Activities for 5 to 16 year olds start Monday 25 June 2012Open to boys and girls from the whole community!Activities include football, tennis, basketball, Superkids, Chinese language, Chinese culture, theatre and more. Registration open from 28 May at Dulwich Legend Sports Centre (weekdays 8am–9pm, weekends 9am–7pm).

For more information call 6454 9019/9127 or email dcp@dulwich-beijing.cn

SUMMERCAMPS FORKIDS

Dulwich Community Programmes presents

C O N T E N T SFOCUSArticles ...............................................................................................................................................................................................11

Charity ..................................................................................................................................................................................................16

COLUMNSNews & Events ......................................... 2

Letter from the Headmaster ................. 4

Welcome to our New Head of Senior School ............................................. 6

Welcome to our New Head of Early Years .................................................. 7

College Adventures ................................ 8

Drama .......................................................10

Sports ........................................................18

A Truly International Experience ..........20

How well do you know our Media Centres? ............................................22

Student Artwork ..............................22

Friends ..............................................26

Connections ......................................28

Front Cover: Karl Jenkins performs at ISCMS

Contributors: Chris Woolf, Bella Nightingale, Nicky Cases, Cindy Colson, Katrina Maguire, Neal McGowan, Jane Nieman, Eileen Tong, Veena Rao, Sarah Humphreys, Katherine Chua, Johanna Li, Ann Carmichael, Melanie Ellis, Marianne Lu, Kelly Kong, Rick Ahn, Gemma Duffy, Shane O’Shea, Mike Preston, Klaudia Tomaszun, Benjamin Tan, Rene Koglbauer

Editors: Alex Hayes, Mark Scott

6

16

25

News & Events

On 2nd February, 94 students from

Years 9, 10 and 11 took part in our

largest ever entry in the UK Math-

ematics Challenge which is a math-

ematics contest reserved for only the

best mathematics students from any

school. Each year, approximately

250,000 students take part and the

top 6% of scorers worldwide receive a

Gold Certificate, the next 13% receive

a Silver Certificate and the next best

21% receive a Bronze Certificate. Our

students did exceptionally well, with

48 of them (just over 50%) achieving

a Gold Certificate, 27 a Silver Certifi-

cate (just over 25%) and most of the

rest a Bronze Certificate.

3 of our Year 11 students out of only

500 worldwide have been invited to

take part in the next round of the Year

11 UK Mathematics Olympiad.

8 of our Year 10 students out of only

500 worldwide have been invited

to take part in the next round of the

Year 10 UK Mathematics Olympiad.

7 of our Year 9 students out of only

500 worldwide have been invited

to take part in the next round of the

Year 9 UK Mathematics Olympiad.

19 other students out of only 5500

have been invited to compete in the

European Mathematics Olympiad.

These are excellent results for Dul-

wich College Beijing!

A special mention must go to Nam-

seok (Nick) Lee 11SKA who scored

the 2nd highest score in the world (out

of a quarter of a million students!) and

also to both Boyeun Jeong 11JHO

and Alex Jin 10FGA who both scored

a joint 3rd best score in the world.

A big thank you to all involved and a

special thank you to Ms. Walshe, Mr.

Pankratz and Mr. Parekh for the spe-

cial mathematical olympiad training

given to their students. Every one of

Ms. Walshe’s Year 11 students who

took part won a Gold Certificate – this

is an exceptional performance!

Five months into their tenure, the Head Stu-

dents already have many successes to point

to. They have had the privilege of leading

the student body and weekly assemblies

alongside acting as the welcoming faces

for visitors and newcomers. This year, the

school has worked extremely hard to raise

the profile of its student leaders: they now

greet students and staff at reception every

morning; they have also mentored Year 11

through the difficult process of making IB

choices. Every lunchtime they also manage

students in the Lakeside Café extremely

effectively, insisting on the highest stand-

ards of dress, behaviour and cleanliness.

Their leadership has made the school a

better place, for which the whole Dulwich

community is grateful. In the near future, the

Head Students will be publishing a weekly

newsletter for the Senior School that will

keep the student body updated; they will be

collaborating with the Student Council and

forging closer ties with Junior School; and,

above all, they will continue to embody and

promote the Dulwich values.

UK Mathematics Challenge 2012 – Our Best Results Ever!

Hats Off to our Student Leaders

From left to right: Benjamin Tan – Head Boy, Samantha Melcher – Head Girl, Anna-Sophie Kleber – Deputy Head Girl, Christopher Liu – Deputy Head Boy

www.dulwich-beijing.cn2

News & Events

I started writing Midnight Walking in the

summer of 2010, while on vacation in

Hong Kong. It had been three days since I’d

left the house – I survived mainly on take-

out and any leftovers my parents deigned

to bring home – and I was reading a book,

the name of which now escapes me. It

was a horror, fantasy, young adult sort

of novel, with your standard protagonist

(the average girl who later turned out to

be special-after-all) and love interest (a

brooding, attractively troubled Were-pan-

ther, if I recall correctly), and at some point

I figured: I can do better.

You might say that I was spurred by arro-

gance, but in retrospect I think there was

a definite sense of rebellion present as

well. Midnight Walking was conceived as

a subversion – of the distressed damsels

and Byronic monsters and their unhealth-

ily codependent relationships – and I can

only hope that in writing it, I have fulfilled

this purpose.

Despite such grand intentions, writing the

book itself wasn’t as hard as I thought it

would be – at least, not initially. I wrote

at least 8000 words during the summer

(essentially 2 chapters), and went into the

fall of 2010 believing my production rate

would remain constant. This, of course,

was a bit of a stupid assumption, because

the fall of 2010 was also the start of Year

12 and the IB Diploma for me.

Being a writer while being a student is

difficult, but not for reasons one might

expect. The most significant problem is not

that you write less, though that is a prob-

lem. No, what worried me the most was

the fact that I wasn’t writing enough –

the feeling that I was being

unproductive, lazy and

just plain incompetent. The

IB Diploma is not an easy

course, and it was very rare

that I managed to write as

much as I wanted in a day or

week. However, writing Mid-

night Walking ultimately took

only 7 months, and has given

me a lot of perspective on my

creative boundaries.

Hopefully, widened boundaries will serve

me well in my future studies and career.

I was recently accepted into New York

University to study English and American

Literature at the College of Arts and Sci-

ences. While the prospect of University

does excite me, I will also be taking a gap

year to spend some time with my family

and, with luck, finish my second book – a

sequel to Midnight Walking that will con-

tinue the vision I had at its very concep-

tion, during that summer in Hong Kong.

Dulwich College Beijing was proud to be

a sponsor of the Bookworm’s Interna-

tional Literary Festival 2012. The event,

which ran from the 9th to the 23rd of

March 2012, is a unique celebration of

literature and ideas in China, connecting

over 70 Chinese and international writers

and thinkers.

Our main sponsored event, ‘Jamrach’s

Menagerie’ by Carol Birch provided a

great insight into the mind of a Booker

Prize-nominated author. Her book

begins when Jaffy Brown, a young

boy from the East of London, is plucked

from the jaws of an escaped tiger. He

is rescued by Mr. Jamrach, an explorer,

entrepreneur and collector of the world’s

strangest creatures who then leads him

on a sea voyage to hunt for a Komodo

dragon in the East Indies. In a thought

provoking discussion, Mrs. Birch took in

the quite liberating discovery that she

need not visit a place before writing

Bookworm Literary Festival 2012

about it, her unease with continued com-

parisons to Dickens and the importance

of her family.

The book is still available for purchase at

The Bookworm Beijing in Sanlitun.

Kathryn Chua Takes us ‘Walking’

The College Magazine (Beijing) 3

From the Headmaster’s Desk

One of the most common ques-

tions I get asked by current

and prospective parents is ‘How

British is Dulwich College Beijing?’ There

are many issues lying behind this ques-

tion, some of which are more challenging

than others. Does the question relate to

our students, our curriculum, our teach-

ers—or all three? I am very clear about

what kind of school we are, and I know

that I make the point strongly during

almost every public speech or presenta-

tion I give. However, as people are still

asking the question, I felt it would be

worth sharing my vision in this edition of

College Magazine.

As many of you know, I am from Edin-

burgh, which means my personal pride

manifests itself at different levels—being

Scottish, being British and being global.

