From Head of College Dear Parents and Guardians, On this last day of the school year, I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to our staff and parents who have worked tirelessly to ensure our students got the best learning experience despite monumental challenges. This week, we saw our Year 6 students graduate from Primary School -- ready to begin their Senior School years in August. It has been a year full of challenges but thankfully, we end on a positive and hopeful note that things will continue to get better. The last term made us more hopeful than ever that restrictions may be further lifted in the new academic year. The best we can do is live our lives to the fullest and continue to exercise caution around masking indoors, washing our hands frequently and socially distancing whenever possible. I end on a positive note to share the results of our annual parent survey, as promised. I am happy to share more details should you be interested. In the meantime, here are highlights: • The number of survey respondents jumped 30% to 471 compared to 364 last year, showing that our parents are engaged in school life. • The overall sentiment remains very positive and our Net Promoter Score (NPS) rose to a healthy 7 from 6.5 last year. NPS measures how likely you are to recommend us to a friend or colleague and is a key indicator of your experience. • 80% of respondents said they feel that we value their feedback, which remained the same as last year. • Overall attributes generally increased compared to last year, including a studentcentred approach, a commitment to sustainability and events that create memorable experiences for their family. • The number of parents who feel Dulwich is Better/Much Better than other schools in Seoul increased significantly to 47% compared to 37% last year. • Results of child-specific statements also increased compared to last year. These included the percentage of parents who Agree/Strongly Agree that their child is happy with their overall school experience (82% vs 75% last year); their child consistently enjoys their learning experience (79% vs. 66% last year) and making friends at school has been easy for their child (74% vs 67% last year). • A larger number of Senior School parents who Agree/Strongly Agree that their child received personalised guidance from the university counsellors at school rose to 38% from 22% last year. • One area of improvement was in the percentage of parents who Agree/Strongly Agree that they know who to contact if they have a concern about their child slipped to 74% from 75% last year.
We have much to celebrate and as always, we thank you for your support and help in making our community as strong and vibrant as it is. I wish all of the parents and staff who are relocating the very best in their next journeys. If you are returning next year, I wish you a restful summer and look forward to seeing you refreshed and renewed in the new academic year! With my best wishes, Mr Gudmundur Jonsson
Whole School International Chinese Language Day - “My China Story” Short Video Competition
UN Chinese Language Day is observed annually on 20 April. The event was established by the UN Department of Public Information in 2010, seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organisation". Our Mandarin students recently participated in the 2022 International Chinese Language Day “My China Story” Short Video Competition which is organised by HSK Chinese Testing Centre and Wo Hui Mandarin. This is a worldwide international Chinese language competition for any age who is learning Chinese. Eight students from our school successfully passed the first-round competition with their amazing videos and presentations. The videos have been posted on HSK official channel for competing in the finals. We hope the DCSL community would support our students’ fabulous work and vote for them. Please help us click ‘Like’ on the video to support our hardworking students. Link to the video:
Danny C (Year 6) and Michael K (Year 6)
Lumi L (Year 4)
Junhyun C (Year 8)
Daniel S (Year 8)
Natalie K (Year 4)
Halyn M (Year 8)
Thank you for your contribution and hard work. Congratulations!
Mandarin Department
The 2nd Chinese Picture Book Writing Contest
Our students participated in The 2nd Chinese Picture Book Writing Contest organised by Dulwich College Beijing. This is a competition which is open to students from 5 to 12 years old in all international schools around the world. The theme of this year’s contest was ‘Sharing the Planet’. We submitted 20 pieces of our students' work and received brilliant results. Additionally, our school also won the ‘Outstanding Organising Award’. Congratulations to the following Award winners:
Year 5 Samuel W (part of his storybook)
Year 5 Yiling Y
Year 5 Emily L (part of the storybook)
Year 6 Harry W (Part from the storybook)
Year 3 Erica Q
Year 5 Amelia P (Part of the storybook)
Year 3 Jacob D
Year 2 Evanna G
Year 7 Nathan Ahn & Kavya Kishore
Year 7 Joy K
Year 7-Phyllis G & Hannah Y
Year 7: Olivia C
George Mason University Korea Progress at Play Digital Art Competition
Celebrating Swimming Achievement We are proud to report that our Year11 student Youngso A has achieved the performance standard for the National Age Program (NAP) 2022-2023 in New Zealand. NAP is a program designed to support strong performance athletes between 14 to 18 years old with a goal to represent New Zealand at the world competitions. Youngsoo was selected and became one of 48 NAP athletes (24 female and 24 male in NZ nationwide). Youngsoo will race at 2022 Apollo Projects National Short Course Champs in Auckland, NZ on 23-27 August. Congratulations on this great achievement and we wish him the best in the upcoming competitions!
