COLLEGE The
Term 1 2015-16
The Climate Conference
Oustanding IB Results
New DUCKS Playground
Learning Dispositions
College Guiding Statements DEVELOPED BY OUR COMMUNITY TO GUIDE EVERYTHING WE DO
Motto:
Detur Pons Mundo – Building bridges to the world 通向世界的桥梁
Vision:
Children come first when:
Dulwich College Suzhou aspires to be respected internationally as a community committed to developing individuals who seize and act ethically upon the breadth of opportunity the world presents. 1. The College educates the whole child 2. The College provides a safe, secure and stimulating environment 3. The College recognises that we gain knowledge and understanding of the world by questioning and actively solving problems 4. The College emphasises the benefits and responsibilities of working collaboratively together 5. The College values awareness of the natural world and its resources 6. The College prepares children to live their lives honestly with a spirit of respect for themselves and others 7. The College understands that meaningful, life long learning involves taking risks 8. The College challenges each child to be the best that they can be and supports them in this
Definition of learning:
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Good learning is a meaningful experience where students enjoy making connections between new and existing knowledge, skills and understanding. Students are engaged, challenged and are able to reflect independently and collaboratively on their progress.
Contents From the Headmaster 04 New Headmaster for Dulwich College Suzhou 05 “The First School in the World” - Guy Claxton 06 The Dulwich Climate Conference 08 Back to Nature - the new DUCKS playground 10 Learning Dispositions in Action 12 News from Junior School 14 IGCSE Sucess and Outstanding IB Results 18 Senior School China Week 20 Community Service 24 Sport @ Dulwich 26 Mandarin 28 Music @ Dulwich 30 Art and DT 32 Boarding 34 De Oranje Draak 36 Friends of Dulwich 37 Dulwich Connections 38
Page 05 New Headmaster for Dulwich College Suzhou
Page 06 Guy Claxton
Page 10 Back to Nature in the new DUCKS plaground
Page 18 IGCSE Success and Outstanding IB Results
School news for our parents Page 3
From the Headmaster Dear Parents, Welcome to the first edition of The College for the 2015 / 2016 academic year. We have already had so many activities taking place at the College as well as opportunities for our students in the wider world. It has been an exciting and action packed term with some memorable events and I know that our programme of Christmas Concerts will provide a special ending to the term. Let me begin by congratulating the Class of 2015 on our best ever International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) results. With an average of 38.1 points (out of 45), this puts us amongst the leading schools in the world and head and shoulders above every other school in Suzhou. I am proud that we are able to offer our students the opportunity to excel in their academics alongside an incredible array of music, art, sport and drama programmes. Dulwich College Suzhou was proud to host the first Dulwich College International Climate Conference. Our students were inspired by amazing speakers and went on the make their own declaration of specific action that Colleges can take to make a difference. Let us hope that world leaders at COP21 in Paris in December are as decisive as our Dulwich students. Professor Guy Claxton led our teachers, along with colleagues from across our Dulwich International network in two days of professional learning. It was a great opportunity to meet a world leader in educational theory and practice who gave us invaluable advice on how to develop our programme and in particular our work on learning dispositions (BLP). Our youngest students have been delighted to explore their new outdoor learning environment. DUCKs children have a wonderful new playground which not only provides a great opportunity for fun, but also aims to reconnect them with the natural world through the extensive use of plants and natural materials. I would like to congratulate David Porritt on his appointment as the new Headmaster of Dulwich College Suzhou. I am sure that you will all welcome David to the College in August 2016. Enjoy the holidays with your children and have a wonderful holiday and New Year. John Todd Headmaster
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New Headmaster for Dulwich College Suzhou
We are pleased to announce that David Porritt has been appointed as the new Headmaster with effect from 01 August 2015. David will be joining the College with his wife Hilary. “I am delighted to be joining the College at such an exciting time in its development and I look forward to working with the entire community to build upon the impressive track record that has already been established. I know that DCSZ has amazing young people and a committed and professional staff and it was a real privilege to spend some time with you not so long ago. My wife and I are looking forward to this exciting new adventure in China and to getting to know the community.� David grew up in the North of England but began his teaching career on the South Coast in primary schools. He has been a Headteacher for 18 years in the UK state sector, and internationally at Tanglin Trust School, Singapore and most recently at the British School in the Netherlands where he became the Founding Head of Junior School Leidschenveen in 2008. His school was recently inspected and graded as excellent in every category. David holds an MBA in Educational Leadership, has been an Additional Inspector for Ofsted, undertakes some international inspections with the Independent Schools Inspectorate, has facilitated six National College Middle Leaders Development Programmes and is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management. He is currently mid-way through a Doctorate in Leadership with UCL: Institute of Education, where he is researching the impact that peer coaching makes on helping school leaders develop their effectiveness. His passion is for developing people of all ages, ensuring that all learners achieve and progress as well as they can to reach excellent academic, artistic, sporting and social standards in an inclusive, service-orientated school. He is married, has two daughters - both at University, is a keen cyclist and when time allows attempts to play keyboards and guitar in a band. We are sure that you will join us in welcoming David to Dulwich College Suzhou.
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“The first school in the world” Back in September a group of very talented Senior School students launched their series of 16 Building Learning Power (BLP) story books, written and illustrated by them, to an invited audience of parents and staff. Our special guest was none other than Professor Guy Claxton, one of the UK’s leading experts on the development of young people’s
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learning and creative capacities. He is the co-author of the BLP approach and several acclaimed books on the mind, including ‘The Learning Powered School’ and ‘Educating Ruby’. His practical ideas about how to expand young people’s appetite and capacity for learning have influenced educational theory and practice across the world.
Following the students presentations Mr Claxton congratulated them on their fantastic achievement saying “To my knowIedge, this is the first school in the world to have such an extensive project involving Senior School students developing learning disposition story books for the younger students and is a fantastic achievement by everyone involved.”