No one feels a greater connection with

their roots than I do—being Scottish runs

through my veins. I am also immensely

proud to be British and of my British

passport, and this summer when the

Olympic Games are held in London, my

heart will be racing faster than anyone’s

when the British National Anthem ‘God

Save the Queen’ is played and sung at

the medal ceremonies. Being a global

citizen based in China, and particularly

working with young people, many of

whom are ‘Third Culture Kids’, reinforces

my belief that the world is indeed a vil-

lage and we all share in its challenges

and successes. To use the words of the

late President John F Kennedy, ‘In the

final analysis, we all inhabit this small

planet, we all breathe the same air, we

all cherish our children’s futures, and

we are all mortal.’ It is with that sense of

moral purpose and global outlook that I

try to lead our school.

So what does it mean to be a British

International School and what exactly

are we trying to achieve? Your satisfac-

tion with how I answer this will relate

very much to your own understanding of

what it means to be British in 2012 and

what the purpose of education is. There

are many different views on the history,

achievements and many devastating

consequences of the British Empire,

the jewel in the crown of which was

eighteenth-century India. However, what

is not in dispute is that one of the lasting

legacies of the Colonial Empire is that it

changed the cultural and racial diversity

of Great Britain forever. The UK is now

a rich, diverse and multicultural society

where people of different backgrounds,

ethnic origins, races and religions live,

work, play and attend school together

day-in and day-out.

So, we are intrinsically a British school—

but for global students from every part

of the world. We currently have over 42

nationalities in Dulwich College Beijing,

and I have to let you know that this was

a major attraction for me coming here as

your Headmaster. It is important to point

out that we are a British school located

in China, which means that we have a

moral, cultural and educational duty to

promote partnership and understanding

with our host culture. I personally believe

that we do this very well, and indeed this

was a key factor in our being named as

British International School of the Year

2011.

So when we say we are ‘British’, what

exactly do we mean by this? It’s very

clear—we are talking about our values,

our ethos, our traditions, our standards,

our curriculum and how our teachers lead

learning and teach. It’s about our par-

ticular approach and how we do things—

the fact that we have a school uniform,

hold an annual prize giving and the way

our assemblies are organised. It’s to do

Dulwich College Beijing Headmaster, Neal McGowan, discusses what it means to be a British International School

in China.

Founder’s Day in Dulwich College London. DCB will be introducing International Founder’s Day from 2012–13.

Who are we?

www.dulwich-beijing.cn4

with our view on the curriculum—that it

should be broad, balanced and inclusive,

with a commitment to academic excel-

lence, music, the arts, sport and service.

We are not an ‘academic hot house’ nor

are we an ‘examinations factory’. We are

here to fully educate our children and

young people about what it means to be

human, as well as to provide them with

an outstanding academic programme

that will set them free to have choices

in life and enable them to play their part

as responsible global citizens. The rea-

son that so many international students

from around the world choose Dulwich is

because we are British and we provide a

British education. They don’t expect our

school to be like their home-based mod-

els. They are choosing us because of

what we stand for and how we do things

in our very British way.

Significantly, our curriculum is based on

the British model and follows the English

National Curriculum until the end of Year

11 (age 16). However, we recognise the

global destinations of our students, and

so it is right that we offer the IB Diploma

in Years 12 and 13—but taught and deliv-

ered in a very British way. We require

our teachers to have experience of the

British education system before joining

us, meaning 90 per cent of our teachers

are expatriate (the majority of our PRC

teachers are those teaching Mandarin).

Our link with Dulwich College London

means that we work in close partnership

with one of the leading UK independent

schools and we are held accountable for

fulfilling our commitment to the Dulwich

ethos and philosophy through the annual

inspection they carry out in our school.

It was heartening that when Dr Joseph

Spence, the Master of Dulwich Col-

lege London, spent time with us in early

March, his view was that we are now full

partners with his school and they have as

much to learn from us as we have from

them. Indeed, one of the strands of Brit-

ish school life that we are borrowing from

them for next year is the establishment

of our International Founder’s Day, which

will mark and celebrate Edward Alleyn

for having the vision and the determina-

tion to establish Dulwich College in 1619,

which led to its development here in Bei-

jing in 2005.

His Excellency, Mr Sebastian Wood,

the British Ambassador to The People’s

Republic of China, opened our Dulwich

International Model United Nations

Conference in February this year. For

me he captured what it means to be a

responsible global citizen and the impor-

tance of having an outstanding educa-

tion based on a strong philosophical and

moral purpose. He emphasised that the

capacity for international conflict to have

catastrophic consequences for the entire

world means that there is a stronger

imperative than ever before for nations

to be informed about and have under-

standing towards each others’ cultures,

challenges and priorities. The need for

international diplomatic relations is more

important now than at any point in our

history. Secondly, he reminded us of the

rapidly depleting nature of the world’s

resources, including things many of us

take for granted such as clean air and

fresh water, which need to be shared

equitably amongst an ever-increasing

and impoverished world population. His

final point was that globalisation means

we no longer live a world where we can

hope to compete and achieve success if

we only think within the confines of our

home nations. He suggested that the

world’s economic interdependence is

illustrated perfectly by the iPhone, which

was conceived in the United States,

designed in the UK, with its software

being developed in India, its hardware

manufactured in China, financed in Asia

and the finished product sold all around

the world. So we either succeed together

or fail independently.

Headmaster Neal McGowan welcomes Australian Ambassador Frances Adamson to Dulwich Col-lege Beijing for the Australia–Britain Cricket match held on our sports fields in September 2011. Cricket is an international sport played across the globe, but with a very ‘British’ heritage.

Our children and young people will be

studying, living, working and sharing their

lives with people from all over the globe

to an extent that my generation could

never have imagined when we were at

school. Professor Yong Zhao, who is

Presidential Chair and Associate Dean

for Global Education at the University of

Oregon in the USA, adds that if young

people are to compete for jobs in this

global melting pot, each must demon-

strate what makes him or her especially

unique and different from the millions of

people around the world who may share

their basic skillsets. For our students that

will be due to their having had a British

education right here in China!

So, we are a British school, and proud

to be so—but specifically one for global

students. Each and every one of us is

born unique, quite unlike any other person

alive. Whilst we celebrate and rejoice in

the beautiful dignity of difference within

our school, each of our current and future

students—no matter where they come

from—will always absorb a little bit of what

may be essentially British, due to their

having been a part of our learning com-

munity here at Dulwich College Beijing.

Neal McGowanHeadmaster

From the Headmaster’s Desk

The College Magazine (Beijing) 5

Welcome to our New Head of Senior School

It is with pleasure that I introduce

myself to you as the new Head of

the Senior School of Dulwich Col-

lege Beijing. At the time of writing, I am

Senior Housemaster and former Head of

Modern Languages at Fettes College in

Edinburgh, Scotland. My wife Helen and

I, and our three children Will (12), Fred-

die (10) and Oliver (3) are very excited

about our move to Beijing and joining the

Dulwich community. When I first spoke to

an audience of Dulwich College Beijing

parents and staff during the interview

process in June 2011 (how time has

flown!), I was asked why we were consid-

ering a move to Beijing. I answered then

that we were looking forward to a new

challenge, to working in one of the most

exciting places in the world and to joining

a school within the Dulwich family. I also

mentioned that I had worked internation-

ally, in both Kenya and France. I have

travelled extensively but we are really

looking forward to discovering Asia.

I take over from Chris Woolf, who has

done a fantastic job as the interim Head,

and I wish him every success with his

new post in England. The staff and par-

ents whom I have already met have been

wonderfully friendly and welcoming. Neal

McGowan and the College Leadership

Team have been superb at making us

feel incredibly supported as we take this

big step. Since my initial visit, I have

returned twice and I am delighted to say

that on both occasions the strong ethos

of the school was evident. It is an ethos

to which I very much adhere and which

matches my educational philosophy. The

four pillars of academic excellence, the

arts, sport and commitment of service to

A few words from our new Head of Senior School, Simon Herbert

the community are clearly fundamental

to a Dulwich education and I aim to rein-

force all four at the Senior School.

My sons are very excited about joining

their new school. Of course, given their

ages, we shall have a son in each stage

of Dulwich College Beijing, therefore I

have even more interest in ensuring a

smooth transition from one to the other.

My son Freddie is already an expert at

using chopsticks and thinks that Kung Fu

is practised in the school corridors, whilst

our three year old is just looking forward

to the back-to-back movies on the flight

over and eating noodles every day!