Primary School Dear Primary parents,
Today’s Final Assembly of the Year was a lively, toe-tapping, all singing and dancing sort of affair. We had moments of quiet thanks to those who have contributed to our community and moments of raucous celebration too for Year 6’s and during our thank yous to leaving staff. We had dancing and singing, jokes and music all rolled into 60 marvellous minutes! Thanks to the parents who were able to join us in the Gym and, after 2.5 years without our normal twice-yearly whole Primary School Assemblies, it felt really great to be together again.
Leaving Staff: Our grateful thanks to the following staff for their outstanding contributions over the years to students' learning and the life of the College community. We wish you all the best in the years to come.
Year 6 Graduation on Wednesday
We welcomed the Year 6 families to school for the Year 6 Graduation and Afternoon Tea in the music department. The students were the main speechmakers, singers, and reflectors and they thoroughly enjoyed their moment in the spotlight as they reached the end of their Primary years.
Year 6 were presented with their Year 6 Graduation certificate and those who had successfully completed the Year 6 Award received their certificate and medal. We presented three Year 6 students with awards for academic achievement (Hechan), kindness (Danny) and all-round contribution to school life (Dana). It’s always a pleasure to celebrate our students’ hard work and progress and it was especially sweet as we could all be together again in the Auditorium.
Bake Sale Today
The Charity Committee have worked hard this term to organise an end of year charity bake sale to raise awareness and money for Animals Asia - Kindness in action! Students enjoyed a sweet treat - thanks to all the bakers for helping raise a good amount for charity!
Daily Uniform School Shoes for August 2022: Please refer to this week’s letter for further details DUCKS students - Black sneakers (fully black with no coloured laces, stripes or soles) Juniors - Black sneakers or black school shoes (fully black with no coloured laces, stripes or soles)
DUCKS and Juniors PE sneakers - These can be the same sneakers as worn for Daily Uniform or another fresh pair. Socks - Navy blue socks for all. Staff news: Ms Dark’s New Baby Boy Ms Kate Dark and her husband, Todd, have welcomed their first child, Miles, this week. Mum and baby are very well and the Primary School have sent our congratulations to them.
Assemblies this week: Monday’s assembly featured our Ms Cindy who took us through some of the ECAs we enjoyed this year; Mrs Smith who explained the new rules for shoes from August and Ms Wen who told us all about the very successful competition results our Mandarin speaking students have achieved. Friday’s Assembly was a lively affair in the gym, a celebration of the year and all those who contributed to life on campus. Parent Handbook
Click on this link for the full Values: Dulwich College Seoul Community Values
Quadra Instagram page link - see daily posts by our caterer, Quadra, showing the lunch served to students that day. Dulwich Adventure instagram page link - check out posts from staff accompanying our latest day trips and expeditions. 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@dulwichseoul.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
Year 6 Production
At the beginning of Term 3, the Year 6 students were fortunate enough to attend two drama workshops online, hosted by The Royal Shakespeare Company, which focused on different scenes from the play, Macbeth. The children learned a great deal about the techniques used to perform Shakespeare’s material, about how to create tension and how to include dramatic effect when delivering lines.
The Year 6 teachers set the children the challenge of creating a Year group film of Macbeth applying their own artistic interpretation. The children have written scripts, assigned roles such as actors and producers, filmed in a whole range of interesting locations around the school and edited their final versions.
Our editors had a special session with an expert, our own Mr Wigginton from the Marketing Department, on how to really make their scenes stand out. We were very impressed with the level of independence the children showed whilst collaborating with one another to create these films. In addition to this, the children showed their acting skills even further when they performed live scenes from Macbeth alongside their Film Premiere for parents and Year 5 students. Thank you to Mr Readman for his help in bringing these
Dulwich College Development Squad invitational game
Football fixtures for our Primary students resumed with a Dulwich College Development Squad facing off against an International Schools invitational select team. Players from a multitude of Seoul based International Schools came together to represent a Seoul Sports Academy invitational team, in a contest with our Year 3 to Year 6 teams. On a delightfully sunny day, our players were finally able to put the last two years of training into practice, with some playing their first ever competitive fixture. Having informed the players over a month before the fixture, and with an almost daily questioning of, “Coach Martin, how many days until the match?” finally coming to ZERO, the anticipation was ripe.
