Spring 2016
The College Magazine (Beijing)
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www.dulwich-beijing.cn
C O N T E N S News & Events ..........................................4 From the Headmaster’s Desk ....................8
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Toddlers Make the Best Teachers ............10 Q&A with Head Boy and Head Girl .........12 Sports .....................................................13 Charity ....................................................17 Arts .........................................................18 Spotlight on Authors ...............................21 Behind the Scenes ...................................22 Student Artwork .....................................23 UC Office ................................................26 Friends ....................................................27 Connections ............................................28 Snapshot ................................................30
Front Cover: Support for Fiji Junior School Charity Bake Sale Contributors: David Mansfield, Eddie Lydall, Ingrid Van Ginkel, John Astbury, Kristen Billings, Paul West, Augusta Harison-Denby, Louise Curd, Klaudia Tomaszun, Ruth Grant, Heather Pineda, and our fantastic Dulwich students Editors: Yvette Ferrari, Kasia Baran, Joe McKee
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News & Events
DCB Receives Prestigious China CSR Award On Wednesday 23 March, Dulwich was honoured to be recognised by the combined forces of the British Chamber of Commerce China, the China-Britain Business Council, and AmCham China through receiving a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award. Headmaster David Mansfield and Academic Director Joe McKee were in attendance to accept the award on the College’s behalf for DCB’s work in supporting the development of Chinese teachers from Western China, namely Gansu Province. For many of these teachers, it was their first visit China’s capital.
deeply thought provoking and inspiring experience,’ says Mr Joe McKee. One of Dulwich’s four pillars is to develop our links with the community. The College achieves this through the fantastic charity work and community service undertaken
by students and parents, as well as through work done by its teachers to train and support Chinese colleagues in Beijing and beyond who are looking to understand and use western pedagogical approaches.
‘Over the last few years, DCB’s staff have invested considerable time and energy in working with colleagues from Chinese schools. Every time we run a project of this kind, each side learns from the other. We were especially pleased, on this occasion, to have the opportunity of working with teachers from the west of China. Seeing DCB through their eyes was a
TCK Expert Tina Quick The College was pleased to welcome back author, psychologist, and leading authority on Third Culture Kids (TCKs) Ms Tina Quick on 25 and 26 February. A TCK can be defined as a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside of their parents’ culture. Ms Quick’s company, International Family Transitions, works to advise globally mobile young people and their parents about repatriation issues. Workshops attended by teaching staff, student groups, and parents, offered a crucial message – that TCKs
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will experience a collection of significant losses and separation before the end of adolescence, often adding up to more loss than most people experience in a lifetime. Ms Quick’s advice covered what parents can do to help children confront and learn from these challenges of expatriate life, how to support children as they transition to university and away from home, and also strategies for teens’ relationships with peers, dating, finances, and more. DCB hopes for another visit from Ms Quick in the future!
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News & Events
Junior School Workshops Term 2 saw a number of immensely useful workshops for Junior School parents. Following the success of the DCB’s winter workshop series on how parents can help children learn to love what they read, Junior School Librarian Kristen Billings kept the love of literacy alive with monthly sessions called ‘Junior School Parent Bookworms’.
focused workshop, and a session on how to support and challenge HA (High Achieving) students. Be sure to check the Parent Portal and to read the Junior School Newsletters in order to stay up to date about workshops in Term 3.
Additionally there was an Open House on DCB’s Junior School curriculum with separate Q&A opportunities in both Mandarin and Korean. Other workshop topics included two hands-on sessions focused on developing children’s design and technology skills at home in order to inspire confidence and nurture creativity, a language
Visit to The Lama Temple Riviera Main Campus (RMC) students and teachers shook up their environment with an exciting field trip to the Lama Temple on Tuesday 23 February! The children enjoyed using all their senses to experience the distinctive temple atmosphere. The huge golden Buddha and the spinning prayer wheels were highlights for many children, while others enjoyed throwing coins for good luck.
University of Auckland Dance Studies Students Visit DCB The Dance Department at the University of Auckland is highly regarded in New Zealand and internationally as a centre of dance research and practice. On 21 and 22 March, Junior School students had the unique opportunity for a very special visit from the department’s touring group. Over the course of two days, a number of Junior School children participated in a series of activities with the 11 visiting dance students, including workshops, games, and activities focused on teamwork, listening skills, communication, and of course, the enjoyment of movement. Their visit culminated with a lively performance in front of parents and staff.
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News & Events
In Conversation with Xinran Whilst this term saw a number of visits from celebrated authors in town for the tenth annual Bookworm Literary Festival, DCB was especially pleased to welcome UK-based Chinese journalist, author, and advocate of women’s issues Xue Xinran, who writes under the pen name Xinran. On Saturday 19 March, Xinran was interviewed by Academic Director Joe McKee in front of an audience in our Edward Alleyn Theatre. Topics included the differences between life in the countryside and in the city, the experiences and expectations of women in China today, as well as the legacy of China’s one child-policy – all themes discussed in Xinran’s international bestselling books, Buy Me the Sky and The Good Women of China. It was a moving and powerful experience for all who were present.
Sub Zero It was icy and cold on Wednesday 16 March as the Year 4 Sub Zero production froze the theatre stage! The students impressed the audience with their acting, dancing, and singing skills with many viewers commenting on the marvelous finale song and each class persuasive adverts. Rivera Main Campus children were lucky to get in on the action and watch the dress rehearsal, singing along to songs they knew from the movie Frozen. A big thank you to Mr Wolfe, who wrote the play for the students, and to all of the Year 4 staff and children for their hard work.
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Easter Flash Mob! On 24 and 25 March, Year 1 and 2 students from both the Legend Garden and Rivera Main Campus (RMC) treated their teachers to an Easter surprise five weeks in the making! During a visit from the newly appointed Head of Early Years, Mr David Mumford, who will take up his new post in August 2016, the students participated in an exciting and enthusiastic flash mob performance of the Cha Cha slide! The teachers enjoyed the dance so much that they donned their dancing shoes and joined in for an encore! And so did Mr Mumford!