We hope to maintain the lovely family

feel to the school. When my wife Helen

visited the school in October she couldn’t

quite believe all the smiley faces, and

thought immediately how relaxed our

own boys will be to join such a happy

community.

We look forward to meeting you all in

August and the start of our new life in

China.

With best wishes,

Simon Herbert

www.dulwich-beijing.cn6

Welcome to our New Head of Early Years

On the morning of 23rd Febru-

ary, my Deputy came running

out onto the playground where

I was greeting children and announced

“China is on the phone!” The previous

day I had returned from Beijing, brimming

with enthusiasm, having interviewed for

the position of Head of Early Years at

Dulwich College. ‘China’, was, indeed,

Neal McGowan, the Dulwich Headmas-

ter, and I’m pleased to say that he did

offer me the post.

I applied to Dulwich College Beijing

because I wanted to work in an interna-

tional school that aspires to achieve the

highest quality education for its students

and has a vision for the future. From

what I learned about Dulwich (including

that it had won the ISA British Interna-

tional School of 2011!) it seemed to be

just the place I was looking for and I was

thrilled to be invited for interview.

The interview process was very compre-

hensive and, as we visited the different

Early Years campuses, we were greeted

by happy, confident pupils and a friendly,

professional staff. Throughout the Col-

lege there was an atmosphere of vibrant

activity and the Dulwich Values were evi-

dently in practice. Kate Beith, the current

Head of Early Years, impressed us as

a charismatic leader; she demonstrated

pride in the journey that the Early Years

had taken and had vision for its future

development. I am delighted to have

been appointed Kate’s successor but

what experience and expertise do I have

that qualify me to take on her mantle?

Well, I have many years of leadership

experience and I’m passionate about

learning so that is a good start! At pre-

sent, I am Headteacher of Jeavons

Wood School, a recently established 420

place school to the west of Cambridge.

As founding Headteacher I have been

responsible for leading the vision and

strategic direction of the school, appoint-

ing staff and managing accommodation

and finances in order to create a stimu-

lating and forward-thinking learning envi-

ronment. In many ways, our approach to

learning and values resemble those of

Dulwich College Beijing – maybe that is

why I felt so ‘at home’ during my visit in

February.

Jeavons Wood is my second Head-

ship; my first was at Kettlefields Primary

School, Cambridgeshire where I was

Headteacher for eight years. I have also

been an Ofsted Inspector, a County

Literacy Advisor and have interna-

tional school experience. From

August 2007 to July 2009 I was

employed by the British Inter-

national School in Jakarta as

Assistant Head of Primary,

responsible for Early Years.

I learned a great deal whilst

working at BISJ about inter-

national school teaching

and about how effective

child-init iated learning

through enquiry can be

for pupils of all ages.

I am very much looking

forward to joining the

Dulwich College Beijing ‘family’. Kate

Beith and I are regularly in touch and, in

May, I will be spending a week shadow-

ing Kate at the College. Rest assured

that we are both committed to achieving

as smooth a handover as possible in

order to secure the continued success of

Early Years at Dulwich College Beijing.

A few words from our new Head of Early Years, Sarah Humphreys

The College Magazine (Beijing) 7

College Adventures

In January, 12 of our most Gifted and Talented music stu-

dents were invited to the prestigious Royal Northern College

of Music in Manchester, England, for a week in residency.

On our way there we stopped off at Dulwich College London for

the first International Alumni dinner. Past musicians and friends

turned up for some great food, speeches and music provided by

our Gifted and Talented tourists from Beijing. We then headed to

Manchester and had an amazing week of music lessons, obser-

vations, master classes, concerts and general all round music

making. We were greeted royally by our hosts and we returned

their faith in us by performing a lunchtime recital for their stu-

dents and professors. A standing ovation greeted our students

after the final note and this was rapidly followed by a wonder-

During the CNY break, Gemma

Walshe and Jonathan Clark

accompanied a group of DCB

students to the premier Canadian ski

resort of Whistler. Our students, most

of whom began at novice level, were

treated to six whole days of world-class

ski and snowboard tuition, outstand-

ing powder after huge snowfalls and an

enormous variety of seemingly endless

runs.

Students’ progress on the slopes was

nothing short of amazing. Navigation of

the pistes was made easy by the world’s

longest continuous lift system, the Peak-

to-Peak gondola, which links the two

peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb moun-

tains and allowed us some truly spectac-

ular views of the glaciers and peaks. Our

après ski activities included a fire and ice

show, snow tubing and sleigh riding. This

trip proved absolutely unmissable and

we all look forward to returning next year.

Winter Wonderland in Canada

Top Music Students Take on England

ful reception organised by the RNCM. This tour is truly unique in

schooling and one our Gifted and Talented students are very lucky to

be invited on. We are already planning a return trip in February 2013

as our students can match the best anywhere in the world.

www.dulwich-beijing.cn8

College Adventures

Senior School Drama and Photography students enjoyed

time in San Francisco during the CNY holidays. Students

had the unique opportunity of working with the San Fran-

cisco Mime Troupe developing their skills in Commedia and

physical comedy. Students also had an opportunity to watch

and work with the BATS Improv Theatre Company, develop-

ing their skills in comedy, devising and improvisation; it would

appear that we have a few budding stars in this genre!

Photography students worked in China Town and Japan Town

exploring tourism, architecture, the abstract and historical

sights. As well as watching a range of avant garde theatre such

as Humour Abuse which explored the life of a young clown,

Benjamin Tan, Year 12 Theatre Arts Students

California Dreaming

IB Theatre Students Take Their Act to Seoul

My IB Theatre Arts class of seven students spent 7

days in Dulwich College Seoul this January. During

the week, we assisted our brilliant drama teachers

(Ms Ashman, Mrs Simpson, and Ms Maguire) in providing the Key

Stage 3 students in Seoul with their first ever drama workshops.

In their full school assembly (consisting of just 100 students), we

performed a devised performance of “Childhood”, based on thea-

tre practitioner Kantor’s ideas. Over the weekend, we were able

to work with 30 Year 5-8 students in a 40-minute interpretation of

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare), which turned

out to be an amazing and impressive performance considering

many of the students had never been in a show before. We also

spent time in and around Seoul - shopping in Mukedong, eating

local foods, and watching the reknowned Nanta show! All of us

had an awesome experience working with younger students in

drama - thank you to our teachers for taking us on such a wonder-

ful trip!

students also explored 90 films that were made in San Francisco.

Students took in many sights in San Francisco, including the San

Francisco Gate Bridge and the notorious Alcatraz! A great week,

with some outstanding students!

The College Magazine (Beijing) 9

ISTA may have only been a three-

day event but it is definitely unfor-

gettable. ISTA has taught me a lot

of extremely valuable lessons from the

way I look at things to get inspiration,

to knowing the importance of teamwork

and listening to others. It wasn’t just the

events and activities during ISTA that

made it what it was, also the people tak-

ing part in ISTA contributed a lot to the

energy and atmosphere.

On Thursday afternoon while I was wait-

ing for the girls I was to host, I was nerv-

ous as I had no idea what was planned

for me for the next few days. I had no

idea what I was expecting. However, as

the students from the different schools

from all around the world, ranging from

Tanzania to England, slowly trickled into

the room, I felt the excitement, my nerv-

ousness was gone and I suddenly knew

that ISTA would be one of the best things

I had and will ever participate in.

The next morning we found ourselves

sitting in the theatre, with around 120

other children all around our age. The

theatre was filled with sounds of laugh-

ter and energetic chatter. However, one

thing was for sure, everyone was excited

for the next three days ahead. The room

became quiet, the practitioners told us

the plan for the day, which was to go to

798, the art district, to find inspiration for

our final performance. Later on, we were

told to get into our ensemble groups, the

groups we would be working in during

ISTA, for the first time.

The ensemble groups consisted of peo-

ple who barely knew each other, people

from other schools in different countries,

who didn’t think we would ever get so

close to each other as we did only two

and a half days later. Our ensemble

leader, Jillian, explained to us that each

ensemble had a different element to

represent; ‘Team Jillian’ received the

element metal. The ensemble leaders

told us a story that would be the core of

our final performance, a story that was

to lead us during ISTA. Being part of an

ensemble made us feel like we were part

of something very special.

I had been to 798 before but when I went

with ISTA it felt like a completely different

place, it felt a lot more inspiring and that

was because ISTA helped me learn how

to see things in a different way through

drama and acting with the art works

around us. As a whole group we entered

a big green drum, with every step we

took there would be an amazing echo,

the practitioners led us through a variety

of activities and told us the story again

but this time the echo enhanced the

voices and made the story sound dream

like.

