's history.” 

She reflected on the bonds and friendships that were formed among the first girls and how they integrated into the School: 

“We all united amidst such warm onward friendships with "the boys", some of whom we continue to connect with when life allows and with whom we easily pick up where we left off. It is the gift that keeps on giving.” 

Special thanks go to Lisa Pavlovsky (Roper’s 1981), EAC Executive Member and Social Committee Chair, who helped organise and bring together the guests for the event. A true pioneer, Lisa was one of the early batch of girls to join Alleyn's in the 1970s for the sixth form and is happy to say it was the best decisions her parents ever made. She became the School’s first female House Captain—a title she wears with pride, her name forever engraved on the Captains' Boards in the Great Hall.  

Under the theme Fifty Years Forward, Alleyn’s will celebrate the progressive spirit of the School and those “pioneer pupils” who attended in the early days, mark with pride our collective co-educational accomplishments and those of individual and inspirational alumnae, and, as always, look ahead with ambition to shape the successes of the next fifty years.  

Lisa joins the School in helping to curate further opportunities to celebrate 50 years of co-education at Alleyn’s in 2025. Please reach out if you would like to be involved.

Header photo: Alumnae from the Class of 1977 to 1987, inset photo: Lisa with alumnae from the Class of 1981 L-R: Sarah Kowitz (Dutton’s 1981), Rosie Humphreys (Dutton's 1981), Lisa Pavlovsky (Roper’s 1981), Sophia Sinnos (Dutton’s 1981).