The project all started in the spring when Laura Macnamara, one of our DUCKS teachers, was struggling to find storybooks that had clear enough links to learning dispositions’. She approached Sarah Holden in the Senior School to see if it might be possible to find students who could create Building Learning Power/ learning disposition linked storybooks. The feeling was that teaching learning dispositions through stories could be a powerful learning tool for young children. Laura was in contact with Guy Claxton and he had told her that this would be a completely original project, since no books of this type currently existed! A vital aspect of these books would be the illustrations, so Cherie Smith, Head of Art in Senior School, also joined the project and together they started to build teams of illustrators and writers. In all about 30 students committed to take part in the project. Everyone has been very impressed with their drive and levels of commitment. Year 9 illustrators worked on designs in class time and for homework, Year 12 students used it as a ‘live’ project with a client and as part of their first exploration of Design and working as art directors. As part of the process the stories were given a ‘test-run’ with some Year 1 students and edits were made in response to the children’s feedback. Within 25 school days the books were written and illustrated! Janani and Clemence, two of the Year 12 illustrators, were inspired to be a part of the project by the enthusiasm and excitement of their teachers, Mrs Smith and Mrs Holden. “As Year 12’s we had never had the chance to interact with the DUCKS and very rarely talked to the Year 9 students. This opportunity was such a great experience since it integrated both the eldest and the youngest students of Dulwich College Suzhou to work in a fun, collaborative atmosphere. Our contribution to this project as the Year 12’s was to create the front and back book covers, fill in missing illustrations between the books and supervise the Year 9’s. This included quality checks, deadlines for the illustrations and also putting all their work together at the end of the project. Looking at the final outcomes now, we are overjoyed to see the reaction of the DUCKS students.
Professional Learning Professor Claxton then spent the next two days working with our teachers from across the Dulwich group. “Developing learning dispositions alongside skills and knowledge has now become a part of our learning culture here at DUCKS. Children’s ability to reflect upon their learning is becoming increasingly visible as the language of learning is shared and celebrated. It was great to hear from Guy in person and to pick up new strategies that I can use immediately in the classroom.” Claire Behan, Head of Year 2. “Guy Claxton was inspirational-he really allowed me to reflect on my own teaching philosophy and beliefs and the way I approach learning and teaching and the behaviour/attitude towards learning. The discussion around shifting the focus from achievement to improvement and praising children for their learning attributes was a particular highlight.” Sarah Smith, Head of Year 5. Page 7
The first Dulwich Climate Conference drew to a close on Saturday after an inspiring two days for students, guests and staff. Attended by over 100 students from across the Dulwich group, the conference included charismatic guest speakers and expert led workshops, but more importantly it was led by the students. They listened, asked challenging questions and worked together to identify areas where they could make a real difference in terms of sustainability and our impact on the environment.
the Arctic and Antarctic, the effects of climate change on our environment and the impact it is having on our wildlife. He also showed students to look at a picture or film and think how all the elements could be been woven together to tell a powerful story. He encouraged our students to follow their dreams, not to be afraid to make mistakes, learn from them, not to be restricted by convention and the expectations of others and in that way achieve a fulfilling and rewarding life.
Doug Allan, keynote speaker at the conference, is one of the world’s best known and respected cameramen with 8 EMMYS and 4 BAFTAs to his name so far. He specialises in natural history, expeditions and science documentaries in some of the wildest and most remote places on our planet from the polar zones to the upper reaches of Everest. He has worked for the BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and many others on series including The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet and Frozen Planet. Mr Allan shared his first-hand experience from
Also speaking at the conference were Professor Jan Bebbington and Dr Shona Russell from the University of St Andrews, both respected experts specializing in research about climate change and sustainability. They shared their thoughts and experience about how the issues of climate change and sustainability can be tackled and what is needed to make a real change in the world. They encouraged the students to understand the many aspects of this vital issue and how to convince others of the changes that need to take place.
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At the conference were Fraser White, Executive and Founding Chairman of Dulwich College International (DCI), Christian Geurtler, CEO of DCI and Brian McDouall, Director of Schools at DCI. This reflected the commitment of the Dulwich group to be a more sustainable organisation and their determination to empower Dulwich students to make a difference. On many delegates’ minds was COP21 taking place in Paris this year. There is now an unprecedented world-wide effort underway to combat climate change with nations being challenged to meet their stated objective of keeping a global temperature rise to under 2 degrees C. Mia Oenoto and James Guo, two students from Xi’an JiaotongLiverpool University in Suzhou, will be delegates at COP21 representing their respective countries of Indonesia and the People’s Republic of China. They joined the delegates at our climate conference and were able to inspire our own students that young people really can make their voices heard on a global platform.
By the close of the conference the students had agreed on 8 commitments that they would each take back to their own Colleges . Dulwich College Suzhou is fully committed to supporting our students to achieve them.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
To remove plastic bottles and disposable containers from our schools. To reuse and recycle more - books and clothes as well as paper. To reduce our food waste Eat more sustainably - more vegetarian, meat free days, organic and grow our own food Review how we travel and act more sustainably. Challenge our colleges to make the buildings more efficient. Get more students involved - house competitions and awards. To be taught more about sustainability in the curriculum.
At Dulwich College Suzhou, we believe that engaging with nature and respecting the environment are important. We are mindful of the impact we have on our environment at The College and believe we have a duty and a responsibility to help our students become leaders and innovators in sustainability so that they understand the effect of their
lifestyle on the climate. Our young people have the opportunity to make a positive change in the world and through giving them time and space to think through the challenges and opportunities, we hope that they will become driving forces for positive change. From these 100 students attending the Climate Conference the message can be spread to another
6,000 students across Dulwich and then further still. Our students now have a powerful belief that they really can change the world. Their hope now is that they will inspire the worlds’ leaders to have this same belief as they go to COP21.
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Back to Nature with the New DUCKS Playground
The inspiration for the DUCKS playground came from a variety of sources. The upgraded playground at DCSH, which the Suzhou team first experienced in 2013, offered a vision of how natural landscape and materials could be used to provide an outdoor area that was not only a playground but also a space for effective outdoor learning. Keen to build on this idea and yet take it further, DCSZ engaged the designers, Greenspace from Shanghai, to develop a concept of how the future playground could look. Critical to this concept design was the belief that, despite the enormous environmental challenges facing the planet, far too few students across the world are now engaged with nature, resulting in a phenomena that Peter Louv in his book “Last Child in the Woods” calls nature-deficit disorder. In the book, which is a fascinating read, he writes of the need for a connection between indoor and outdoor learning spaces, and how essential this is for the well-being of students, a fact increasingly backed up by research.
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The final element was the central role that sustainability plays at DCSZ. With a LEED-certified Senior School, which has a wealth of design features that help reduce its impact on the environment, we were keen to ensure the outdoor learning environment was also integrated into that sustainability agenda. One central design feature was to significantly increase the amount of trees and plants, not only to help the students interact with nature but to ensure the playground acted as a larger ‘carbon sink’, collecting more CO2 from the atmosphere. What is also wonderful is to see all of those trees and plants now acting as a diverse habitat that attracts a huge variety of birds, butterflies and other insects to an area that was largely devoid of them previously. To help enhance the students’ experience even further, tunnels and hills create challenging spaces for the students to develop, and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified play equipment from KOMPAN ensures that the wood for the natural play equipme is sourced from sustainable forests.