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News & Events
Debating Success The College has seen quite impressive debating results this term, namely in DIMUN VI, the Association for Global Debate Tournament (AGD), and the World Scholars Cup. From 19-21 February, DCB hosted the sixth Dulwich International Model United Nations (DIMUN). With over 228 participants, 500 speeches, 1,700 points of information, 200 amendments and 40 resolutions, the conference was definitely a success in the history of DIMUN. A highlight was the emergency crisis in the General Assembly, when delegates were called upon to resolve the situation in the Central African Republic within the pressing time limit of 90 minutes. With amazing high school students chairing each committee and diligent Admin, Press and Tech teams, plus supportive and enthusiastic directors, DIMUN VI was truly remarkable. On 12 and 13 March, DCB hosted the Association for Global Debate Spring Tournament in partnership with Harvard College Mentors for Urban Debate. Over 100 students from 25 schools across China met to debate the merits (or otherwise) of a Carbon Tax in China. Dulwich students did a fantastic job in adapting to a new style of debate and challenging themselves against experienced competitors from all over East Asia. This was an especially great learning experience and our
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successes proved DCB’s strength in rhetoric and delivery. Five of our teams made it to the top 16 out of over 60 teams while five also ranked in the Top 10 Speakers awards with DCB taking all top three spots out of over 20 competitors. The College would like to thank Ms Tosi and Ms Flanagan for making this opportunity possible. Last but certainly not least in Term 2, 19 and 20 March saw the regional round of the World Scholars Cup held at Keystone Academy. Debating the theme ‘An Imperfect World’, DCB students took all four first place prizes in the various age-specific overall competitions, and took huge numbers of trophies as individuals and teams, being almost completely dominant in the Junior Division. A special mention goes to those first placed students in a range of different sections – Fredric Kong (Year 9), Elenya Chuan (Year 9), Jennifer Zhou (Year 9), Silvia Shen (Year 12), Johanna Shen (Year 12), and Yi Wen Lee (Year 10). ‘I am incredibly proud of all of our students that participated. They worked brilliantly in their teams throughout the different rounds and each of them challenged themselves individually,’ says CAS and Extended Essay Co-ordinator Sara Palmer. ‘Roll on the Global Round in Bangkok!’
Hong Kong Young Writers Award DCB is proud to announce that Year 8 student Kristen Li recently visited Hong Kong recently to attend the awards ceremony for the Hong Kong Young Writers Awards (HKYWA). 13 year old student won first place in the fiction category for her story entitled ‘The New Tales of The Terracotta Warriors’, which was inspired by a trip to Xian a couple years ago. Reflecting on the writing process for this prestigious competition, as well as the inspiration behind the story, Kristen explains: ‘The Qin dynasty was fascinating; there was too much to write about in too few words. I left the plot to simmer for perhaps too long and I submitted the entry in a hurry, though the writing itself was really enjoyable. I didn’t expect much before the news came along. I was really glad and gained lots from this experience – I’ll definitely be writing more.’
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From Headmaster’s Desk
DCB:
A Complex Cocktail of Success This year has seen a breakthrough in our offers from top US colleges. Eight students have places at Ivy League universities, including school firsts from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, and this year we also have our first ever Stanford offer. Many other students have picked up magnificent offers from excellent colleges and universities around the world in a range of subjects and disciplines. Dulwich College Beijing has been open since 2005 and this year will see our seventh graduating class. Over the College’s eleven-year history, it has progressively built up a world-wide reputation for producing the sort of students who can thrive in top US and UK universities. Many should take credit for this. Over the last two years, Heather Pineda and her team have professionalised our university counseling service, taking it to new heights; Simon Herbert and the Senior School team have tuned the curriculum delivery, pastoral support, academic monitoring and mentoring to a pitch whereby students really do achieve their potential.
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But the real success story is one of school culture. This was established from the off by founding Headmaster, Brian McDouall (now Director of Schools for the whole Dulwich Group) and the first leaders of DCB in the years of its genesis. Brian, along with former Head of Senior School, Graeme Salt (now Headmaster at Dulwich Seoul), and long-serving Head of Juniors, Ruth Grant, put in place some principles that hold strong today. Children are encouraged to find their passions, to express their individuality, and ‘have a go’. From day one, the College has been about far more than just the classroom. Every school has an extra-curricular programme, but DCB’s has been its life blood. Music and Drama, currently led so wonderfully by Paul West and Augusta Harison-Denby, stand on the shoulders of an already deeply embedded tradition. The House System and Dulwich Challenge at DCB are the envy of many. They stem from the efforts of a raft of enthusiastic teachers, and have been shaped in an understated yet profound fashion by former Senior School Deputy
Head, Chris Lynn and his successor, Klaudia Tomaszun. Children thrive when they feel safe and appreciated, and DCB’s pastoral system has ensured this remains as much a reality today as before. Former Head of Early Years (and now Deputy Director of Schools at DCI) Kate Beith embedded a child-centred philosophy which has impacted at every level. More recently, she has spearheaded our safeguarding of children work but this is only one expression of a prevailing passion that Kate and many at DCB have for ensuring each child is cared for and succeeds. Tom Gagne framed our counselling work with dignity, experience, and genuine humanity; hugely talented professionals like Gea Visscher have ensured our support services are best in class. Children get the back-up they need. But the backbone that has held the school together over its albeit short history, and has created an environment in which children can settle and grow so well, has been the support staff. They are the unsung www.dulwich-beijing.cn
From Headmaster’s Desk heroes of DCB. Many of our Chinese Teaching Assistants, and members of the administrative staff have been here since the beginning. Administrators like Nina Zhou, Ava Wang, Sylvia Liu, Iris Tian and Qianying Reid keep the wheels on track and running smoothly. Choon Eichman (who left last year) and Jane Ji established an Admissions Department which is trusted and goes the extra mile in personalised service. George Jiang in Operations and Maureen Huang in HR have been real stalwarts. Wayne Yang and Joe Guo have built our IT proficiency. Becky Jing, our Director of Government Relations and Chinese Liaison, is as responsible as anyone for the establishing of DCB. Her work behind the scenes with our landlords and with the Chinese authorities has been impressive to say the least. Expat administrators, in particular Cynthia Maclean (now with DCI in Shanghai), and IT Guru Steve Andersen (now at Dulwich College Shanghai) have also been fundamental in building a school where people
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count and educational goals are served. The cause of any success is always complex, and it is without doubt that Dulwich College Beijing is not a story that stands alone. It is ultimately the product of the vision and commitment of the leaders of Dulwich College International, Executive Chair, Fraser White, CFO, David Yung, and CEO, Christian Guertler. Their drive, commitment to excellence, and dogged determination, reflected in the team they have built in Shanghai, all contribute hugely to the continued context in which the school can prosper. DCI leads the way in overseeing the management of international schools in Asia. Its best practice is in high demand and universally respected in the industry. But even above that, DCI and DCB owe our very existence to Dulwich College London. In no small measure the inspiration of former Headmaster, Graham Able, and current Head, Dr Joseph Spence, and their teams have been a key
factor is giving credibility, support, and expertise to the DCB project. Ralph Mainard, recently retired Deputy Master External, played an important role in the shaping of Dulwich overseas and we reap the fruit of his and his London colleagues’ labours today. Our excellent university outcomes this year are no fluke. They are the product of years of work by many people. We can all be justifiably proud to be involved with such an institution. But it is the young people we work with every day who are the best testimony that something is going right. Teachers, leaders, and administrators play our part but ultimately it is the hard work, talents, and commitment of the students that make DCB such a delicious cocktail of good things. Long may it continue!