In our ensemble groups we were issued

pieces of the story to make a final piece

of drama. We only had 7 hours together

as an ensemble, so we had to work very

hard. We supported each other, and

soon we felt like we had known each

other for a very long time and definitely

not for just a couple of hours.

When the day of the final performance

came most of us didn’t feel nervous at all

as we all knew exactly what to do even

though we had only rehearsed for less

than 7 hours. The final performance defi-

nitely didn’t look as if we had only prac-

ticed for such a short time.

The hardest part of ISTA was saying ‘good

bye’ to our new friends, many tears were

shed but what I will never forget is when

Camille said “Now I understand, it takes

exactly 2 and a half days to become a

real family”. It also takes exactly 2 and a

half days of ISTA to have the best time of

your life!

Drama

ISTA Reflection

By: Johanna Li (89MTA)

www.dulwich-beijing.cn10

Articles

As a teacher of Design Technol-

ogy in the Junior School, my

aim is to inspire students to

be as passionate about design as I am.

I want to communicate that design is all

around us, and does not only happen in

DT lessons. It affects every aspect of our

lives, whether natural or manmade. Ideas

are always evolving and good design

aims to improve living standards and the

use of our earth’s resources for all.

So what is Design Technology and what

do students learn in this subject in the

Junior School?

The Junior School curriculum builds on

the Early Years, which encourages stu-

dents to think more deeply about the big

picture. Design is about creating, plan-

ning and communicating ideas through

research, discussion, questioning, test-

ing, labelled drawings, notes and pro-

totypes. These ideas may aim to solve

a problem, improve a current design, or

simply explore a new opportunity.

Technology refers to the use of computer

programmes such as Photoshop and

Sketch Up, the Internet, photography,

safe and appropriate use of tools and

materials and use of efficient techniques

to aid design and creation of ideas.

The re i s a s t r ong

focus on process,

how to move from

ideas to the concrete

products. This is not always a straight

line. It may zig-zag on the way and there

may be changes and new directions, as

the idea and its form unfold. Students are

taught to think in many ways, such as

analytical, critical, creative and sequential.

The process really encourages apply-

ing what you already know, seeking new

information, asking questions, collabora-

tion, embracing challenge and finding

solutions.

It’s like navigating your way around a

new city. There are many ways to get to

one place; some routes are more chal-

lenging than others. Perhaps you will

discover your way to something more

interesting than the initial destination.

The beauty of DT is that it provides a

practical platform for students to utilize

and further develop existing skills and

knowledge from various areas of the cur-

riculum. This may be from art, math, ICT,

literacy, sciences or humanities. Certain

projects are designed specifically to link

to the current topic of study in their year

group. Such as Year 3 making mosaics

as a link to their study of the Romans.

Always aim for the WOW factor!When design inspires a WOW reaction,

it grabs people’s interest. As a result suc-

cessful designers create WOW responses

to their work. A designer who asks “Is this

good enough?” is probably not a very

successful one. I strongly encourage stu-

dents to aim for a WOW response to their

ideas and projects. What makes theirs

unique, special and inspiring? By encour-

aging students to explore their ideas, dare

to try something different, think outside

of the box and further develop their skills,

they develop confidence and the ability to

explore concepts in a new way.

In Design Technology students can learn

how to influence their environment posi-

tively through good, conscientious design

choices.

Guiding and providing opportunities

for our students to think in this manner

from an early age will enable students

to broaden their future career and life

choices. This contribution will aid an

environmentally conscious and altruistic

society in the future, and will make a bet-

ter world!

By: Ann Carmichael

Design Technology: More than Meets the Eye

The College Magazine (Beijing) 11

Articles

FOBISSEA Pastoral Care JAWS at Dulwich College Beijing February 2012

www.dulwich-beijing.cn12

By: Melanie

In order for our students to perform

to their potential we must take care

of their social and emotional growth

and development, and this is some-

thing that is central to the work of every

teacher at Dulwich. The Philosophy

and Objectives of our College reflect

this intention, and so it was with great

pleasure that we were the host venue for

the inaugural FOBISSEA pastoral care

JAWS (Job-A-like Workshop) in February

of this year.

Twelve schools from around Asia sent

delegates to the two-day event, dur-

ing which they discussed, debated and

shared ideas on a variety of topics,

practice without the formal outcomes of

a prescribed course often leads to more

personalised learning, and this ultimately

means that the insights gained will have

more of an impact on our students.

Feedback from the delegates reflected

this; included were positive comments

as to the nature of the event in terms of

time to share, and many of the delegates

commented that they left the event with

lots of new ideas to put into practice.

Leading the sessions was also excellent

professional development for those staff

members who volunteered their time

both before and during the event. The

quality of facilitation and the warmth and

friendliness at Dulwich was mentioned

in delegate feedback, and as a College

we clearly have the capacity and the will

to host more events like this in order to

bring together the best of the region for

the benefit of our students.

including:

• Safeguarding Children

• Post 16 pastoral care issues

• Pastoral care in the Early Years

• Transitions between Key Stages

• Peer Counselling

• PSHE Curriculum

• University Counselling

• Behaviour Management in the Early

Years

• Student Leadership

• The role of the form tutor

• Learning Support

• LGBT issues in schools

In terms of the professional development

of staff, this kind of event is invaluable.

Having time to reflect and share best

www.dulwich-beijing.cn12

The Process of Writing

Articles

Year 6 students from Dulwich College Beijing learn about the complex world of writing literature at this year’s Bookworm Literary Festival.

By: Marianne Lu 6AO

On Wednesday, 14 March, I was

fortunate enough to participate

in a workshop at the Book-

worm. Some other Year 6 students and I

listened to J.C. Burke, a famous Austral-

ian children’s author, on her latest novel

Pig Boy.

J.C. Burke’s writing process for Pig Boy

is very distinctive. Even though all writers

have their own way of writing a book, I

think that J.C. Burke’s is most excep-

tional. She gets ideas, plans, drafts and

edits, but she does them in a very unu-

sual way. In other words, the process of

her writing is unique.

J.C. Burke gets her ideas everywhere.

She sticks her nose into everything

around her and questions all that is done.

By doing so, she might come up with

an excellent idea for a story. When she

thinks of a possible story idea, she thinks

about how it could piece together and is

lost in her own world of imagination.

I have always thought that writing was

more important than planning, but J.C.

Burke proved that I was wrong. She

spent three years writing Pig Boy and

two of them were spent on planning and

researching! She let us look at her ‘draft

books’, in which each page was filled with

her detailed planning. She thinks that to

write a good book, you have to under-

stand each of the characters in the story.

To experience what Damon (the main

character) felt like when he was gutting a

pig, she volunteered to go on a pig hunt,

even when she hated seeing dead ani-

mals.

In her notebooks, J.C. Burke had writ-

ten and rewritten her story again and

again. She ‘deleted ten thousand words’,

or changed a part of a story that ‘didn’t

make sense at all’ if her editor advised

her to do so. When someone asked

whether she was sad that the editor criti-

cized her work so much she would say,

“By the time all writers reach the stage

of publishing, they know their story’s

plot, character and setting so well that

they don’t realise if any part of their story

doesn’t make sense. That’s why it’s good

for someone who has fresh eyes to help

you edit your story.”

Like many famous authors, J.C. Burke

has inspired me to become a better writer

and strive to be the best that I can be.

She has reinforced the importance of

planning, having intellectual curiosity and

applying comments to writing. I think that

all of us who went to listen to J.C. Burke

gained knowledge on the fascinating pro-

cess of writing.

The College Magazine (Beijing) 13 The College Magazine (Beijing) 13

Articles

The International Schools Choral

Music Society (www.ISCMS.net)

was founded in Dulwich College

Beijing in 2008. It is now an officially reg-

istered Society in Hong Kong, and with a

comprehensive Constitution and Philoso-

phy of Objectives on its website. It was

borne out of a need to offer our students

an opportunity to perform large-scale

By: Shane O’Shea

choral and orchestral works, a repertoire

that is almost impossible to attempt in

our schools.

With this came the desire to bring some

of the world’s top practitioners to the

event to work with staff and students

alike, and to perform the main work in

the best venue in the host city. So far the

Society has performed in Beijing, Shang-

hai and Hong Kong and plans are afoot

to hold ISCMS VI outside China. This

year we raised the bar even higher with

the participation of Karl Jenkins, the most

performed living composer. Karl graced

us with his presence and composed a

work especially for the event. ISCMS V

Lumen attracted 500 participants from 29

International schools coming from such

diverse places as Abu Dhabi, Taiwan,

Japan and Korea.