“Children learn best through their everyday experiences with the people they trust, enjoy being around and when the learning is fun. The best place for these experiences can be the outdoors, in the natural world, and our new outdoor learning environment offers our children at DUCKS fantastic opportunities for them to learn about the world around them and develop a range of skills and knowledge.” Valerie Tan, DUCKS Sustainability Leader
“How actively a child engages in their learning depends a great deal on how interesting and relevant the learning opportunities are that they are presented with. Learning in this wonderful outdoor space, children are clearly focused and interested in what they are doing and are offered the chance to learn in a challenging yet safe environment.” Laura Clark, Head of Early Learning
“My favourite place is the sandpit! In Green Tigers we tell people how to look after our playground and our world.” Daniel Nartowski, Year 2 Green Tiger
“I like to climb things in the playground. In Green Tigers we talk about things we can learn when we are outside.” Andrew Milford, Year 1 Green Tiger
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LEARNING DISPOSITIONS IN ACTION Inspired by our visit from Professor Guy Claxton, in our teacher’s professional learning day at the end of September; the Junior school have been piloting project-based learning within Year 3 and 5. In his book ‘Educating Ruby’ Guy puts forward that problem-based or enquiry-based learning ….is vital for three reasons: 1) for getting children’s engagement in learning, 2) for accelerating their conventional achievement, and 3) for developing habits of mind’ (p88-89). In Year 3 the topic ‘healthy eating’ was transformed with the project focus of creating a Year 3 restaurant. The students have all been busy learning core cookery skills, such as cutting with a knife, through to menu design and budgeting the cost of purchasing food. This has all been facilitated through student teamwork ensuring that they have had to focus on being collaborative, making sure that they capitalise on the available resources, and are focused in their groups. They have also learnt an array of transferable skills that will stand them in very good stead for the future.
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Year 5 have just completed their own micro-society project. The students designed their own enterprise businesses with the aid and guidance of a team of very able Senior School students. This cross college working enabled our students to actualize where their learning would take them in their future academic career. Again the students drove the project and their individual ‘companies’, learning about leadership skills, project and financial management, marketing, branding and above all co-operation and collaborative learning dispositions. They had workshops led by the senior school students as well as from Ross Allan, Director of Business Administration, from Gemma Ryan, Head of JS Art, Susan Dineen, Admissions and Marketing Manager, and myself. The micro-society sale was a great success and over 6000RMB profit was made for the Migrant School charity. We want to be able to fulfill Jean Piaget’s (educational philosopher) vision that the ‘principle goal of education in schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept everything they are offered’. Ruth Whymark, Head of Junior School ‘I really enjoyed cooking our corn soup because after we cooked it we got to eat it.’ - Ethan Y3
‘I liked designing what the restaurant as going to look like, it was a lot of fun.’ - Emily Y3
‘We used teamwork to make our sweet and sour pork. It was yummy!’ - Lara Y3
‘The Micro-society project encompassed everything we are teaching the students about learning dispositions and allowed them to experience these in a real life context’ Lorna Jutton Year 5 Teacher ‘We learnt that for next time not to do lucky draw – the snacks were the most successful’ Andy Year 5
‘All the students had an opportunity to shine – particularly those who are maybe more hesitant within a standard class context’ Glory Goh Year 5 Teacher
‘The opportunity to collaborate between the Senior School CAS Students and the Junior School was excellent and very worthwhile’ Sarah Smith Head of Year 5
‘The Micro-market was one of the best days of my life’ - Matteo Year 5
‘The students all had chance to make the most of their evaluative skills; because the charity was at the forefront of their minds when thinking about how to make the most ‘profit’, the students used their own time outside of school and dedicated their learning to it.’ Phil Randall Year 5 teacher Page 13
Year 3 China Week Year 3 had a fun-filled China Week based in the College, taking over the Junior School after Years 4-6 left for their residential trips. Nearing the end of our first half term together, it was a fantastic opportunity to bring our topics to a climax and get know each other better. On the Tuesday, we staged a learning exhibition throughout Year 3, this involved displaying our projects on Light and Shadows, and the Ancient Egyptians. Encyclopedias produced after extensive and detailed research, silhouette pictures, scarab beetle carvings and shadow puppet shows retelling Ancient Egyptian stories were some of the highlights. To develop our understanding of China we visited Suzhou’s Confucius Temple. Learning about this teacher and philosopher, and his teachings, we thought about how this related to our lives. We also viewed the four steles, carved hundreds of years ago, before walking around Baitang Arboretum in SIP, having lunch and hunting for the different varieties of trees that are kept there. If this wasn’t enough already, we also had a sleepover in the Junior School Library on the Thursday night. This was a great opportunity to get to know our classmates and have lots of fun playing games, eating pizza in the Senior School restaurant, completing a hieroglyphics treasure hunt and watching Despicable Me in the Senior School ‘Cinema’. Through these learning experiences the children were not only able to increase their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum but also develop many of the Building Learning Power muscles such as collaboration, persistence, adventurous and empathy.
Restaurants As part of our aim to integrate the curriculum, Year 3 carried out a very intricate project based around Restaurants, which also involved our Mathematics, English, Science, ICT and Humanities work. To begin the second half term, the children ate at Mr Ramsden’s pancake restaurant tasting a variety of ingredients, researched food in the library and asked questions that they would need to answer if they were to open their very own Chinese style restaurant in Suzhou. Following this the students used their BLP muscles to determine what the best number of people per group would be and collaborated well to decide which tasks they would need to complete independently and which tasks would require support. Some of the tasks that the students completed were: writing a menu, planning recipes, learning to use kitchen equipment safely and carefully, making signs and one group even came up with their own wifi code, showing they have made good connections between their own experiences of good restaurants and how they wanted their own restaurant to be. This type of curriculum with many aspects led by the children will really help them to develop their ability to work on many different tasks together to be able to produce a fantastic outcome. In this case the outcome was having a stall at the Year 3 Charity Food show at the end of term. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this project a success. Page 14
In November, Year 4 headed off to Shanghai Ocean Aquarium in PuXi. Once we had disembarked from the buses, we walked through a tranquil park until we reached the site of the Beluga whale show. China being China, we were greeted by a huge queue, but eventually found our seats. The sea lions and whales were interesting, and sparked a debate on the ethical treatment of performing animals. In the main part of the aquarium, we were treated to a ‘behind the scenes’ view of the sea horse breeding centre, and were able to feed some of them. It was a rare opportunity to investigate the process of maintaining the population of these fascinating and unique creatures. We had the chance to pick up and feel a variety of organisms, including starfish and molluscs. As we travelled around the aquarium, we were greeted with the sight of a huge array of sea/freshwater animals and learnt about their habitats and place in the food web. Samuel Lee said, “Eating lunch in the shark tunnel was my favourite part of the trip.” When asked, Mei Negishi said that she really enjoyed feeding the sea horses.