David Mansfield Headmaster
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Special Feature
Make the Best Teachers v My views on the incredible, wonderful, amazing, adorable and, at times, totally terrifying little creatures called toddlers are my own, and throughout this article I am making sweeping statements. Needless to say, since each toddler is already a tiny package of uniqueness and individuality, there are always exceptions and unexpected outcomes when working with them. This article is written with all the love and respect in the world for toddlers. I have come to the conclusion that one has to be totally dedicated to humanity in order to be a teacher of toddlers. Whilst they can be the most beautiful, innocent things on the planet, they can also be the most daunting creations and are in constant motion. Either way, toddlers are the future. We need to care for them, love them, protect them, and sometimes, we need to save them from themselves! The toddler setting is where we get to witness the beginnings of greatness – unique human beings unfolding and exploring their potential.
right or where we are going wrong. Toddlers learn from observing. They follow the role models we aim to be. They mirror the environment; we look at them and see ourselves. Toddlers embody a selection of wonderful qualities. Fearlessness, curiosity, endurance, and the ability to absorb knowledge openly and willingly are but a few of the wonders of being a toddler. Toddlers are equipped with the valuable tool of non-judgement, which allows them freedom from viewing others as obstacles to their success. In all areas of development, toddlers stumble and fall. They get up. They continue. They persevere. They tackle
by Ingrid Van Ginkel challenges – sometimes head-on and bottoms up! That strong sense of determination needs to be nurtured and supported as we don’t want those precious gifts to weaken or even disappear. Toddlers naturally trust their decisions. Endless questioning and futile doubts have not yet made their unwelcome presence. Toddlers never lose sight of the important things in life – to be loved, to be nourished, and to have old cardboard boxes with which to get creative. Hot chocolate and an abundance of fresh Play-Doh are important too! Toddlers are free of body issues. They
As adults, probably our most important ‘task’ in the world is to guide and love the little ones. It is entirely our responsibility to provide a safe, nurturing environment in which toddlers can embark on the journey that is life. In turn, toddlers are often our best teachers. They show us boldly, and without hesitation, what we are doing
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Special Feature enjoy living in their bodies, and use them as a powerful tool for exploring the world around them. They learn best through physical sensation – an ability we adults unfortunately often lose the more we rely on our ‘thinking heads’ for learning. Toddlers are mini-packages of joyful energy. They move for the love of movement. Observing the ease with which a toddler performs the five stages of physical development – embryonic, creeping, crawling, standing, and walking, one realises the limitations and fears with which we approach our own bodies and movement. Life is one great fascination after the next for these little human beings. They possess the gift of laughter.
Rather than spending their energy regretting the past or worrying about the future, toddlers live in the now; the now is all that matters. For now, I need to be warm, safe, fed and loved; they are the important things in life. With their strong, innate belief in themselves, toddlers don’t pay much attention to boundaries and limitations, and see the world through enthusiastic eyes – a world which is theirs to discover. At 2 years -old, a toddler can be anything he or she wants to be. Every great leader in the world was once a toddler! When we provide toddlers with valuable life skills, opportunities, and the support that they need, we open the doors of possibility for them to
become the next leaders of the International Monetary Fund, Olympic athletes, concert pianists or, who knows, death metal band members! While observing my toddlers, I often stop and wonder, Which one of you little darlings will be responsible for solving the next world crisis, or perhaps for creating it? The toddler spirit lives within each and every child born to us. It is nurtured and developed through play, unconditional love, and support. It grows within the encouragement we give, in order for them to extend their own learning capabilities. The toddler spirit dares to take risks, stands firm in its greatness and, always, in its stubborness!
The face of determination The College Magazine (Beijing)
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Special Feature
Q&A with Head Boy and Head Girl What is required of you as Head Boy and Head Girl? Johanna: We represent the school. The way that we act and the things that we do within the school define our role. We also lead projects within the Prefect team. This year, the Prefects are sorted into different sectors such as Music, Sports, etc. They have long-term projects and we oversee them and make sure we’re making progress and, if not, we need to identify what’s going wrong and improve it. Binyam: We also handle communication between students and teachers. If students feel like there is something that could be changed within the school, they can report it to us. We represent the students’ voice and [try to] make changes.
In what ways does holding a prestigious position such as Head Boy and Head Girl prepare you for the future? Johanna: I want to study biological sciences and to go into research, so being Head Girl is helpful because you really have to know how to work with others. Working with research teams will be similar to working with the Prefect team in terms of people who have different strengths and weaknesses.
What are some of your goals this year? Johanna: Strengthening the relationships between older and younger Senior School Students because we saw there was quite a gap. Now we have Key Stage 3 links.
Binyam: This is something that has definitely given me a lot of experience in leadership. I hope to be an entrepreneur one day, and that involves communicating with a wide range of people and organising resources.
Binyam: For example, we go to classes and give short talks about the Values of the Week. We want to make the Prefect group more affable and approachable for students; we shouldn’t intimidate anyone. A part of representing the school and the student body is that you should be able to relate to those around you – they should be able to talk to you anytime – and we’re able to build this through Key Stage 3 links.