Over the 4 years of its existence ISCMS

has grown to become the most pres-

tigious, innovative and creative music

society of its kind in the Asia/Pacific

region. Its drive on inclusivity coupled

with a quality driven approach make it

truly unique. This year saw the initiation

of Professional Development for staff,

Two of the world’s top Music Education

specialists from Northwestern University

Chicago, Dr. Janet Barrett and Dr. Maud

Hickey, were invited over to work with

our music teachers on new and crea-

tive ways of teaching and thinking in the

classroom.

The hosting of ISCMS V Lumen at Dul-

wich College Beijing raised the bar of

excellence further and we all eagerly

await next year’s Festival. We are just

ISCMS: A History

www.dulwich-beijing.cn14

Articles

Hi, my name is Kelly and I

was one of the members of

Lumen. Lumen means light,

as I felt bright and glorious throughout

the festival. We had Karl Jenkins as

our guest director. I had a fabulous

time at the festival. Everyone all gath-

ered together in the Edward Alleyn

Theatre practising for this amazing

festival.

I longed for the big day to come.

Throughout the days, I met people

from all over the world. Joining this

Festival gave an amazing experience

to me. As this festival began, we were

all strangers walking around, but as

days passed, we started to know each

other better. By the end of the festival

everyone had become friends. I have

friends that I didn’t know at the start of

the festival!

Performing in such a large group has

been an overwhelming experience for

me as this will be a once in a lifetime

chance. I have been honored to see

other young musicians, practition-

ers from all over the world coming

to speak with us, talk with us, and

perform for us. We had workshops

with all the practitioners, which we

could attend if we wished. On the

first day of the festival, we all went to

the Edward Alleyn Theatre to gather

together for a brief introduction by Mr.

O’Shea. We then broke into sections

to practice a little bit of singing. At the

end of the day, students went back to

their respective homes waiting for the

upcoming huge day.

Thursday was an important day, unlike

Wednesday; we had lots of work to

do. For the first half of the day, we

practiced the songs and rehearsed

thoroughly. For the second half of

the day, we had different workshops

to attend. I went to the piano master

class where I was amazed that Dr.

Curtin played gracious pieces for us

to listen to. The Workshops lasted till

9:30 pm. We all went to our respective

homes awaiting the next day.

Friday went by pretty swiftly, we had

rehearsals in the morning, through to

the afternoon and into the night. The

teachers had a secret planned for us.

Mr. O’Shea had a talk show with Karl

Jenkins! Each school wrote down two

questions for the talk show. We all lis-

tened intensively. Soon it was time to

go home again.

Saturday was the big day we al l

worked so hard for, it felt like one of

the best days of my life. It took lots of

patience, confidence and courage to

reach this stage. Time flew by. “I am

standing on the stage... I am standing

on the stage... I can hardly believe my

eyes!” I was amazed by the sight in

front of me. We practiced for 2 hours

straight that afternoon standing on

stage, perfecting all the songs. Soon it

was time for the performance. I felt joy

run down my spine.

It was all over way too quickly, the

performance ended just as I was start-

ing to enjoy it. I was so exhausted,

but no matter what, I will treasure this

once in a lifetime experience. It was

an experience I will never forget.

By: Kelly Kong, Year 8My ISCMS

about to sign the world famous Chris-

topher Tin, computer music composer

and two-time Grammy winner for this

Festival. Alongside this our new Com-

position Competition for students will be

launched, the winning piece will be per-

formed at ISCMS VI.

Overall, this year’s Festival was another

outstanding one, and many thanks must

go to the community of Dulwich College

Beijing who have supported the concept

since its birth and continue to embrace all

we try to do here. ISCMS is now a per-

manent fixture in the music calendar in

this region and its developing reputation

has seen schools from as far as France

and the USA apply to participate in future

Festivals. We continue to push forward

always having the student at the centre

of what we do in an attempt to offer them

the best music education the world has

to offer through engagement, experience

and an unrivalled focus on delivering to

our gifted and talented students whilst

taking care of all others in the process.

The College Magazine (Beijing) 15

Charity

A Tabitha Project Overview from Rick

Ahn, Year 11:

Janne Ritskes, a citizen of both Cam-

bodia and Canada, established the

Tabitha foundation in 1994. She first

came to Cambodia in 1992, and she was

greatly frustrated by the lack of aid for

Cambodians. She then established the

Tabitha foundation with the support of

her friends, families and the Australian/

Canadian embassy. Her purpose of the

establishment of the foundation was to

give hope to the most desperate of Cam-

bodia’s people.

A Personal Account from Gemma

Duffy, Year 12:

This was my first ever major community

service project and also my first time visit-

ing Cambodia so it was exciting as well

as being quite nerve-wracking because

I had no idea what to expect. Two days

were spent sight seeing in Phnom Phenh

and learning about Cambodia’s history of

the Khmer Rouge regime and genocide in

the 1970s. Prior to this trip I wasn’t aware

that Cambodia had such a dark and also

recent history that still has a great effect

on the nation today. So with background

knowledge of Cambodia in mind, I think

everyone realised how much, even if it

was in a seemingly small way, our help

would be appreciated and have a positive

impact on the local families.

Janne Ritskes, founder of the Tabitha

Foundation, debriefed us on what our

task would be over the next few days,

what to expect and how to be respect-

ful around the Khmer locals – we even

learnt how to say a few simple Khmer

phrases! Most of our trip was spent in

a village three hours outside of Phnom

Phenh where we assisted locals nailing

in floorboards and erecting tin walls in

the houses. On site, some locals and

Tabitha Foundation representatives were

there to assist and guide us on the build-

ing process. We also were able to spend

time with the villagers in the village and

play and have fun with the children,

which was a rewarding experience.

What surprised me the most about Cam-

bodia was how beautiful and tranquil it

can be. Furthermore I didn’t expect the

locals to be as friendly and as patient as

they were, especially since I’d never had

any experience with hammering a nail

into a floorboard! I found this to be one

the best school trips I’d ever been on

and would definitely want to get involved

again next year. I think everyone who

went on the trip can agree that it was a

very humbling experience to get a taste

of other peoples’ cultures and living

standards. The trip to Cambodia was

also an individual growing experience,

preparing us for life outside of school as

well as a great bonding experience for

all the teachers and students who were

fortunate enough to be part of it this year.

In November 2011, the Dulwich College Beijing Interact Club which consisted of 15 students along with 8 staff members travelled to

Cambodia to once again contribute their time and effort to the Tabitha Project. This is the fifth consecutive year Dulwich College Beijing

has participated; two students provide their narration of this rewarding experience.

Interact Continues Cambodia Tabitha Project Tradition

www.dulwich-beijing.cn16

Charity

In Junior School, the focus of char-

ity fundraisers has been on simul-

taneously imparting some form of

education in a fun manner. Readathon

was launched in March to encourage

reading and focus on preserving pandas

as endangered animals. Students had

to read books from various genres and

get sponsors for books read. Proceeds

will be used for the maintenance of our

panda, Wei Wei.

The Year 6 students had an entrepreneur-

ial challenge whereby they had to plan an

activity and show profits after accounting

for all costs. They organised a variety of

games for Junior School students dur-

ing break time on 21 March 2012. Their

whopping profits were used to support

children in the ‘New Hope Foundation’.

Raising environmental awareness has

been another area of focus. The used toys

and stationary drives for Bowen Migrant

School have instilled in students the

importance of reusing items and reducing

waste. To reinforce this further, pupils will

be working on an art project by reusing

the waste generated in Junior School. A

St. George’s Day Disco has been planned

to raise funds for planting trees.

The other highlights of this academic

session were a fundraiser organised

by teaching assistants and the student

council’s active involvement in char-

ity decisions. The teaching assistants

donated their proceeds to ‘The Angel

Mom’, an organization that provides care

for orphans, abandoned children and

children with disabilities. The student rep-

resentatives are enjoying

this involvement in junior

school charities and envi-

ronment decisions as they

are voluntarily

putting forth

their ideas

t h r o u g h

a blog in

Studywiz.