AQUARIUM TRIP Year 4
SAN SHAN ISLAND China Week San Shan Island is situated inside the stunning Tai Lake near Suzhou. Excited, we boarded the ferry and awaited the beautiful vista of our home for the next three days. On arrival, we had a short walk to our destination where we devoured a lunch made using produce from the island. We then began our planned activities. These included: pond dipping, scaling the dizzy heights of the Buddha Trail, visiting the home of an elderly fossil/antiquities collector, investigating the history of the island, picking grapes and oranges, and delving into the flora and fauna of the island. On the first evening, we made our own fires and cooked marsh mallows and the bread that we had prepared earlier in the day. Next day, and
after a wonderful breakfast of noodles, eggs and cereal, we continued with our carousel of activities. The evening activity for this day was a DVD night with hot chocolate, and a night walk. It was great fun walking through the darkness, seeing things in a different light. Before the thrilling speed boat ride back to the island, we had an additional activity as we wandered to the peddle boats and raced around the shores. Unfortunately, Mr Hallam lost his brand new phone in all of the excitement, but he managed to keep a smile on his face. We arrived back to school tired, but happy. We had learnt a lot over the three days about getting along with different friends, taking risks and challenging ourselves.
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EXTREME WEATHER Year 5 Humanities In this exciting project we learnt about different types of extreme weather like: Earthquake, Sandstorm, Tsunami, Hurricane, Tornado, Cyclone, and the Volcano! There were seven natural disasters/extreme weather covered in our class. First of all, we had to research a particular extreme weather with our group members. We had to collaborate to decide on each area we were in charge of. We then focused on how we wanted to present our information. Some of us created presentations, posters and even a location on Minecraft. After two weeks of work, all the classes presented our presentations to one another. It was an invaluable experience and we learned to manage our time and resources well to produce something educational to share with our friends. Annie Nielsen 5Z
YAOLIN ADVENTURE China Week One early September morning Year five and six were ready to enjoy an exciting five day trip to Yao Lin! As each and every kid stepped foot in the bus they all shrieked with excitement. After a very long, four hour, bus ride everyone was ready to stretch their legs and hop out of the bus. The children went to a very boutique Chinese hotel that looked a bit like a Roman palace! The food was delectable. There was egg, rice, fish, watermelon, orange juice, and other drinks. The maximum number of children in each room was three. The rooms were very beautiful.
It was a cloudy day and we were off on a five days trip to Yoalin. We thought it was going to be raining in Yoalin, but we did not care; we wanted to have so much fun that our socks would fly away. When we got there, everyone jumped out of the bus with the biggest smile they could ever have. At night time, my room mate and I were chatting all night even though the teacher said to go to sleep early. While we were doing rock climbing, the rock face was very colourful and the best part was flying like a super hero and cheering people on. It was the Page 16
The beds were as fluffy as feathers. During their stay the children did many fun team-building activities, including: laser tag, crate stacking, raft building, leap of faith and many, many more. At the end of the week, for a wonderful goodbye party, all the children had a yummy barbecue! During the bus ride back to Suzhou everyone was filled with excitement to tell their amazing stories to their friends and family. Yao Lin was so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By: Maya Netel 5C
most adventurous time I had ever had. We went mountain climbing with the best weather you could ever imagine, it was 28 degrees Celsius and the super sun was shining. The next game that made me mess up my hair was crate stacking; it was so peaceful at first and then all of the sudden there was a big ‘CRASH’ when all the crates dropped. It was so scary it made me jump!!! Raft building was great for team building, but it was so cold when we went in the freezing water that it could make your hair freeze like ice! Caylina Gabele 5Z
ANCIENT GREEKS Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to have lived over 2500 years ago in Ancient Greece? Over the last term in Humanities, the children in Y6 have been finding out about the how the Greeks lived, and have been quite surprised about some of the things they discovered! It all started with an amazing Ancient Greek Day. Everyone was in costume and looked fantastic! There were soldiers, philosophers, gods & goddesses to name just a few. The day started with a message written in the Greek alphabet. Having discovered what sound each of the characters represented, the children were able to decode the message and follow the instructions. Next, everybody learnt about Greek pottery, and how they were decorated with repeating patterns and scenes of daily life. The children then had a go at recreating this with their own pots! The next activity was learning about Athenian theatres. Greek actors & actresses used to wear masks to depict the character they were playing – it only seemed right that we made some of our own! Once the masks had been made, we put them to
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the test by acting out some famous Greek myths. To end the day our wonderful parents had prepared a selection of Greek cuisine for everyone to try. Delicious Mediterranean smells filled the classrooms as we delved into the humus, olives and pita bread to expand our culinary horizons. A further highlight on our historical journey through Greece was the debate we had about Athens & Sparta. The children were posed with the task of deciding which of the two citystates would have been the better place to live, and then had to convince people during a class debate. This got quite lively as the children found endless reasons to justify their opinions! To bring the curtain down on a thoroughly enjoyable topic, we created a table-top presentation of an aspect of the Ancient Greeks that the children wanted to find out about. Research skills were developed and used to collect the information they needed, and then they thought of a wide variety of ways of presenting their information. This has been a topic to remember!
YAOLIN China Week Birds twittering in the trees, the gentle trickle of the stream, the breeze rustling the leaves of the trees. Majestic, pine covered mountains rise from the serene beauty of peaceful lakes – it sounds like something out of a travel brochure! But this picture of splendor is where Year 6 spent their China Week trip. Nestled in the hills of Zhejiang province is Yaolin, where Year 6 would head on a voyage of self-discovery, personal development and test their physical and mental stamina. The week started with a series of team building games, designed to extend everyone’s communication skills. Our nerves were put to the test with the vertical challenges this year the leap of faith challenged even the most confident of climbers, and the encouragement many of the students showed towards their fellow teammates was a delight to see. In a day not for the faint-hearted, climbing was next on the itinerary. An added level of challenge was added this year with the children climbing 20m or so on real rock!
