From our Head of College Dear Parents and Guardians, I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by our partner, the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK), this week. Over 200 people attended in a large hotel ballroom and it was great seeing old faces and meeting new people. It was the first time I had attended such a large-scale event since the pandemic and the room was positively buzzing with excitement. People were happy to connect and I was no exception. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly having a group of our very talented students play jazz for the guests. It was the perfect start to the evening. I would like to thank the students who performed, Jisung K, Daniel S, Jaewook K and James K, and our Director of Music Mr Mark Knights for making this treat possible. We continue to host our parents on campus for various events. This week we had a special visit from the author Jenny Colgan, made possible by one of our families, and an engaging Dulwich Talk from a former CNN correspondent and Invited Professor at Ewha Womans University, Jie-ae Sohn, about using storytelling to address global challenges. This Sunday is Teachers’ Day. I would like to wish all of our wonderful staff and all of the educators in our community a happy Teachers’ Day! It has been great to learn how much teachers are respected in Korea. Our students throughout the College participated in various activities to celebrate this important day. Some of our Primary School students made cards with handwritten messages thanking their teachers. “Thank you for being such a hardworking teacher,” one student wrote. Teachers were moved and grateful for the recognition and appreciation. Last but not least, it is my great pleasure to announce the appointment of Helen Kim as Director of Admissions, to commence in August 2022. Helen will be joining Dulwich College Seoul from Dulwich College Beijing (DCB), where she has spent more than 10 years as a parent of two children and four years working with the Admissions Department. She has been in her current role as Head of Admissions since August 2020. Before relocating to Beijing, Helen had worked in Korea
for 17 years with several global companies, including IBM Korea and Samsung Electronics. During her time in the marketing and sales fields in Korea and the Admissions Department at DCB, she has gained a depth of experience in managing customer relations and supporting the team as a leader. We look forward to welcoming Helen to the College in August. Enjoy the weekend. With my best wishes, Mr Gudmundur Hegner Jonsson Head of College
Whole School Appointment of Director of Admissions We are pleased to announce the appointment of Helen Kim as Director of Admissions, to join us in August 2022. Helen will be joining Dulwich College Seoul from Dulwich College Beijing, where she has spent more than ten years as a parent of two children and four years working with the Admissions Department. She has been in her current role as Head of Admissions since August 2020. Before relocating to Beijing due to her husband’s work in 2012, Helen had worked in Korea for 17 years with several global companies, including IBM Korea and Samsung Electronics. During her time in the marketing and sales fields in Korea and the Admissions Department at DCB, she has gained a depth of experience in managing customer relations and supporting the team as a leader.
Mr Gudmundur Hegner Jonsson Head of College
May Lunch Menu Please click here to view the lunch menu for this month.
Happy Teacher's Day! Dulwich College Seoul would like to wish all our teachers, as well as educators throughout Korea, a very happy Teacher’s Day! Everyday, we continue to be shaped and inspired by the endless efforts of our Teachers. This is
always a great opportunity for us to show our gratitude towards the teachers who have touched our lives.
Primary School
Dear Primary parents,
The Year 4’s Adventure Days have benefited from glorious weather this week, as have the Year 5’s and Year 2’s on their trips. On campus, we have been outside more for lessons. Year 5 greatly enjoyed their parents’ company for Donuts with Dads on Tuesday and our FoD had both a flower arranging class and a coffee morning during the week. We have had a few families choosing to stay and play after school in the playground and DUCKS families have been enjoying the opportunities afforded by in-class drop off and pick up to meet each other, chat with staff and see students’ learning spaces. What a lovely week!
Friends of Dulwich Coffee Morning on Thursday: Many thanks to everyone who was able to pop along for coffee and conversation on Thursday. It’s good to have you on campus and I hope you enjoyed meeting some new faces.
Founder’s Day: Queen Elizabeth’s 70th Year of Service: Parental Help Please: We have had lots of parents signing up to organise Food Fayre tables for this event on Friday June 3. We have contacted all families with a request that you can offer some snacks/finger food from your country on that day. It’s a great way to help us achieve our College aim of being “A Bridge to the World” by helping our children taste new and familiar foods and flavours from around the world. Contact us ASAP if you haven’t heard from us in this regard!