What advice would you give to younger students aspiring to be part of the Prefect team? Johanna: Always challenge yourself and never settle. It’s important to take on leadership roles at a young age which might push you outside of your comfort zone because those experiences are going to prepare you, not only for the Prefect team, but for tough life situations you might encounter.
What have you learned in this role so far? Binyam: Having had the opportunity to lead people, you learn how to read emotions, to judge situations better, and how to talk to different people at certain times; your tone matters.
Binyam: Utilize everything you can at Dulwich to the fullest. For example, I love playing football and teamwork has helped develop my communications skills. Also, don’t always follow the majority. If you really feel like you should question something, have the courage to do so. If you’re wrong, that’s fine too but be OK with failure. That’s really important.
[Another] big thing I’ve learned is that if something is not going as planned, to adapt quickly and come up with another solution.
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See Johanna and Binyam’s interview in full on our website. www.dulwich-beijing.cn
Sports
A Fighting Chance Term 2 in Sports As I write, we are more than midway through the Middle School ISAC Basketball season and the Senior School football season. The JV Boys’ Football team have already won their first trophy of the season with an impressive display in winning the Tiger Cup at WAB in March. Sport in the Junior School has really come alive as well this term with outstanding performances in several events including swimming and handball. Other highlights in Term 2 included the ISAC Senior Boys’ badminton tournament hosted by DCB in March. The standard of play was outstanding, the best that I have witnessed so far in an ISAC event. Furthermore, the success of the Boys’ and Girls’ teams at ACAMIS and in the
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ISAC competitions this term has highlighted the strength of the basketball programme at DCB. May 27-28 will see the annual Rugby, Netball & Tennis tournament return to DCB. This tournament has been a great success in recent years and our students are in training to get prepared for this years’ event. Training is also ongoing for the Primary FOBISIA Games to be hosted in Vietnam towards the end of May. You can stay up date in sports results in our weekly newsletter available at www.dulwichbeijing-net. Eddie Lydall Director of Sport
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Sports
Basketball Having won ACAMIS last year, the Varsity boys were eager to claim the trophy again. Everyone was focused the second we stepped into the gym. We are the team that others wanted to beat; the champions are always the targets. We knew what was coming and we were prepared. The hard work started way back in August and this was the opportunity to showcase our diligence and dedication. We made it to the finals with ease. Our opponent was DCS once again. It was no longer a basketball game, but a battle of pride. Unsurprisingly, the Shanghai boys retaliated aggressively. All credit to them for
not giving up. We are now the back-to-back ACAMIS champions! As captain, my initial goal of the season was to repeat our ACAMIS success, which we have now achieved. It was an honour to wear The Lions’ jersey. Best of luck to the boys next year and I hope they bring back more trophies for the collection, which I am sure is possible under the guidance of Coach Tomlin. Henry Chen, Year 13 ACAMIS Basketball Results: Boys’ Basketball – First Girls’ Basketball – Second
Swimming Invitational Swim Meet
SAC 11 & Under Swim Meet
Our DCB Junior and Senior School swim team joined the meet held at Harrow International School on Saturday, 27 February. They competed against three other international schools including HISB, MSB, BSB, and the Firepower Swim Club. All the children swam really well and the team won nine gold medals, five silver medals, and 11 bronze medals for individual events! The relays races saw the following results:
The DCB Swim team also joined the ISAC swim meet at BCIS on 12 March and saw more than 250 swimmers representing DCB, ISB, BSB, WAB, BCIS, BIBA, CISB, and Keystone Academy. All swimmers in the DCB team tried their best and improved their speed in this swim meet. They swam particularly well in the relays, enjoying working together as a team. They were indeed great representatives of the school, swimming well and supporting each other at this event. Thanks to the parent supporters, and Coaches Gao and Du.
Age 6-8 100IM team relay, 6-8yrs: Boys – Third, Girls – Second Age 6-8yrs 100 freestyle relay: Boys – Third, Girls – Third Age 9-10 200 freestyle relay: Girls – Third
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Sports
Handball ISAC Handball Tournament Two teams of girls and boys from Junior School were in attendance Saturday, 30 January for the ISAC Handball tournament at the German School. Both teams played well, showing great courage and determination and did DCB proud. Both B Teams acquitted themselves well with the boys winning two of their games and both teams showing scoring plenty of goals and very competitive. Both A Teams went all the way to their respective semi-finals which they were unlucky to lose. However, they played brilliantly to both claim the bronze medal!
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The Year 6 Boys ISAC Handball Tournament – A Team Report On Saturday 5, March the DCB boys teams went to DBP, the German School to compete. Our A team was in group D with HIS, WAB2 and ISB3. Our first match was against HIS and we won 12-1! Our second match was against WAB2, who we beat 14:1; we played some fantastic handball. Twenty minutes before our third match, our goalie, asked to play outfield with Zion moving to play in goal. Even with changes in the team formation, we did amazingly well and won 15-0! After finishing first in our
group, we played BIBA in the quarter finals, winning 14-2. We then played BSB in the semis but lost 8-3. In the third and fourth place match, we met WAB2. We were frustrated with our semi-final loss, but we calmed down and beat them 16-1! We proudly hung our bronze medals on our necks and came back home. Pierrot Coppens and Zion Kang, 6PW
Harrow & Firepower
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Sports
ISAC Badminton Gabriel Spooner from Year 11 and Wayne Foo from Year 9 came in third place in the ISAC Badminton Doubles while Gabriel won the Singles! This tournament included over 100 players from 11 ISAC schools. Gabriel describes his experience below. I started Singles rather lethargically, drained after my exertions in Doubles. However, I managed to find my form and had a fairly smooth path to the final. In the final I was to meet a WAB student, whom I know is very
capable; he had won the doubles tournament. Lacking the belief that I could win, I lost the first set quickly. However, in the second set, I clawed my way back to set up a third. In the third set, I felt that I had nothing to lose and I could feel the pressure mounting on my opponent. Finding some of my best badminton at the right time, I managed to beat him in a tough, three set match. Gabriel Spooner, 11MLO
Football Junior Varsity Boys Win the Tiger Cup Football 7s!