A particularly challenging part of the trip for many was a night of camping. With many of the group never having camped before, this was a new and valuable experience. Other activities included Dragon boat racing, archery and the ever-popular laser tag. Here, the teams had to complete a series of challenges which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, none more so than Mr Malik, who I think must have been a commando in a previous life! Having been back in the comfort of Suzhou for a few weeks now, everyone can look back and reflect on a truly unforgettable week, where we tried new things, challenged ourselves beyond our comfort zones and made new friends along the way. Now the questions have already begun: what will China Week be like in Year 7?
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Yet again one of our students received a top award from Cambridge with Best in China Foreign Language Dutch presented to Linde Miedema. Congratulations to her and a well deserved reward for all her hard work.
A* Success for our IGCSE Students Dulwich College Suzhou students celebrated outstanding iGCSE results this year. 64% of all examinations taken were graded A*/A (A* is the highest possible grade) and over 99% gained A* - C. 16 students averaged an A grade or better in each exam. Mr Stuart Bridge, Head of Senior School, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled with our results this year, not least by the number of students who have surpassed their predicted grades. This success is a great testament to the students’ own hard work, coupled with the enormous support given by the teaching staff at DCSZ. I am truly delighted for one and all!”
John Todd, Headmaster of Dulwich College Suzhou expressed delight at the results. “We are confident that we offer our students the best possible start in life. Our outstanding examination results mean that our students have a competitive advantage in securing places at the world’s top universities. Once again Dulwich is setting the standard in Suzhou and we are justifiably proud of the achievements of our students.”
Outstanding IB Results for our Class of 2015
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The Class of 2015 celebrated the best ever IB results at Dulwich College Suzhou with an average points score of 38.1 out of 45. This significant improvement in results, which is well above the world average, is a tangible reflection of the superb effort of the students and the ability of our teaching staff. Four students scored over 40 points with Jeung Byun Hyun and Thomas Langmans the top achievers on 43 points. Head of Senior School, Stuart Bridge, was delighted, “I am especially pleased to see such impressive improvement in the average scores, with so many students significantly surpassing their predicted grades. The students have taken part in a
huge range of competitive sports, dramatic productions, musical events and ensembles, community service and too many other activities to list. This is part of the broad and balanced education Dulwich provides which is complimentary to a world class academic programme. Together with the excellent IB results from Dulwich College Beijing and Shanghai this puts the Dulwich group amongst the top performing IB schools in the world.” Headmaster, John Todd, commented, “This is such a wonderful achievement and our students and staff should be immensely proud. Dulwich College Suzhou provides the best possible learning environment for its students and this focus on providing all round excellence has enabled our students
to achieve the best IB results in Suzhou, well ahead of the results from other international schools in Suzhou.” International Old Alleynians, the Class of 2015 from Dulwich College Suzhou, will be attending some outstanding universities from across the world including Imperial College London, London School of Economics, University of Washington (US), University of Warwick (UK), University of Bath (UK), University of Nottingham (UK), Brock University (Canada), University of Strathclyde (UK), University of Toronto (Canada), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Instituto Europeo di Design (Italy).
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Year 7 YANGSHUO China Week Year 7 visited the picturesque town of Yangshuo in South West China, one of the country’s premier tourist spots. We were fortunate to be there at one of the few dry times of the year: apart from October it rains with regularity. This means that the scenery is lush, green and punctuated by enormous limestone stacks that line the banks of the beautiful Lea river. The limestone stacks provided the playground for some of our activities: imagine scrambling up the inside of an eroded rock, climbing up through a spiraled ceiling to a window looking out on a valley 200 feet below and then abseiling down. As well as this, the children had the opportunity to cave, ride mountain bikes, orienteer, camp, prepare meals and even learn to cook some of the most delicious food the region offers. All of those who went learnt a lot about themselves, pushed themselves mentally and physically and made some new friendships along the way – Mr Colenso ‘Coming back from the trip, I have become a more confident person. The most challenging part of the trip was abseiling as you had to trust yourself. It was a fun trip with great experiences. Yangshuo was amazing and very different from Suzhou with mountains and small villages.’ - Ellie ‘On the trip to Yangshuo I tried lots of things I had never tried before like caving and cooking with a camp stove. It was a really fun trip and the best China Week Trip I ever had. I would definitely go back again if I could.’ – Cheng An
XIAMEN Year 8 China Week
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BEIJING
Year 9 China Week
This was the first time that Beijing has been offered as a China Week destination. It was a trip with many varied activities and challenges. The Year 9s experienced the magnificence of The Great Wall whilst hiking through the surrounding countryside, camping and experiencing the beauty of nature at dawn with the sun rising and The Wall as a backdrop. Abseiling down the dam wall of the lake at Huang Hua Cheng was a challenge that the Year 9s took in their stride. Community service is always an important aspect of China Week and this time it involved planting chestnut trees; many of the students hadn’t had the opportunity to use a shovel and plant a tree previously in their lives. Beijing city provided us with many cultural experiences and the Opera School was a particular highlight. Our students were delighted by the amazing talents of the opera trainees who were being trained in such precise and intensive skills. Seeing these styles replicated in the opera show that evening tied the whole experience together. Walking through the Hutong District, sharing a meal in a local house, eating Beijing duck at a popular restaurant and exploring The Forbidden City added to the cultural experience. Overall, the Year 9 students had an enriching, educational and fun filled experience full of activity, social interaction and challenges – Mrs Carter My highlight of China Week was camping. I had so much fun making our own food it was delicious. I also enjoyed the abseiling, the Wall was really high but I managed to complete the challenge. I learned many things from the opera school and how tough it is for the students. Overall I really liked the whole trip Laure
My highlight from China Week was abseiling - it was fun but a real challenge. I was also proud of our community service, planting trees to help someone who is not as lucky as me - Sindre
Year 8 visited the rustic town of Xiamen. Located on the southeast coast of China, Xiamen is a tourist city in Fujian Province famous for its attractive seascape. As one of the major seaports since ancient times, it boasts a wide gulf with deep water. The city has been called the Egret Island because of the hundreds of thousands of egrets who live there. This is due to the beautiful natural scenery, the fresh air and the clean environment of the city. The folk customs of the minorities, varied local festivals and the local dishes also appealing to visitors. The activities that are available in Xiamen are simply outstanding and there really is something for everyone. The Via Ferreta was a real highlight for the students and offered an accessible challenge and stunning
views for all. The students practised their risk taking skills on the Leapof –Faith and other adrenaline fuelled activities. There were also opportunities for the students to learn about the local culture and explore the rural villages of Xiamen on the interactive scavenger hunt; talking to the locals and searching for information allowed independence and maturity to flow. Competitiveness was rife at the tea plantations where students fought to pick the most tea leaves much to the amusement of the local farmers. They were also shown how to produce tea and even had a chance to try some samples Xiamen was the perfect place for students to learn about living frugally in a quaint and charming setting where they could experience nature at its best. The activities provided enabled
them to prove their capabilities, support their peers and build relationships while making new ones. A simply amazing and unmissable experience! – Ms Flounders ‘In China Week we had lots of fun doing different activities like high ropes, climbing , hiking and swimming. It was great fun and we got to try different kinds of food and see different landscapes and buildings.’ – Sophia Harding We had lots of fun in Xiamen. We had the chance to get out of our comfort zones and learn more about Chinese culture and nature. One of my favourite events was the Via Ferrata. We all had to brave since we were very high up. I also enjoyed the Giant’s Ladder because it was challenging. – Yani Zhang Page 21
HANG ZHOU Year 10 China Week