Junior School Charitable Activity

Our fundraising efforts have

focused on China this term,

and as such Early Years

have used the opportunity to learn

about conservation and the protec-

tion of endangered species through

the panda bear. During Assembly, KS1

children were introduced to the concepts

of extinction and conservation. We looked

at different conservation projects around

the world and discussed in detail the work

happening at the Chengdu Panda Base.

We are very lucky to have our own panda

whose name is Wei Wei. Dulwich families

have been to visit him and have been

treated to a VIP tour of the facilities.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Early

Years participated in an I Wei Wei

day. On the day, children dressed up in

black and white and also wore hearts

made by the EY’s Roots and Shoots club.

This event helped to raise both aware-

ness and money for the Panda Bear.

Bake sales are always a popular means

of raising money and EY’s had one for

Wei Wei. Parent bakers were very gener-

ous in their delicious donations of baked

goods and the children certainly enjoyed

the sweet treat!

As a finale to our efforts, Nursery and

Reception children made jam sand-

wiches and had a Teddy Bear’s picnic

with their favourite soft toy from home

while KS1 children danced the after-

noon away at a disco. Great fun was had

by all!

We now move our focus on to the envi-

ronment. In the third term we will be

planting trees and flowers at all EY’s

campuses. Special thanks to Roots and

Shoots who helped to raise the money

for the trees! With the support of our Art

department we will explore creating Art

through recycling. This programme will

not only raise children’s awareness on

the importance of recycling but will also

create some beautiful pieces of work.

Busy in the Early Years!

The College Magazine (Beijing) 17

Sports

Handball is one of, if not the

most played and popular sport

in the Junior School at Dulwich

College Beijing. In the month of Febru-

ary, over 90 students from Years 5 and

6 represented the school at the ISAC

Under 10 and Under 11 Handball tourna-

ments.

Th e Unde r 10 t ou rnamen t was a

mixed event (boys and girls competing

together), and all three of our teams did

extremely well. One of our teams (DCB

1) progressed through the group stages

and into the semi final, where they beat

WAB 4-3 with the last throw of the game

by Jamie Li. This result sent the team

through to a tough final versus BSB,

where the team unfortunately lost. Well

done to all Year 5s that competed in the

event – you did the school proud!

The Under 11 tournament was separated

into Boys and Girls competitions respec-

tively, and our teams in both competi-

tions dominated proceedings throughout.

The three boys teams on show all played

with a very high speed passing game,

with two of the teams progressing to the

knockout stages. DCB 1 had been in

Under 10/Under 11 ISAC Handball

very impressive form throughout the tour-

nament and coasted their way through

to the final. In a very tough game versus

WAB, the team held their nerve to claim

the ISAC Under 11 Boys title (to add to

their football triumph from November!).

The three girls teams from Dulwich, all

played with much determination and

energy, with two of the three teams again

progressing to the knockout stages! DCB

1 had thrilled spectators in all stages of

the tournament; scoring goals at will,

led by their primary shooter Gloria Hui.

The team beat a tough WAB team in the

semi-finals to progress through to play

BSB in the final. The team deservedly

won 4-1 to secure the ISAC Under 11

Girls title!!

Wel l done to a l l s tudent who were

involved, the school is very proud of you

all. Go Dulwich Junior Lions!

By Mike Preston

www.dulwich-beijing.cn18

Sports

This year the U13 FOBISSEA

Games were hosted by Dulwich

College Shanghai and, despite

the absence of gold, our student partici-

pants performed fantastically. Through-

out the events - from swimming and

athletics to football and basketball - high

standards were maintained and our par-

ticipants demonstrated great skill.

On the first day of events, during the

swimming competition, we found our-

selves competing against very strong

schools and it was clear that SBFS had

the lead. Our team came in third place

after losing by only a few points to DCS.

The event was followed immediately by

the athletics competition and despite

heavy legs they managed to lead in the

track events with a difference. Our team

were only slightly less successful during

field events but still managed to success-

fully finish third overall in the athletics.

On day two of the competition our stu-

dents prepared early and were ready to

compete. Our girls’ team was competing

in football and the boys’ team in basket-

ball. The girls came in third in the Round

Robin games, which was a little unlucky

as they managed to score the same

points as Dulwich College Shanghai but

were edged out on goal difference. Our

girls’ team competed for third

place with Harrow and won during

the playoff.

On that same day the boys’ bas-

ketball team competed and came

third in the group but came in fourth

place at the tournament after losing

to Dulwich College Shanghai in the

playoff. At the end of the second day

our team was quite upset for not mak-

ing it to the finals but they were eager

to fight on the following day.

On the third day both coaches and stu-

dents were fairly quiet and serious during

breakfast as we all were preparing and

supporting each other mentally. On this

day the boys competed in football and

girls in basketball. In basketball, the girls

came in second in the Round Robin tour-

nament, after losing to DCS. After this

it became crucial to win the next game

against SBFS as participation in the final

was at stake. The girls came well pre-

pared and gave it their best shot. They

successfully won by 30 points and made

it to the final.

The final was a fantastic game and

although we lost by 5 points from a

coaching point of view it was a win! They

demonstrated flexibility in adjusting to

different game strategies and

tactics. It was such a pleasure to coach

a team of girls full of enthusiasm, energy,

determination and the will to succeed.

On the same day the boys participated in

an exciting football tournament and came

in second in the Round Robin. After the

break the boys team took on DCS in

the final. Unfortunately, the boys lost on

penalties but credit is due for putting up

a great fight; it is never easy to play the

team of the hosting school.

As a coach I would like to congratulate

all students for an outstanding perfor-

mance and the perseverance to fight

until the final minute. You made Dulwich

College Beijing proud and we can’t wait

to continue working on becoming the

best we can be.

U13 FOBISSEA Games 2012

By Klaudia Tomaszun

The College Magazine (Beijing) 19

A truly International Experience

Obviously, one should not be

surprised to see an ‘interna-

tional experience’ when visiting

an international school. Yes, as Dulwich

College Beijing follows the British Cur-

riculum there are evidently some similari-

ties to schools in Britain and therefore

there are similar challenges – in regards

to curriculum changes, for instance. With

Senior School focusing on IGCSE and

IB, the curriculum itself contributes to the

international dimension. However, inter-

nationally minded qualifications might

contribute but will not sustain a school’s

international character, philosophy and

vision. When entering Dulwich College

Beijing, teachers and other members of

staff are from all over the world. This is

even truer of the students and parents.

All this clearly contributes to the interna-

tional nature of Dulwich College Beijing.

On reflection it was the charity events,

transition days, the art displays, the

sports competitions and in particular, dur-

ing the first week of my stay, the prepara-

tion for the “Lumen” concert in the Concert

Hall in the Forbidden City that played a

key part in bringing international educa-

tion to life. The opportunities that students

at Dulwich College Beijing are given

by working together with internationally

renowned composers and musicians such

as Karl Jenkins, are experiences they will

hold on to all their lives.

My impressions at the end of my first

week, where most of the evenings were

spent in rehearsals or recitals for the

amazing concert on Saturday evening,

were confirmed by other events. These

included visits by and to foreign univer-

sities, hosting an information event for

international businesses to put Dulwich

College Beijing on the landscape of

international schools in Beijing as well as

the DIMUN (Dulwich International Model

United Nations) conference.

The Dulwich International group

has been on my radar s ince

my now friend and then former

headmaster, Neal McGowan, applied for

the headmaster post at Dulwich College

Beijing. Our joint interest in educational

leadership, leadership for learning as

well as international education has kept

our conversations, discussions and

exchange of ideas going over the last

couple of years.

Therefore, when the opportunity came up

to undertake a study visit as part of my

doctoral research projects on leadership

for learning, Mr McGowan happily agreed

to host me at Dulwich College Beijing for

three weeks.