Great Dulwich Bake-Off Competition: Decorate two cupcakes with the theme “Royalty” in mind and deliver them to the MPR (1F) on Friday 3 June. Judging will take place in the morning at 9am and the cupcakes will be on display during the Food Fayre and then shared in classes in the afternoon as a snack. (Cupcakes and decorations must be 100% nut-free (no ground nuts, nut butter, marzipan, nut flavourings or pieces of any nut please). More information to be shared next week.
Upcoming - Student Council Discos: Primary School will get their dancing shoes on soon for these 1980s-inspired dance fests. Sparkly and neon outfits and accessories will be needed, as well as some smooth dance moves. Snacks are provided - please refer to our recent letters to sign up your child. Year 2 and Year 3 Disco - Friday 20 May 4pm-6pm Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Disco - Friday 27 May 4pm-6pm
Upcoming - Family Hike - Sat 28 May Please come along with your children to our first College community hike at Achasan. Refer to our recent letter for details of the event and how to sign up.
Disco cookies and cake: We would like to ask families if they would like to send in some homemade cookies or small pieces of cake for their child's disco event. Other snacks are being provided but something homemade could be "amazing" say the Student Council!
Disco Dates:
Year 2 and Year 3: Friday 20 May Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6: Friday 27 May Baked goods should be delivered to Reception on the Friday in question. If the family wishes to get their box/Tupperware back, please could they clearly name it with their child's name and class.
Primary Parent Workshop ‘Mandarin at DCSL’: Tuesday 17 May at 2pm on the second floor of the Inquiry Hub (Primary Library) Led by Mrs Ying Wen (College Head of Mandarin) and Mrs Melody Dong (Mandarin Teacher) The Dulwich College International Mandarin curriculum aims to empower students with language skills and intercultural awareness so that they may lead a successful “worldwise” life in the 21st century. During this workshop, Ms Wen and Ms Dong will talk about: What makes the Dulwich Mandarin curriculum stand out? DCSL Mandarin Learning Pathway Wo Hui Mandarin-Foreign Language, Second and First Language Mandarin Events How do parents support children’s Mandarin learning at home? This workshop is open for both Primary and Senior School Parents.
Assembly this week: Friday’s assembly was led by Mrs Smith and we took a look at Queen Elizabeth’s 70th years of service to the Commonwealth. Her 70th Jubilee is the theme of our June 3 Founder’s Day celebration.
Swearing at School:
We have had a number of issues with children using swearing, curses and some foul language at school. This has shocked other students and staff. Children who choose to swear at school in any language will have their parents contacted. Please be mindful of what is said in front of your children at home by adults, older teens and via the media. Our children realise that swearing has some sort of impact/power and may try it out on others, not realising it’s not acceptable.
NEW: Parent Handbook link
NEW: Click on this link for the full Values: Dulwich College Seoul Community Values. Stars of the Week (DUCKS to Year 4) and Learning Warriors (Year 5 / Year 6) Each week, our staff spot a child in each class who has been doing especially well with the IB Learner Profile dispositions and that child becomes SoW or the LW for the class. Click here to see who was spotted this week and click here for the Week ahead from each year leaders.
Quadra Instagram page link - see daily posts by our caterer, Quadra, showing the lunch served to students that day.
Contact details of Primary Leadership staff: Jane Smith, Head of Primary - jane.smith@dulwich-seoul.kr Jim Harvey, Deputy Head of Primary (Academic - online learning, curriculum and reporting) james.harvey@dulwich-seoul.kr Maggie Goddard, Deputy Head of Primary (Pastoral - student wellbeing and support) maggie.goddard@dulwich-seoul.kr Esther Yang (Primary Administrator) - esther.yang@dulwich-seoul.kr
Have a fun and safe weekend with your family.
Kind regards, Mrs Jane Smith Head of Primary School
Spring Fun Family Games Night!