‘We went to Hangzhou for a five day trip. On the fourth day we climbed up and down several mountains, some of which were very steep. This day impressed me the most although it was tiring. The campfire that night was unforgettable. We looked at the countless stars, which I thought impossible to see in China’ - Ethan ‘Y10 went to Hangzhou; we were hiking for four days, and rock-climbing and abseiling for a day. We were also camping for two nights, when we had to cook for our selves. By my opinion the most fun part was the big hike, which was on Thursday’ – Neda
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Year 10 visited West Lake Hangzhou, Li’an and Tianmushan. We were very lucky with the weather because the sun shone all week. The first hiking route traversed the hills that surround the famous West Lake. We orientated a network of dirt trails and stone walking paths as part of a 20KM loop around the lake with diverse scenery and verdant forest. We camped at the temple and the next day continued hiking along the ridgeline that overlooks the western side of the West Lake. We crossed over several small peaks with some fairly steep ascents and descents. We enjoyed the ‘rest day’ of climbing and abseiling in Li’an on Wednesday before doing our final hike, which was mostly uphill (about 700m total elevation gain) through bamboo and deciduous forest. We enjoyed our final camping experience, complete with a fire and toasted marshmallows. Evening activities included a film game, a drama skit and a reflection around the fire activity. We even had a trip ‘rap’! The students had to push themselves physically and mentally but they showed perseverance and great collaboration skills. It was an amazing experience. Mrs Holden
YUNNAN
Year 12 China Week
THOUSAND ISLAND
Year 11 China Week
The Year 11 students experienced possibly their most challenging China Week experience to date during the recent trip to Thousand Island. Located in the Hangzhou region it is famous for its incredible scenery and mountainous landscape. On completion, the 4-day adventure would be a substantial contribution towards the International Silver Award for students looking to complete the certification. The students were soon into their first sets of activities, with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with kayaking techniques on the lake and water safety procedures. Being an enthusiastic group the students quickly grew in water confidence and maneuverability in the water. The first challenge was to escort themselves via kayak to the intended campsite for the first evening. With spirits high, the group prepared themselves for an evening under the stars and the opportunity to utilise their previously acquired camp skills to prepare dinner for the evening. After an evening of fire building challenges and marshmallow toasting the students were soon tasked with a water based orienteering course. The goal being to collect a number of clues to solve a cryptic puzzle. All managed to do this successfully with only one pair capsizing in the process. The following two days consisted of a considerable amount of biking (120km in total). The route was pre-planned to be a manageable but challenging experience. I think it was fair to say that the route was indeed a challenge, but for many of the students, the sense of achievement on completion, really did out way the pain experienced by being on a bike seat for hours on end. It was great to see our students epitomise many positive characteristics of perseverance, leadership and cooperation during what proved to be a very fulfilling experience. – Mr Roberts “ I loved the challenge of pushing myself physically each day. I didn’t think that I was capable of cycling that far…..I did have a sore bottom afterwards though, but well worth it” – Thomas “I managed the physical side of things quite comfortably, I was more happy with finding out that I had the ability to manage and motivate others around me and to be a positive influence on others” – Marila “The Year 11 China Week was physically demanding and was a great opportunity for people to challenge themselves. Kayaking was a new skill for some people and I think China week provided a great chance to try new things. Students got to spend time with different people and made new friends” - Jong Wook Byun Year 12 took on the challenge of Tiger Leaping Gorge : a 20km walk over 2 days in one of the most spectacular gorges in the world. The hike was hard going for some of us, especially at an altitude of 3000m but we all made it with smiles on our faces. Back in Dali there was lots more adventure for us, including cycling Erhai lake, sewing traditional tie die and making traditional Dali Cheese. The group even got the chance to see the highest point in Dali. The Dali trip was a trip of a lifetime and we take away experiences that we will never forget. – Miss Steward “The most challenging experience was probably the hike itself but the gorge was spectacular and I cannot manage to put the amazing view into a picture” – Nick “The trip to Yunnan was physically demanding, but I was proud that I met the challenges, including jumping into a freezing cascade. I also enjoyed the local culture and tried Yunnan’s local food, made cheese and went to tie dye” – Aeron Page 23
Community Service Dulwich College Suzhou is one of the 67 member schools of The Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS) who aims to connect not only staff in professional development but also in connecting our students through sports tournaments, cultural enrichment events, and in service to our local, national and global communities. ACAMIS Service Learning Grants have been established to provide financial support for student initiatives in service learning in the ACAMIS host countries, China and Mongolia. Awards are made to individuals or groups that require students to apply academic, social and personal skills to support and improve their community by making decisions that will lead to authentic outcomes, and allow them to grow as individuals and gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their community, and society. They are expected to develop as leaders who take initiative, solve problems, work as a team, and demonstrate their abilities while and through helping others. It is a wonderful testament to our Dulwich College Suzhou students that they have been consistently awarded grants by ACAMIS throughout past years for their numerous and varied service initiatives. This year, our Senior School Student Council representatives, Lindsey Kong in Year 11 and Tiffany Lu in Year 12, and Year 11 student Joo Eun Hyun have been awarded ACAMIS grants for their inspiring service initiatives in helping both our own College and a local migrant school achieve their learning goals. Please read their stories below and do contact us with any ideas of how you, your family and the Dulwich Suzhou community can help in these worthy initiatives. With many thanks for your continued support, Mrs Evelyn Anderson, Biology and Head of Community Service
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Earth Day Inspired by a meeting last year with Dr Shona Russell, a visiting academic involved in Sustainability Research from St Andrew’s University in Scotland, the Senior School Student Council identified the need for raising awareness regarding the environment among the student body and recognized an engaging event’s ability in doing so. Consequently, the tradition of Earth Day celebrations was established in Senior School. Building upon our experiences and lessons learned from the successfully organized Earth Day last year, the ACAMIS service grant will be used to establish an Earth Day foundation to support the Student Council’s organization of an even more memorable and meaningful Earth Day celebration this year that will make true differences in reducing the impact of Senior School on the environment. Tiffany Year 12 and Lyndsey Year 11
MUSIC – A window to the world Music takes up a huge part of our daily lives. Fortunately, students at Dulwich are provided with a variety of instruments and music facilities which they can use to develop and pursue their musical interests. I myself am a member of the Vivazche String Ensemble and fully enjoy its weekly rehearsals. At Ming Xing Migrant School in Suzhou, their students do not have the musical opportunities that many of our students can take for granted. They lack proper music facilities and instruments and are therefore limited in being able to pursue whatever interests and passions they may have in this field. I believe every child should be provided with an environment in which he or she can prosper and learn. Therefore, I submitted a proposal and was successfully awarded an ACAMIS grant this year to build a Music Room for
the students at Ming Xing Migrant School. The grant will be used to furnish a music room that provides a warm, cozy and engaging area at the school where the students will be able to explore their musical talents. It is my hope that through learning more about music in such an environment, the students at Ming Xing will be able to perfect an instrument skill that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Currently, I am looking for volunteer students from DCSZ who will help me to organise and implement my ACAMIS project. Near the end of this term and into next, our students will also spend a few days over the weekends to go to Ming Xing Migrant School and participate in furnishing and decorating the music room for their students. Joo Eun Year 11
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SPORT@ Dulwich JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTS DAY Junior school students donned their respective house colours, with the Junior School House Shield the prize at stake. All students were given the opportunity to be involved in a number of events, contributing to their house’s success at each one through each attempt. Shackleton were victorious after a very closely contested competition throughout the course of the day.