If you are at this stage worrying that you

might get a summary of my research

undertaking, stop worrying. Over the

three weeks, every single day was full of

A truly international experience

International Schools Choral Music Society

Presents

Featuring the World Premiere of "庆祝"

"Celebration"

by Karl Jenkins

Saturday 18 February 2012 7:30PM

Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing

Tickets available at Dulwich College Beijing

Legend Garden Reception (+86 10 6454 9000)

Price: 140, 180, 240, 280

www.iscms.net

International Schools Choral Music Society

Presents

Featuring the World Premiere of "庆祝"

"Celebration"

by Karl Jenkins

Saturday 18 February 2012 7:30PM

Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing

Tickets available at Dulwich College Beijing

Legend Garden Reception (+86 10 6454 9000)

Price: 140, 180, 240, 280

www.iscms.net

A somewhat different visitor’s report

By: René Koglbauer, Newcastle University,Deputy Director of Secondary Initial Teacher Training

new impressions and experiences – only

a few can be captured here.

www.dulwich-beijing.cn20

A truly International Experience

During the DIMUN conference

weekend, the leadership quali-

ties of students were put to the

test. If there was a grading the only

judgement could be “outstanding” – and

this at many levels. Firstly, picking up the

international dimension

from earlier, the confer-

ence has “international”

in its name. Delegates,

who themselves were

internat ional , repre-

sented a greatly diverse

range of nations. They

real ly impressed the

observers during their

debates: not only were

the debates o f h igh

quality, as were their

ideas, but they were

also able to take on the

perspective of the coun-

try they were represent-

ing. This showed not

only a great understand-

ing of international and

current affairs but also

a willingness to go beyond the demands

of the required curriculum. Secondly, the

conference was organised, managed

and led by students: a superb example

of leadership! There will have been argu-

ments, discussions and one or two con-

flicts among the organisation team in the

run-up to the conference but this all con-

tributes to the experience and they clearly

pulled it off and were immensely profes-

sional. Congratulations to the DIMUN

team as this is clearly what education

should be about: enabling students and

future leaders to experiment, to reflect

and to prepare them for the “real world”.

Another aspect of student leadership I

encountered was when being invited by

the Junior School to observe their Year

6 transition day, an event run by year 7

pupils. All Year 7 pupils had prepared

presentations about famous people.

Five of them started off the afternoon

event by presenting themselves as their

famous person in front of Year 6 and 7,

their parents as well as teachers – with

confidence and humour. But not only at

Senior and Junior School, even in Early

Years, pupils are encouraged to engage

with student leadership: during the inter-

views for the Head of Early Years posi-

tion, pupils were involved in interview

tasks, such as an assembly led by the

candidates.

These are examples of student lead-

ership that are somewhat outside the

day-to-day experience but vital for the

students’ development. One might won-

der whether or not student leadership is

taking place on a day-to-day basis. Yes,

it is: the elected Head Boy and Head

girl greet students at the entrance in the

morning. Students are also involved in

organising the lunch rota. Enabling stu-

dents to lead (and manage) and do this

in an international context is a clear step

towards achieving the school’s motto

“ D e t u r P o n s M u n d o

(Building Bridges to The

World)”. However, the

world for Dulwich Col-

lege Bei j ing starts in

Beijing. One of the most

emotional days for me

during my stay (apart

f rom the v is i t to the

Great Wall – which was

breath-taking and Mr

McGowan had to listen

to my account of this for

many evenings) was my

visit with some Dulwich

Co l lege Be i j i ng co l -

leagues to Sun Village,

a place where children

whose parents are incar-

cerated are looked after

and educated. Dulwich

College Beijing clearly sees its responsi-

bility to support local charities and fulfils

this not only by giving money but also

through ensuring that its students are

benefitting by being actively involved. By

opening its students’ minds and horizons,

Dulwich is helping its students to to build

bridges to all international communities

in the future.

An immense thank you to the students,

staff, parents, the parents’ association

Friends of Dulwich, the leadership team

of the school, Dulwich College Interna-

tional and Neal McGowan for their warm

welcome and this superb opportunity!

Thank you – Danke – Merci - Gracias – Rene Koglbauer

Student Leadership

The College Magazine (Beijing) 21

Student Artwork

Mike Lee 2JC

Boris Leong 2JE

Year 1 Collaborative Work Sarah Yoo 2JE

Year 1 Collaborative Work

www.dulwich-beijing.cn22

Student Artwork

Eric McDowell 3RP

Kiki Chiang 4AT

Axel Arvidsson 4AT

Serin Gleave 3RP

Gina Yoo 4JM

Gregory Mech-Paz 4JM

William Baronet 4JMBiruk Aschalew 6KT

The College Magazine (Beijing) 23

Student Artwork

Mike Dai 1011-RPA

Chelsea Hong 1011-VLE

Kay Liang 1011-VLE David Ok 1011-TWH

Hayoung Shin 1011-JKO Lisa Liu 1011-CLY

Joshua Chang 1011-SKAYear 10 GCSE Artwork:Investigating Cubism

pastel drawings above by (l-r): Kelsey Yang 1011-VLE, Rainer Neumann 1011-RGT, Melinda Chen 1011-CLY, Sean Lin 1011-VLE

www.dulwich-beijing.cn24

Articles

Du lw i ch Co l l ege Be i j i ng i s

blessed with four excellently

equipped libraries: one for the

Senior School, one for Junior School,

and two for the Early Years Campuses.

We house a total of 43,400 resources

between the four libraries, and these

resou rces i nc l ude books , DVDs ,

playaways, storysacks, audio books,

magazines, and very soon e-books,

so everyone who is part of the Dulwich

community can enjoy a wide variety of

resources to choose from.

We also subscribe to a variety of online

databases available in school and at

home, such as Tumblebooks (great for

the young ones, as it provides online ani-

mated and audio picture books), JSTOR

and PROQUEST (great databases for

the IB students to help them finding

scholarly articles), as well as various

subject-specific online magazines and

encyclopedias.

As we are all living in China and are far

away from local bookstores it is important

for us to provide a variety of titles that will

appeal to our entire school community

and it is vital to keep up with what’s com-

ing out, and therefore we make sure new

titles appear on our shelves every month.

Our library catalogue is a very efficient

way to search for items that you may want

to borrow, and it is available from our

website under the Quick Links section.

As school librarians we strive to give our

pupils the best possible access to rele-

vant resources, as well as to equip them

with the best skills for future study, which

is why we make sure that teaching infor-

mation literacy is an important aspect of

our library sessions.

We also strive to give our pupils a love

of reading and a love of books. This is

done by encouraging them to try different

genres, by providing varied reading lists,

reading to them, hosting visiting authors

and allowing some interaction with them.

We have issued 42,940 resources so far

in the academic year 2011-2012 (figure

from April 2012), so we believe that we

are somewhere succeeding in making

sure our pupils read!

The libraries also hold various events

throughout the year, ranging from book

fairs, author visits, story telling sessions,

Drop Everything And Read, quizzes, and

we also take part in activities in conjunc-

tion with other schools: Battle of the Books

involves students from the Senior School,

and the Panda Book Award is an event

we run with other schools and across the

entire school and for which pupils have to

vote for their favourite books.

We never forget what we aim to do:

• Enable all pupils to have equal access

to a wide variety of resources

• Promote an enjoyment of reading

• Maintain a quiet, safe, comfortable

environment and working atmosphere

• Support independent study

• Be a central and vital part of the school

life and to provide our community with

opportunity for services

• Support the teaching of the curriculum

by ensuring that appropriate resources

are available to support pupils in their

learning and staff in their teaching

If you haven’t already done so, please come and visit one of our libraries!

How well do you know our Media Centres?

The College Magazine (Beijing) 25

Friends

The Friends Shop first opened in 2008 fol-

lowing a generous loan from the school,

and continues to provide an invaluable and

popular service for Dulwich students.

The shop has been run for the past two years by

Nilima Naik and Lisa Schlueter and a group of ded-

icated volunteers. According to Nilima and Lisa, the

best selling items are stationery and school sup-

plies such as the IB and IGCSE calculators from

the UK, as well as Head swim accessories. New in

stock are the ever popular grey and navy Dulwich

sweatshirts, Dulwich teddy bears, blankets and

water bottles. These make great gifts or mementos

for those leaving Beijing this summer.

All profits from the shop continue to be split equally

between the Junior School and Senior School

Student Councils. So far this year, the Friends

Friends annual charity dinner dance

Eileen Tong and Veena Rao

The Oscars’ took place on Saturday 10th March at The Hilton

Beijing Capital Airport Hotel. A wonderful night of great food,

entertainment and dancing was enjoyed by over 170 guests

from across the Dulwich community.

The chosen beneficiary this year was Morning Tears, an international

charity dedicated to protecting and caring for children who are either

the victims of abuse or neglect, or whose parents have been impris-

oned. In China, children of prisoners are often considered to be bad

luck and are forced to live a life on the streets. Morning Tears aims to

provide these children with a safe and nurturing environment and sup-

port them as they try to reintegrate with their families. Morning Tears

is also actively involved in educating and training police, judges and

social workers on how to help vulnerable and traumatised children

they encounter in their work.