The Primary School Charity Committee, a handful of teacher hosts and Mr Scutt (our IT helper) organised another fun-filled, Spring family games night for our families across Primary School on the evening of Wednesday 4 May 2022. This was our second virtual family games night and it was organised to raise awareness and money for Animals Asia. The charity committee also wanted to give everyone a fun gaming experience in the comfort of their home with lots of yummy snacks – for the second time! Mrs Smith told the families about Animals Asia. Animals Asia was the charity voted by the charity committee as they show kindness in action and were dedicated to helping animals suffering in Asia. Also, the charity committee believed strongly in looking after all living things and thought that it was unfair and cruel for bears, dogs and cats being abused. First, we played Stop the Bus! Our teacher-host presented us with a letter of the alphabet, and we had to think of five things beginning with that letter very quickly. The competition was fierce as families fought hard to unmute and shout, STOP THE BUS! There were lots of girls names, boys names, foods, countries and animals shouted out - all in the name of good family fun! Next, we played Countdown. We tested our spellings and English vocabulary as we battled with nine random letters in under 60-seconds. We had all sorts of adventurous words made, some foreign! Who would have thought 60-seconds would go by so quickly? “It was really hard - I don’t like spelling!”, said Betsy in Year 4B. But looking back, it was all great fun. Finally, we played the much-awaited…. Guess the Movie! where our teacher-hosts delivered some highly expressive, beautiful and Oscar-worthy acting demonstrations. A favourite amongst our families was number eight, “I’m flying!”… Plus, Hermione’s “It’s LevioSA…not LeviOsa…” Overall, we had a blast and enjoyed our evening of family fun-filled games before children’s day. We hope that lots of families continue to join in our next family games nights and (fingers crossed) in person too! In total, we raised a whopping KRW 600,000 (thank you to Elisabeth in 5V for donating her KRW 1,000 to round out our total) for Animals Asia. We’ll be back! By Betsy & Elizabeth (Year 4B) & Elisabeth (5V) from the PS Charity Committee
Stars of the Week - DUCKS
Year 2
Year 3
Senior School Non-Uniform Day
The theme of today’s non-uniform day was ‘red’ - the colour of Sejong house. In line with King Sejong’s commitment to education and literacy, half of the funds raised will be donated to the World Literacy Foundation. This organisation is a global not-for-profit that works to lift young people out of poverty through literacy. People who cannot read or write experience difficulties with simple everyday tasks such as reading the label of a medicine bottle, filling in a job application or understanding a traffic sign. When people acquire literacy skills,
they are empowered to access better opportunities in life to break the poverty cycle. The other half of funds raised will be donated to Volunteer for the Visdayans to support a community in the Philippines that IB Diploma students support through their CAS project.
Funds were boosted by a movie night in the auditorium with students enjoying a screening of Encanto. I love that we can now host such events for students giving them the opportunity to relax and socialise with friends beyond the school day. I look forward to more events in the future. Many thanks to all who supported today’s fundraising events. Further information about the organisations supported can be found at the following links: World Literacy Foundation: https://worldliteracyfoundation.org/ Volunteer for the Visayans: http://www.visayans.org/
IGCSE and IB Diploma Examinations Students in Year 11 remain focused on their IGCSE exams whilst some of our Year 13 students have already finished their IB Diploma exams. I look forward to celebrating the end of the high school journey with Year 13 next week and their graduation ceremony - one of my favourite days of the year!
Best wishes for a relaxing weekend, Ms Sarah Harrison Head of Senior School
Senior House Sports
Last Friday, senior school students competed in an afternoon of House sporting activities. Year 7 and Year 8 students went head-to-head in Speed Stacking and Tunnelball, while Year 9 to Year 12 students competed in Benchball, Handball and Hoop-hop. Sejong triumphed in the event, followed closely by Seacole. Alleyn and Shackleton finished in third and fourth respectively. The afternoon’s results mean that the race for the senior school House trophy is getting closer!
Last modified: Friday, 13 May 2022, 5:04 PM
Friends of Dulwich Flower Arranging Class
This Tuesday, for the flower arranging class, our parent community got together to learn how to make a beautiful flower centrepiece from the talented Mrs Helena Kim. As always, there was a great turn out! FoD events are a wonderful opportunity to meet to get to know other parents in the Dulwich community. Please watch this space for more exciting upcoming events that you can participate in.
Testimonials from the event:
“It’s spring and when I heard about this flower arrangement class organized by FoD, I thought it’d be good for “healing” as they say in Korean. I also got to meet other parents. It was my first time at these types of events and it was great! We talked and laughed with other parents while learning to arrange flowers. I had a great time.” -Yoonhye Oh, Year 4 and Year 6 parent
“It’s been a long time since we were able to get together due to the pandemic and school events had slowed down significantly so participating was a lot of fun and it felt all the more meaningful to do so.” -Yun Lee, Year 5 parent
All Parents Social Coffee Morning
It was a delight to see many parents come along for the All Parents Social Coffee Morning, organised by the Friends of Dulwich. These events are a great opportunity for the parent community to connect with one another. Many thanks to everyone who was able to make it! We look forward to seeing you again for next month’s social coffee morning!