SENIOR SCHOOL SPORTS DAY Anand, Howard, Shackleton and Wing houses battled out what was a full day of stiff competition across all age ranges and events. In the end, there could only be one winner and Howard emerged victorious after some consistent results in the track events and 4 x 100m relays.
JUNIOR SCHOOL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT The 9th Dulwich College Suzhou Football tournament hosted over 400 students from Nanjing, Shanghai, Seoul, and Suzhou all competing for honours in boys and girls competitions respectively in Under 9 and Under 11 categories. It was a thrilling morning of football action for spectating visitors and parents, with our Dulwich College Suzhou Tigers Selected results: Page 26
U9 Girls U11 Girls U11 Boys U9 Boys
Cup Winners Cup Winners Cup Runners Up 3rd Place Cup
SWIMMING Both our Junior and Senior Swim Teams have been busy with regular training and preparing for competition. So far, our swimmers have been involved in competition at the NIS, SCIS and our own DCSZ swim meets. The number of medals and ribbons our students have won is steadily increasing, with a number of personal bests so far this season.
CISSA Football 6 DCSZ Tigers teams are currently competing in the CISSA Football League, with regular fixtures in Suzhou and Shanghai over the course of the 6 week season. Results from these games have been incredibly positive for DCSZ, with some thrilling contests and goals-a-plenty!
U19 ACAMIS Volleyball The U19 ACAMIS Boys Volleyball team travelled to the Canadian International School in Beijing looking to repeat similar success in previous years. Competition was stiff though, with some very close results between all of the Blue Division teams, with final playoffs being decided through sets, with DCSZ narrowly missing out. An overall finish of 5th was disappointing, but the spirit and level of performance from our Tigers was a credit to the school. Next year, we will look to avoid those fine margins!
U15 FOBISIA Games Dulwich College Suzhou hosted the Under 15 FOBISIA Games, welcoming teams from Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei as well as mainland China. With months of preparation logged by both staff and the DCSZ Tigers team, a strong performance was in no doubt as we looked to meet the expectations of another exciting and enjoyable FOBISIA Games.
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GALLERY 4 BAND - a day of busking
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PAUL JARMAN
DIVERSITY 2015 Ι 2016 PERFORMERS
Mark Hill • Japanese Butoh, Physical Theatre Alexander Suleiman • Music, Magic, Maths Carducci Piano Trio • Piano & Strings
›
Supported by
Ryu Goto • Violin Wiseman Brass • Carnival of Animals
MUSIC
www.dulwichdiversity.com
@Dulwich
SHANGHAI • BEIJING • SUZHOU • SEOUL • ZHUHAI • SINGAPORE • YANGON
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Sophia Kim 5Z Bella Cheung 6C
Renee Marais 5C Lucy Lee 5C
ART & DESIGN
Matt Holm Visit
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Helen Ting Y11
Alice Sirna 9D
Hyun Seo PArk 7Z
Negar Yeganeh Zanuzi 11S Yu Ming Tseng 7Z
Ye Chan Chang 9D
Joanne Baek 7S
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San Shan Island boat trip and boat trip around old Suzhou on the canals
BOARDING @Dulwich
Chika’s 13th birthday in the Boarding House with us and all her friends Page 34
Contact Boarding@dulwich-suzhou.cn for more information about our boarding options
Self defence lessons, 10 week course with Mr Merripen
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Daniel Dickens and Peter Worth separately represent St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc and do not operate in a legal partnership with each other. The title ‘Associate Partner’ is a marketing term used to describe St. James’s Place representatives.
Members of the St. James’s Place Partnership in Shanghai represent St. James’s Place (Shanghai) Limited which is part of the St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group. St. James’s Place (Shanghai) Limited is a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE).WFOE registration No 31000040060051. The title ‘Partner’ is the marketing term used to describe St. James’s Place representatives. Please note that due to local legislation we are unable to offer our financial planning services to nationals of the People’s Republic of China.
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De Oranje Draak school voor Nederlandse taal en cultuur Royal Event DutchSchool School ‘DeOranje OranjeDraak’ Draak’ Royal Event Dutch ‘De TheDutch Dutch Royal Royal Highness Alexander wasvisited The Highness King KingWillem Willem Alexander visiting Shanghai on Wednesday the 28th of October. Shanghai on Wednesday 28th October. Buses left early from BussesSuzhou, left fromNAIS Dulwich Suzhou, NAIS Pudong, WISS, SCIS Dulwich Pudong, WISS, SCIS, ECE and SCIS main ECE and SCISDutch main children campus.to the event. campus to take The Dutch children from The Orange Dragon were fortunate to attend Event at Chong Ming Island. The Dutch childern fromthe TheRoyal Orange Dragon were very fortunate (students of Chong The Orange to Robin attendand theLara Royal Event at Ming Dragon) Island. Robin and welcomed King Willem Alexander with flowers. All Dutch Lara (students of The Orange Dragon) welcomed King Willem Kids were lined up and famous Alexander with flowers. All sang of theaDutch kidsDutch lined children up and sang a song.Dutch After the singing The After King left there for famous children’s song. the and singing thewas Kingtime left and lunch playing outside. It was aoutside. beautiful sunny day. there wasand time for lunch and playing It was a beautiful A special for day all of never forgotten. day, a day special forusallthat of us that will will be never be forgotten. sunny
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Friends of Dulwich, helping the community and saving lives.