JV Girls at the Tiger Cup
A select group from the JV Squad headed out to the Western Academy of Beijing by bus on March 11 to participate in the 2016 Tiger Cup. As per the unfavourable chilly weather, the team started out cold. Despite this, a ‘fumble’ by the WAB keeper, following on from a spectacular long distance effort from captain Brendan Fosh, got the team going and the lions ended up with three goals and a clean sheet. After this, the team headed into the finals against ISB. A bit of complacency came into play and the overconfident Dulwich JV was neutralised by a well prepared ISB team. However, Steven Ding was able to score in the second half after a scoreless first half to clinch the 1-0 victory! Overall, the tournament was a great success and everyone had a fair chunk of game time.
The young JV Girls Football team – including three Year 8s and five Year 9s – played in the Tiger Cup 7s Tournament at WAB with the young team playing competitively in all four of their matches. Speed and fitness allowed our girls to match the superior size and strength of the much older opposition. The team drew 0-0 with ISB and lost 2-1 to BSB, the eventual winners. The following day, DCB beat WAB 4-0 in the last group game and then 1-0 in the third place play-off! It was great to see students from Year 8 to Year 11 working so well together as a team.
Brendan Fosh, 11DHE
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Charity
Giving in Term 2 Dulwich students are encouraged to take part in a wide range of charity and social service initiatives throughout the year as they learn to become committed and compassionate global citizens. In Term 2, they were busy raising money for and awareness of the Fuji Cyclone disaster, but they also found time and come up with creative ideas for some local charity projects! Below is a summary of the charitable endeavors the three schools took part in.
Many thanks to those who donated for your big hearts and generosity. Together we can make a difference and help those less fortunate!
Winter Celebration – RMB 17,000 raised from a Friends of Dulwich dessert and drink stall. All was donated to Roundabout to support the medical fund for a teacher who has cancer.
April Early Years Dress Up Day for Fiji B
RM
2 0 1 5,
Other Amazing Projects: • Students from Early Years at Legend Garden wrote letters to elderly residents in England who felt lonely or did not have family to visit them. Students have received a letter back from the UK thanking the children for their letters! • Students at Riviera Main Campus helped to make up the Roundabout Donations to ensure they were all complete before being sold in the Roundabout shop. Our children were total stars as they completed the puzzles and marked the boxes to indicate whether they contained any missing pieces.
February – Donations for The Little Adoption Shop:
Other Amazing
a inem ing C 3 ur Year pcorn d Po Stuffed Toy and k brea h c n Monkeys Sale fo u r l Chinese New Ye RMB ar RMB
Projects: Support for Fiji – ‘Muffins for Mum and Donuts for Dad’ during parent teacher conferences
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30 . 5 7 2 , 7 RM
January – Donations for Bethel China (an organisation that provides
education and foster care for children who are blind or visually-impaired)
Free RMB
Dres
s Day
536
Tea Sale Bubble
7,068
RMB
(560 RMB used for buying diapers, the remaining was donated in cash) 12 DCB students from Interact Club visited Bethel during the Chinese New Year and spent time playing with children. The College Magazine (Beijing)
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4,04
3 Year y a Da m a j y P
2,794
RMB
1,295
February – Donations for Bethel China and 2017 Cambodia Project (50 percent
March – Support for Fiji Bubble Tea and Bake Sale
donated to each cause)
RMB
Roses Sale for Valentine’s Day
1,265
RMB
raised
Diversity concerts, drinks sale RMB
575
raised
10,360
Free Dress Day RMB
6,575.20
Drinks and Snack Stall during the Little Shop of Horrors Musical
2,333
RMB raised towards 2017 Cambodia Project.
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Arts
Diversity Lives Up to its Name by Paul West, Director of Music The College’s fourth annual Diversity Concert Series finished at the end of Term 2, and saw more students and members of the Dulwich family than ever enjoying concerts and workshops. While highlights reported from Term 1 included Music, Maths, and Magic workshops, there was more Diversity for everyone to enjoy in Term 2!
Straight after the Chinese New Year break came our first visit, from Cordelia and the Buffalo. They are a unique indie-rock and world music influenced band comprised of students and former students of Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. The band’s performance was exceptional, with an interesting mix of original songs influenced by varied genres of contemporary and world music. “Cordelia” not only put on a performance to remember, but also spent the day before their performance working with students from Key Stages 3, 4, and 5 to give tips on rehearsing and perfecting their own songs, and our students had the honour of performing alongside the band members during the opening songs of the concert too.
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This year also saw our first Diversity concert aimed at our Key Stage 1 and 2 students. Carnival of the Animals was performed by members of Wisemann Brass. The concert comprised not only the title work by Saint-Säens (which was beautifully narrated by our Year 4 students and skilfully played by the brass musicians), but also some other toe-tapping numbers that had our students dancing in the aisles of the Wodehouse Theatre! This included songs from Disney classics The Jungle Book and Aladdin, and even an homage to Michael Jackson, for which the brass trio were joined on stage by our very own (and very talented) percussion teacher, Eduardo Barroetabena. We will definitely be looking to include more Diversity concerts aimed at our younger students in the future!
On 18 March, Northwestern Treblmakers (an Asian-influenced a cappella group from Northwestern University in Chicago) paid us a visit, and featured amongst its talented members DCB Alumnus Jason Yuan. The concert opened with the Junior School Choir, and our two senior school choirs, Dulwich Singers and the DCB Chamber Choir, who sang a range of pieces including a David Bowie tribute and a slickly choreographed ‘Tequila Samba’! The energetic visitors then burst onto the stage and held the audience captive with their cleverly arranged, energetically performed set, which ranged from Chinese and Korean songs to a medley of Madonna hits. This masterclass in quality vocal performance was such a hit with the crowd that the Treblemakers’ latest CD was snapped up by a huge number of audience members after the show. The audience never would have guessed the band had stepped off a long-haul flight from Chicago just a few hours before their performance! www.dulwich-beijing.cn
Arts
Our final concert in this year’s Diversity series certainly didn’t disappoint either. The Carducci-Eimer Piano Trio’s performance of Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Piazzolla was, in a word, breathtaking. Intonation, technique, phrasing, and ensemble were precise and the playing was full of energy and passion. DCB is very lucky not only to be able to enjoy a performance of such a high standard, but also to benefit from the expertise of these fine chamber musicians who worked with our Chamber Orchestra in workshops. The Symphony Orchestra dazzled at the start of the concert, and the Chamber Orchestra played two excellent pieces with the professional artists from their workshop: the Borodin Nocturne and Brahms Hungarian Dance. These closed the concert in a spirit of musical collaboration and learning.