Dulwich College Seoul’s U9 team played first and started strongly. From the first whistle the intent to get the ball down on the ground and play football was there, with the same philosophies that brought success to our Varsity teams an obvious vision across the age groups. Goals from Jaeyoon K, Louis D, and Hugo H ensured the U9 team finished 3-1 winners in the first game. Some excellent opportunities to increase the score were thwarted by some fantastic goalkeeping and the post, but all players deserve a mention representing the school with aplomb. Minjoon P (Year 3), Lucas L (Year 3), Carter R (Year 3), Hugo H (Year 3), Vitus C (Year 4), Alex O (Year 4), Claire C (Year 4), Oscar H (Year 4), Kenneth W (Year 4), Akihiro T (Year 4), Louis D (Year 4), Jaeyoon K (Year 4), and Smith S (Year 4) all did the school proud. Some will be moving on at the end of the year, so a fitting end to their time at the school, they will move on with game experience under their belts and great memories of the day.
In the second game, our U11 team raced out of the blocks into a commanding 6-2 lead. With some fantastic interplay between the squad, one team goal in particular with every player touching the ball before the shot at goal, it was clear that the team had gelled quickly. The beginning of the second half was disjointed with a raft of changes, and some of our U9 team getting time on the field against significantly older players allowed the visiting team back into the game, but they were a credit to themselves in not giving up and working their way back into the game, not letting their heads drop. With the scores levelled up at 6-6 going into the last 15 minutes, goals were exchanged between the teams until Dulwich sealed the game winning goal to go 9-8 up. Again, both teams worked hard and provided an entertaining match against a backdrop of fierce support from parents around the pitch. Colin K (Year 5), Shawn K (Year 5), Michael K (Year 6), Danny C (Year 6), and Ulysse C (Year 6), combined with our U9 players deserve lots of credit for their style of play and never-say-die attitude. Some players from both teams will be moving on at the end of the year, so a fitting end to their time at the school, they will move on with game experience under their belts and great memories of the day.
A massive thank you also goes to the parents and families who came out in their droves to support their children and the team. Not only in their voices and clapping, but in drinks and snacks too. There were energy drinks and orange slices for half-time refreshments, and it was very much appreciated from all involved. Having these opportunities to invite schools back onto campus is what it’s all about, being an active footprint in our community, providing opportunities to our students, and laying the pathway for their future successes. We look forward to many more opportunities in the coming school year to organise jamborees and tournaments across our sporting platform and beyond.
Well done Dulwich Mr Martin Bushell
Senior School
After six very happy years, today is my last day at Dulwich College Seoul. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with students, teachers and parents and it has been an absolute honour to lead the Senior School. Thank you to each of you for making my time so memorable. It has not been an easy ride, especially in the past two and a half years! Thank you to all who have supported me in continuing to move the Senior School forward. I wish you a safe and happy summer vacation, wherever you are heading. Best wishes for the future. Ms Sarah Harrison Head of Senior School
Senior School Photography Enrichment Some of the Senior School students were given the opportunity to research various concept-based photographs and explore the process of photoshoots and photoshop. They created clear visions for their works and dedicated themselves to provide high quality photography! Their works are extremely beautiful and inspiring.
Ray Y (Year 7)
Anna W (Year 7)
Angela S (Year 7)
Amy H (Year 9)
Charlene P (Year 10)
Kaylin V
Lumi L
Dilara R (Year 12)
Nick L (Year 12)
Friends of Dulwich
A group of Friends of Dulwich (FoD) volunteers helped to sort our used book donations as well as used uniforms. These will be stored and sold next academic year as part of FoD's used book sale and used uniform sale. Details will be shared next year. FoD volunteers also helped to sort items in the Lost & Found bin that had been collecting over the last term. It was quite full and our parent volunteers spent considerable time going through each item, checking for name labels, sorting the items by year group, bagging the items and distributing them to their respective classrooms. It is a monumental effort and we would like to thank our FoD volunteers for helping to return the items to their rightful owners. We ask that all items be labelled with the student's name, year group and class, if at all possible. Thank you, FoD volunteers, for all your help!