Zhu Si Jia was diagnosed with leukemia last September 2014. FoD donated 100,000rmb for her treatment knowing that she might not survived. Miraculously, she did pull through after a tough struggle and is now happily playing with other children.
Guo Zhao Yue had an acute leg bone cancer and sadly lost one leg. FoD donated 60,000 rmb for his treatment and he is now happily recovering and doing well.
Other ongoing charity projects for FoD are: SAPA, Jia Yue children’s centre and student college funds. Join FoD if you too want to make a difference. Email us at FoD@dulwich-suzhou.cn Page 37
DULWICH CONNECTIONS Dulwich College London - Forging Links The start of the academic year can be an anxious time for new students. Each September, some 70 new pupils join the 40 or so coming up from our Junior School to begin their Dulwich careers in Year 7. Those 70 new boys come from very many different schools all over London; often they will be the only child from their primary school joining the College. Helping them to settle in quickly, make friends and feel at ease is therefore an important task for the team in our Lower School (Years 7-8). One very successful strategy to this end is the trip each new class makes to the College’s Outdoor Centre in South Wales, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park. The College has owned the Outdoor Centre since the 1980’s and it provides accommodation for groups and a programme of expertly-led adventurous activities. In the first half of the Michaelmas (autumn) term, each new Year 7 class takes it in turns to spend a week in Wales enjoying rock climbing, hill walking, canoeing and various team-building exercises. It is an excellent way to encourage the new class to bond and feel a sense of identity: once the boys have climbed a mountain together or pulled each other out of cold rivers, their sense of comradeship develops quickly. At the older end of the College, October also saw the annual Symposium, a whole day off timetable for the entire Upper School (over 400 students in Years 12-13). This year’s theme was “Us and Them”, providing a broad spectrum of interpretations for the 34 seminars delivered by College staff and, in some cases, Upper School students themselves. The keynote speakers were the BBC journalist Justin Webb, the MP Kwasi Kwarteng and the German comedian Henning Wehn. All three spoke engagingly on themes around difference: about immigration, or national characteristics, or political correctness. The Symposium provides a unique opportunity for students to engage with such speakers and to think across subjects and consider some of the major current issues facing society, and it is now firmly established in the Dulwich calendar. Christopher Parsons
Dulwich International High School Zhuhai Community Service - Run to Give Even though it was raining this did not reduce the enthusiasm of those participating in the Run to Give charity race. Organised by the new Sheraton Hotel in Zhuhai, many of our Year 10 students, teachers and even some of our parents turned up to participate in the event. In the opening ceremony, the autistic children, for whom the event was organised, sang together to show their appreciation. After the interesting warm-up exercises, the 3.0 kilometre race started. Harry, a student, told everyone that if they wanted to win they would have to run fast, even from the start. The long-distance race was tense and hard. With persistence, Colin and Alex were ranked top 40 in the mens race. Jane, Joy and Ms. Liang were ranked in the womens top 40. Everyone managed to finish the race. The biggest challeng was the 5.0 kilometre race in which Jerry and his dad, Alex and Ms. Jiang showed their persistence, courage and physical strength. Ms. Jiang won the bronze medal of the women’s group, which was outstanding! Page 38
Dulwich College Seoul Hanguel Week in the Art Department Students from Year 1 to Year 6 took part in workshops with a professional Korean calligrapher learning about the art and techniques behind this traditional practice. Students were shown how to use the brushes and ink to write Korean phrases on Hanji (traditional Korean paper), along with the use of other traditional materials and tools, such as the jade stamps to complete their works. We also had a very special guest, Mr Kang Byung In, the famous Korean calligrapher. Mr Kang gave a lecture to the students of the Senior School about the origins of Korean calligraphy, the history of Hangul, and his own life working as a professional artist and calligrapher. A very successful week for all giving with a greater understanding of the Korean language, and the country in which we live. Well done to all.
Mr Andy Brown and Ms Ni Fhlaibhin, Art and DT
Dulwich International High School Suzhou International Award Trips
In November 235 students from all year groups took part in the Bronze and Silver International Award expeditions. For the Bronze Award trip students hiked in the mountains of Hangzhou. Despite the weather, the students worked as a team, cooked some of their own meals, and slept both nights in tents which they had to pitch and carry themselves. The hike was challenging, but everyone worked together and helped to plan their route over the few days. For the Silver Award trip the students went kayaking and cycling around the 1000 Island Lake area of Qiandaohu. The students were split into two groups, with one half cycling 100km over the first 2 days and the other half kayaking around the islands of Xin’anjiang Reservoir. Both groups met on the Friday night at the kayaking centre, ate and slept together before switching activities for the last 2 days. Both activities were demanding (cycling on the legs and kayaking on the arms!), and groups again had to work as a team to meet their goals.
Dulwich College Shanghai Triple ACAMIS Titles
In eight exhilarating days of sport Dulwich College Shanghai’s Senior students won three major ACAMIS sports tournaments, taking on the best Schools in China and South East Asia. The U18 Girls Volleyball Team won a titanic final against Suzhou Singapore School to win the first of the three titles.
game, that saw both teams celebrating together. Three amazing titles and we now look forward to the Senior Basketball and Football seasons and the prospect of further successes. Mr Jamie King
Seven days later, again in Shanghai, the Girls Netball and Rugby Teams travelled to NAIS to compete for their respective ACAMIS titles. Eight schools including teams from Jeju, Korea and three Schools from Hong Kong travelled to make this a challenging and rigourous two days of sport. After two bruising days of competition, the boys finished slightly earlier with a 19-7 victory and then headed straight to the Sports Hall for the dramatic and noisy end to the Netball Page 39
Sustainability at The College Since last year the Junior School Eco Council has been encouraging the school to reduce the amount of paper we use. We saved 18 trees worth of paper as a result and celebrated by planting 18 trees in our own sustainable forest.
No. 360 Gang Tian Road, SIP, Suzhou, 215021, China 中国江苏省苏州工业园区港田路360 号, 邮编 215021 T/电话 (86512) 6295 9500 F/传真 (86512) 6295 7540 communications@dulwich-suzhou.cn
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