IB Art DCB’s talented IB Visual Arts students have worked tirelessly over the course of two years, but especially so during the second half of their IB course, which reached its end this term. With media including digital photography and collage, ceramics, screen printing, mixed media, dark room photography and more traditional media including acrylic paint, charcoal, oil, watercolor, and clay, the young artists explored complex themes such as flow, interaction, identity, distortion, and memory (to name just a few), and were able to depict these abstract ideas with precision. The artworks were proudly displayed in the reception area of our Legend Garden Campus for one month. Congratulations to these young artists on their extraordinary efforts.
All of our visitors in this year’s Diversity series made a mark on the young musicians at DCB, and we are fortunate to be able to provide such wonderful opportunities for our students to work alongside our visitors, as well as the chance for audiences to hear performances by such first-class artists. See you at next year’s series! The College Magazine (Beijing)
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Arts
A Term to Remember by Augusta Harison-Denby, Head of Drama After the whirlwind of Drama that was Term 1, Term 2 saw no letting up in the array of opportunities for, and performances by, students!
Theatre Visits
ISTA Festivals
Beijing was lucky enough to have the Royal Shakespeare Company – one of Britain’s most prestigious theatre companies – come to the city in February, and the Drama and English Departments combined to take nearly 40 Year 9 students and eight teachers to see Shakespeare’s Henry V. It was a fantastic chance for the students to see professional theatre, especially as they had been studying Henry V in their Drama lessons and could now see the text they had been exploring performed by professional actors.
There were two ISTA (International Schools Theatre Association) Festivals in town In February and March, and DCB took students to both. The High School Festival at Keystone Academy focused on how all elements of theatre, from performance and set design to lighting and sound, can work together to create something meaningful from a single starting point (in this case, a visit to the Summer Palace, which inspired ideas of new China vs old China). Students took part in performance-based ensembles such as Wushu and improvisation, and tech-based ensembles involving creating sets or using lighting in innovative ways. The theme of the fun, fast-paced Middle School Festival at WAB was ‘The Dragon’ and the different stories that the dragon brings to life within us.
Visiting Practitioners Drama Diversity continued its successful run at DCB as we welcomed esteemed Physical Theatre practitioner Mark Hill in March. Mr Hill is no stranger to DCB, having offered inspiring workshops in Japanese theatre forms Suzuki and Butoh to our students in previous years, so we decided this year to challenge some of our Year 9s along with the exam students. Mr Hill also gave an ‘Artist’s Talk’ at the end of his day with us, covering his experiences in theatre, and how theatre can change lives around the world. This certainly inspired several of our students who remained to speak with Mr Hill long after the talk had ended!
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The festival began with a visit to the hutongs near Hohai Lake and saw our students making traditional Chinese dumplings before moving on to the lake itself, to visit the oldest Dragon Wall in China. This provided inspiration for our students, who worked with experienced ISTA artists to create incredible pieces of physical and symbolic theatre of a level far beyond their young years!
School Musical: Little Shop of Horrors Drama in Term 2 cannot be mentioned without talking about the unprecedented success that was Little Shop of Horrors. A combined effort by the Drama and Music Departments resulted in a musical that was of a standard more often seen in professional shows. Students, staff, and parents inundated our email inboxes with proclamations that this was the ‘best school show they had seen’, with some even saying it was better than those they had seen in the West End! A custom-built set, over one hundred lighting cues, tight scene changes, a smoke machine, a hugely talented band, one huge man-eating plant, and the incredible acting of our cast – some of whom had flown under the radar until they stole the show with songs such as ‘Mushnik and Son’ or a dubious scene in a dentist’s chair – made this a show to remember. The two leads – Alex Chang and Claire Dvorchak – had been to every rehearsal since late August, and their professionalism shone through in two highly impressive performances that engaged the audience from their first moments onstage until their untimely deaths at the hands of ‘Audrey 2’. The bar has been set. This one might be very hard to top!
www.dulwich-beijing.cn
Spotlight on Authors
4 Authors in Term 2! Australian Poetry Slam National Champion and two-times NSW Poetry Slam Champion Philip Wilcox came into DCB and shared something new with Year 7: Slam Poetry. For the majority of Year 7 slam poetry was an unfamiliar topic, however, Mr Wilcox quickly introduced it to us by performing some of his own work and relating these powerful pieces to his experiences of growing up. He taught us an interesting activity called ‘stream of consciousness’, which is a technique he uses to inspire some of his own writing. Another activity we tried was writing our own poems using repetition. After that, a few of us performed our poems for Mr Wilcox and the rest of the year group. I really enjoyed his visit to Dulwich as it has changed my approach and view on different types of poetry and how they can be performed.
Some very lucky students in our Junior School were excited to welcome internationally renowned children’s author and illustrator Graeme Base, on Friday, 18 March. Mr Base is a hugely successful Australian writer and illustrator as well as the creator of such internationally-acclaimed picture books as The Eleventh Hour, Uno’s Garden, The Sign of the Seahorse, and perhaps his best known work, Animalia, which has sold over three million copies worldwide since first publication in 1986 and is a favourite for teachers and students of all ages. Mr Base told us stories, shared his inspiration for many of his books, and answered students’ questions. Our Year 3 and 4 students were even treated to a reading by Mr Base himself! Kristen Billings DCB Junior School Librarian
Christina MacCorkle, Year 7
Philip Wilcox
Graeme Base
Tom Rob Smith
Ian Whybrow
Tom Rob Smith, international best-selling author and scriptwriter, visited DCB on 14 March 2016. He spoke to Year 9 and 10 students about his writing journey, which started when he was a student at Dulwich College London where he was given the opportunity to write and produce his own play. He presented to Year 12 Drama students on creating believable dialogue and characters, and screen writing versus writing novels. Mr Smith encouraged students to make use of the opportunities presented by Dulwich College and to be passionate about their interests. International best-sellers he has written include Child 44 (trilogy), The Farm and the recent BBC2 five-part TV series London Spy. The College Magazine (Beijing)
Year 3 had the chance to meet award-winning children’s author Ian Whybrow in March who read to them from his very own story, Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs! Mr Whybrow has written more than 100 children’s books since the release of his first book in 1989. His beloved stories have been translated into nearly 30 languages. Mr Whybrow’s background as a teacher – a career he pursued successfully for many years before becoming a full time writer – was clear in the way he engaged the children. His combination of humour and great storytelling surely inspired a few of our students to create memorable characters and plots of their own!