We are very proud to announce that the grand total raised by the Dul-

wich Community for Morning Tears is a staggering 265,323 RMB! The

generosity shown towards this cause has been amazing, with a signifi-

cant amount of this total comprising personal cash donations received

after the Dinner Dance. We have even received sponsorship to cover

the additional 85,000RMB running costs of the home for a year. After

making a deliberate decision to cover the costs of the dinner dance

through ticket sales, we have been able to donate every single RMB

raised from the proceeds of the auctions, sale of raffle tickets and cash

contributions. This distinguishes us from some other charity balls, and

we have received many e-mails from our corporate sponsors telling us

how delighted they are to have been part of such a fundraiser and they

look forward to participating again next year.

Morn ing Tears has a

huge waiting list for their

services, and they can

now realise their dream

of building and furnishing

a new family home for 12

to 16 children in Henan

Province.

‘

www.dulwich-beijing.cn26

Friends

The Lions Den is a new parent-

run club set up earlier this year

to increase support for sport at

Dulwich. It provides refreshments such

as hot drinks and freshly baked cakes

for everyone who takes part in the many

sports tournaments hosted by Dulwich

throughout the academic year - stu-

dents, their parents and supporters, their

coaches, the visiting teams, their sup-

porters and coaches.

Like many clubs, The Lions Den com-

pletely depends on volunteers to manage

and run it! Volunteers are needed not

only to bake cakes, but to serve through-

out the day. As well as parent volunteers,

we are delighted to have so many stu-

dents volunteering to work alongside us.

The Lions Den provides an opportunity

for our Senior School students, particu-

larly IB students, to undertake voluntary

work experience which is a core compo-

nent of CAS.

Initially all profits raised will be used to

repay a loan of RMB 46,000 which was

so generously donated by the Friends

of Dulwich to cover start up costs. When

the loan has been repaid, 10% of profits

will continue to be donated to a Friends

Charity and the remainder will be used

to benefit all students learning within the

sports programme.

The Lions Den is gaining a much-deserved

reputation for selling the best coffee and

cakes on any sports field in Beijing! Please

support us in any way you can, either by

baking or by volunteering as little or as

much time as you can spare to serve and

support our school sports events.

FRIENDS SHOP

THE LIONS DEN

Eileen Tong

Eileen Tong

Shop has contributed funds towards

the KS3 parties held in December and

March and the KS4/5 Formal that was

held at the Langham Hotel in March. In

the Junior School, the Student Council

voted to buy extra Lego sets to add to

the ones bought last academic year for

each classroom. These are mainly used

for pollution days when students have to

stay indoors during break and lunch time.

Periodically, the shop visits Riviera Main

Campus for our Early Years students.

Profits from these sales are handed over

to Early Years and most recently they

voted to buy some outdoor play toys with

their funds.

Over the past 3 years the Friends Shop

has been setting aside funds to buy out-

door play equipment

for the new Junior

S c h o o l p l a y -

g r o u n d . W e

are delighted

to say that we

are now buy-

ing two swing

sets which will

be de l i ve red

and installed in

May this year so

the students will be

able to enjoy them in the

summer term.

We hope you will continue to support the

Friends Shop as it directly benefits our

students. If you are interested in volun-

teering in the shop, please contact Lisa

Schlueter at lmschlueter@aol.com

The College Magazine (Beijing) 27

New Year is celebrated twice in

Korea: on 1st January and on

the first day of the first month

by the lunar calendar (Seollal), which

falls either at the end of January or at the

beginning of February. Seollal is one of

the most important holidays in Korea.

Early in the morning families perform

ceremonies to remember their ancestors.

Children dress up in traditional Korean

costume and bow to their parents, grand-

parents, uncles and aunts. Adults bless

children for good health and good luck for

the year and give them money. After hav-

ing a big breakfast that includes Korean

rice cake soup Tteokguk, younger mem-

bers of the family visit older relatives to

pass on New Year’s greetings.

In Korean Studies this week, students

were learning about Korean Lunar New

Year’s Day. We learned about traditional

Korean clothes worn called hanbok and

how to pay respect to our ancestors by

bowing. Thanks to the students who

volunteered to be hanbok models and to

The Myung Won Cultural Foundation for

their wonderful lessons. Next week we

will learn about the Korean traditional tea

making ceremony.

Jude LeeKorean Studies

Dulwich College London has a

longstanding fine reputation

for sport, and is continuing

this success in 2011-12 through its first

XV rugby team. Rugby has long been a

strength of the College – two mainstays

of the England squad over the past

ten years (Andrew Sheridan and Nick

Easter) are Old Alleynians. Now the Col-

lege’s first team has reached the semi-

final of the Daily Mail U18 Cup, the most

competitive tournament in school rugby.

The semi-f inal place was won after

a thrilling quarter final match against

Abingdon School, played at Abingdon

in freezing conditions, where the score

at the end of the match stood at 17-17.

Dulwich gained the victory thanks to the

“away draw” rule. The semi-final takes

place on Saturday 10 March and a host

of supporters will travel to Coventry to

cheer on the Dulwich team.

Besides sporting prowess, however, Dul-

wich London fosters talent in all sorts of

co-curricular activities, and a remarkable

series of successes has come recently

in debating. Debating in the British Parli

amentary style is a popular competitive

activity at many British schools and is

also pursued at some of the country’s

top universities, most notably at the

Oxford and Cambridge Unions, where

many future politicians have honed their

skills. Many of these universities host

debating competitions for schools, and

Dulwich has given some outstanding

performances lately. Five Dulwich teams

competed at Bristol University, with our

top team winning the overall competition

debating the motion “This House would

force people to use their real identities

when communicating online”. Ten days

later the same team proved victorious in

the highly prestigious Cambridge Schools

Debating Competition, winning the final

when asked to propose the motion “This

house believes that liberal democracies

should militarily and financially sup-

port opposition groups in authoritarian

regimes”. As a point of interest, two of

Dulwich’s top debaters are brothers, both

of whom were voted joint top speakers

at the University College London Union

Schools Debating Competition held in

early March.

The next prestigious event is the Finals

Day of the Oxford Schools Debating

Competition, to which Dulwich is sending

three teams in a field of 100 from all over

the country. Hopes are high for a repeat

of these recent successes – check www.

dulwich.org.uk for the latest news!

Dulwich London on the Field and in the Hall

Korean New Year: Seollal

Connections

www.dulwich-beijing.cn28

Dulwich Col lege Shanghai ’s

inaugural D’Oscars was pur-

posefully scheduled to take

place at the same time as that other

major literary event in Shanghai - the

Shanghai International Literary Festival

- and alongside our own Book and Film

Week. The vision behind the event was

to capture the imagination of our Junior

School students through literacy, story-

telling and film, made all the more excit-

ing by its setting within an environment

of competition and collaboration.

Each year group was given a film cat-

egory to interpret in their own way, link-

ing into the curriculum map for this term.

Each class then produced their own film

or films, with a final entry selected as the

submission in their year group category

for the final judging. The films were then

sent to the judges who selected three

finalists, two runners-up

and one overall winner.

The exciting awards

ceremony was held

at Dulwich Col lege

S h a n g h a i J u n i o r

School on Wednesday

7 March. Children –

and adults – dressed

to the nines, and local

businesses, includ-

ing prestigious names

such as Disney, judged

the entries and presented the winning

films with their D’Oscars.

Dignitaries from Shanghai and

Suzhou gathered alongside

Students and parents in sub-

zero temperatures at the Official Ground

Breaking Ceremony for DCSZ’s new

Senior School.

Building work on this fabulous 50,000

square metre site has already begun with

the piling completed.

The new Senior School boasts of 2 thea-

tres, a gymnasium, a 25 metre indoor

swimming pool, a large central library

and media centre, 5 Science labs, exten-

sive playing fields and a coffee shop!

The new Senior School will open its

doors to students in August 2013 and will

also offer full and weekly boarding for up

to 200 students.

This boarding facility is the first in the

Dulwich family outside of London and the

very first in China.

The students provided the entertain-

ment and speeches were given by Mr

Hua, Vice Director of Suzhou Education

Bureau and the Headmnaster, Mr Nick

Magnus.

The ceremony finished with a bang (quite

literally) with the letting off of thousands

of fireworks as any lingering evil spirits

were well and truly scared away.

Dulwich College Shanghai: D’Oscars

DCSZ Celebrates with a Bang!!

Connections

The College Magazine (Beijing) 29