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Behind the Scenes A lot of activity goes on to ensure that daily school operations run smoothly. Many of the hard-working individuals employed ‘backstage’ tend to go unnoticed in their daily efforts to ensure that teachers can concentrate on teaching and students on learning. The College finds out more about these jobs at Dulwich from two members of support staff.
What is your typical work day like? My job responsibilities are to maintain the daily running of the campus, to answer phone calls, and to send emails to the parents. An important aspect of my job is to support all the staff, from teachers to support staff, in various areas. I also assist the Head of Early Years with her responsibilities. On a daily basis, I liaise with the Operations Department staff to ensure the environment, resources, and classroom organisation are sufficiently supported.
Name: Lita Tupaz Job: Assistant Campus Administrator at Little Rivera Campus Years at DCB: 11
Name: Jane Ji Job: Senior Admissions Manager Years at DCB: 10
Little Riviera Campus has such a happy atmosphere. Everyone works well alongside each other – we are like a big happy family.
What is your typical work day like? Busy! Every day, we receive phone calls from prospective families and answer questions explaining our policies, as well as organising appointments for campus tours, either here [Legend Garden Campus] or at Riviera Main Campus [RMC]. After we receive application forms, I check whether there are missing documents and arrange for an assessment. Then, we get back to parents on whether we can offer the child a place and, if so, we send the acceptance letter by email. I work with the Finance Department on billing and with Operations to arrange the school bus [for new children]. We also work with the coordinators of Early Years or Head of Early Years to place children in their new class and to send parents all their child’s start of school information. What do you normally do on the weekend? I spend time with my husband and
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What do you normally do on the weekend? The most important thing for me is to relax and enjoy my home every weekend. I love being at home and spend a lot of time doing cross-stich. In between that, I do all my own housework, and really enjoy watching movies. In all your time at DCB, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned? I have learned many valuable lessons whilst at DCB, the most important being how to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds. I find it very interesting to develop an understanding of different languages, cultures, and needs. My own level of Chinese has improved greatly too.
daughter. She’s in her third year at university so she’s a big girl now. We go on field trips on the weekend or watch concerts – that’s my daughter’s favorite thing to do because she really likes music. We usually watch classical music concerts or traditional Chinese folk songs.
In all your time at DCB, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned? Teamwork. We share ideas and everyone helps each other. Our team is quite new, but in the past few years I’ve really enjoyed working with Admissions. I enjoy working at Dulwich because I can see the children I’ve worked with in the school. I love working with the little kids, they’re so cute! Lots of them are in Junior and Senior School now and, even though they’re not my children, I’m so proud of them.
www.dulwich-beijing.cn
Student Artwork
The College Magazine (Beijing)
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Student Artwork
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Student Artwork
The College Magazine (Beijing)
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UC Office
International University Fair DCB welcomed more than 100 universities at the College’s International University Fair on Friday, 11 March – the biggest fair organised by DCB to date. Hundreds of parents and students from Beijing’s international school community were in attendance for the chance to speak with representatives from a diverse range of schools in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Asia.
workshops aimed at helping students gain greater insight into various aspects of the admissions process. Workshop topics were led by admissions officers and included matters most pressing for international school students such as studying in specific regions of the world, planning the US college process, tips on the Common Application essay, the differences between studying in the US and the UK, and more.
Prospective students had the opportunity to attend informative
Words From the Wise On extra-curricular activities: ‘We want to see students who are involved in something they feel passionate about and who have demonstrated leadership. We don’t want to see a student who is involved in a shallow way in lots of activities. A student who is involved in one or two activities and has done really great things as part of that, is really in a better position, as far as we’re concerned, at being accepted.’ Jacob Wooden, Assistant Director of International Admissions, Indiana University. On IB applications: ‘We get a large number of students who come to Manchester with the IB Diploma every year and it’s one of the qualifications that we’re most familiar with so IB and A levels are our gold standards in terms of qualifications for entry.’ Charles Pybus, International Officer at University of Manchester. On finding the right school: ‘We recommend students apply broadly. Think about the geography and landscape, where the school [you’re applying to] is located. Another thing
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to think about is the personality of the university. They are more than 5,000 higher education institutions in America. Think about the size of the university. Would you prefer to be in a smaller environment where there are only maybe 500 students? Or would you enjoy being in a university where maybe there are more people, more resources, and so forth? Make a trip to do a tour and visit the campuses, if possible. That would be a great opportunity to really feel if that school is a good fit for you, not only the university but the city, climate, and area itself.’ Karen Tong, Communications and Admissions Manager, University of California, Irvine.
2016 Offers Update University Offers Pour In At the end of Term 2, DCB is proud to report its finest ever catalogue of American university places! Offers, including those from Stanford, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Harvard, and Juilliard are all firsts for DCB, and are the tip of the iceberg of successes. This year we have eight students with offers at Ivy League universities: Harvard, UPenn, three at Cornell, two at Brown, and Dartmouth. When this is added to offers from Stanford (more competitive than all the Ivies), Barnard (affiliated with Columbia University), Rhode Island School of Design (linked to Brown University), and our offers from Oxford and Cambridge, it means we have a line-up of destinations that any school in the world will envy. In addition, many more wonderful offers have been received at other world class universities such as Fordham University, New York University (NYU), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Northwestern University, and University of Notre Dame. We live in humbling times, and can do nothing more than congratulate these young people on their stunning levels of success. They are a credit to their parents, their school and, above all, to themselves. www.dulwich-beijing.cn
Friends
Every year, Friends of Dulwich allocates 75% of the money from the International Food Fair on Founder’s Day to the College Enrichment Fund. This is designed to benefit our students by funding exciting projects outside of the normal curriculum and therefore not covered by DCB. Parents, students, and staff can all apply for funding for new projects. All applications must be approved by the College Leadership Team before they are referred to the Friends Executive Committee.
This year we had 98,000 RMB in the Enrichment Fund to distribute. We received 21 applications worth more than 256,300
RMB, of which 13 were referred to the committee, valuing just under 90,000 RMB.
After careful consideration over a number of months, the Friends Committee awarded 74,364 RMB. These are the projects we have supported this year:
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10 new sewing machines for the Art Department New lighting for Drama 1 studio (contribution) Dixit Boards games for EAL use in JS and KS3 Chinese reading books in JS Forest Schools gardening equipment for EY (Riviera) Graduation Dinner (contribution) Year 13 Yearbooks Funding a skateboard initiative from the Interact Club, who are building skateboards to raise money for charity • Contribution towards Frozen Yoghurt and popcorn machines for the Interact Club to use in charity fundraising • Humans in Beijing project which seeks to record stories and experiences of Beijing locals in order to share them via social media Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Enrichment Fund via the Food Fair at Founder’s Day 2015. Together you made a huge difference to our students across the College! As not all the available funds were distributed this year, the balance will go towards next academic year’s Enrichment Fund. With that in mind, please get your ideas ready and apply to the Enrichment Fund next autumn! Louise Curd, Chair of Friends
The College Magazine (Beijing)
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Connections
MADD
Suzhou
The second MADD (Music, Art, Drama, and Dance) Festival was hosted by Dulwich College Suzhou at the beginning of March and was a fantastic opportunity for Junior School students to be inspired and learn from specially invited guest artists. Over 200 students attended from Dulwich Shanghai, Singapore, Beijing, Seoul, and the newest member of the group taking part in their first Dulwich event, Pun Hlaing International School. This year the festival had a carnival theme with elements of Suzhou’s sustainability agenda woven throughout. The students had an amazing time and will surely remember the experience for a long time to come.
One City, Two Campuses Model United Nations
Shanghai
‘Although education is a right for all children, some still do not enjoy this privilege.’ This was one of the reflections shared by a Year 5 Dulwich College Shanghai student, during the very first Junior School Model United Nations conference. For two days, Year 5 students took on the roles of delegates from countries as diverse as Sudan, Norway, Pakistan, and Haiti, in order to look for solutions to the problem of providing education around the globe. The students discovered that there are various reasons why children in many countries are not able to access the education they deserve. From transportation to poorly trained teachers and the need for children to earn money for their families, there is a wide range of challenges in enabling all children to attend school.
Dulwich College Shanghai’s sister school, Dulwich College Shanghai Minhang, opened its doors for the first time on April 20 to officially welcome Puxi-based families to visit the construction site of the newest campus. Forty curious and excited parents braved puddles and mud in their rain boots to walk the campus with Founding Headmaster David Ingram and the Minhang team. The visitors were led inside the classrooms and throughout the sports facilities, including a very impressive 50-metre, Olympic-sized swimming pool and triple gymnasium. The new Shanghai campus is set on 40,000 square metres of green space and will open to students in the new academic year, giving Shanghai’s international families access to a Dulwich education experience on the Puxi side of the river.
Shanghai Minhang
During the conference, the children produced a range of interesting resolutions to these difficult problems, such as providing solar panelled buses to transport children in rural areas to school and asking countries such as Norway and Finland to provide teacher training for countries with less developed systems. The students were inspired by guest speaker, Mr Peter Dalglish, who shared many stories about his experiences in educating children in poor countries around the world.
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www.dulwich-beijing.cn
Connections
London
Celebrating 400 Years The College in London is looking back 400 years to 1616, which saw the consecration of the Chapel of Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift, which later became Dulwich College. The Chapel still exists in Dulwich Village and Edward Alleyn is buried in the centre of the nave. Regular services for the College take place there at the
beginning and end of each term. To mark this 400th anniversary, a gala concert entitled ‘Edward Alleyn’s Gift’ was held in London’s Royal Festival Hall on 16 March, and featured musicians from the College and the two other schools in the Dulwich Foundation: James Allen’s Girls’
School (JAGS) and Alleyn’s School. A large choir of pupils, parents, and staff joined a combined orchestra from the three schools to perform Verdi’s momentous and ambitious Requiem. The performance was of an exceptionally high standard, and the chance for student musicians to perform in London’s premier concert venue (with a capacity of over 2,000) was greatly appreciated.
FoodBank Community Action Group One of the core values at Dulwich College Singapore (DCSG) is to raise student awareness about issues within the community, to encourage active participation, and to support charitable organisations in Singapore. To achieve this, the school set up the student-led Community Action Group to examine various charitable school activities. Among DCSG’s numerous community service ECAs is the FoodBank ECA, which works closely with FoodBank Singapore in collecting and distributing food to ‘food-insecure people’ within the community. Beginning in January of this year, the The College Magazine (Beijing)
group organised ‘Food Awareness Week’ which included initiatives such as a Non-Uniform Day Fundraiser, House Competition, and Food Donation Scheme, through which students were encouraged to bring in tins/ boxes of in-date food and donate these via the FoodBank boxes placed in the College reception area. The idea was to get students involved in the charity process and to learn about the difference such contributions can make in people’s lives. Once the food-collection process was complete, students assembled 119 food bundles to be taken to the FoodBank warehouse. Elderly people
who had requested food assistance were told about food being delivered to them by students. Students did an excellent job in finding units across all the 16-storey HDB flats, in order to get food to the elderly. Moving into its third season the FoodBank ECA group is examining our own food wastage, and how the school community can be more careful with food disposal, with planning already underway further food donations.
Singapore
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Snapshot
Chinese New Year Celebrations 16-29 January, 2016
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Snapshot 2016
19 January, 2016
The College Magazine (Beijing)
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Snapshot
Family Day on Ice 28 February, 2016
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Snapshot
Year 4 Drama Production
Sub Zero 21 March, 2016
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Snapshots
30-31 March, 2016
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Snapshots
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