The College Magazine Winter 2019

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Snapshots Mooncake-Making for Mid-Autumn Festival Spider & Pumpkin Show Over 50 amazing Early Years mums put together one of the most anticipated events of the year – the annual Spider and Pumpkin show! The children were enthralled with the suspense and drama of the story leading up to the dazzling Halloween party on stage. Many thanks to the hard-working mums who organised every detail of the performance. 10 beijing.dulwich.org
Spotlight Mindfulness in Early Years By Emily Hennessy Music, English, Chinese, PE, Art …. with such an active timetable, how do we allow the children a chance to stop and take notice of their feelings? The answer is mindfulness. Since 2018, DCB Early Years have incorporated mindfulness into the curriculum with the main aim being to improve social and emotional wellbeing. Mindfulness is the practice of stopping to reflect and ‘check-in’ with oneself. Acknowledging one’s feelings and sensations can help regulate emotions. It means tuning in with your senses, which can seem odd at first, particularly for adults. For children it is more instinctive and comes naturally. Over time, it has been proven that mindfulness can improve focus and lower stress levels. We were keen for the children not to see mindfulness as a practice only involving quiet thinking time, so we have planned a variety of fun sensory activities. Likewise the formality of having a mindfulness lesson did not suit the needs of early learners. The teachers are well placed to decide when to fit mindfulness in their class timetable and often do so spontaneously. Transition times lend themselves to taking a breath and channelling their attention back to the present moment. Inspiration for a new and interesting activity each week comes when Mr Mindful, a small superhero-like character, visits each Key Stage 1 classroom. From his lucky dip bag, a student chooses a card, and the class aims to do the activity at least once before the next visit. The activities are intended to be openended and experiential. They range from outdoor activities like cloud watching (weather permitting) to yoga moves and mindful eating. Mindfulness: a technique in which one focuses one’s full attention only on the present, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensations but not judging them Of course, a few challenges have presented themselves: finding time and space on a big campus is sometimes difficult. Some classes have chosen to design their own quiet spaces, which gave the children the chance to pause and relax, of their own choosing. Another barrier is language and adults finding the right words and phrases to aid children’s understanding of such a big concept. This is where our Dual Language Teachers and Assistant Teachers play such an important role, using Chinese to clarify the meaning. Often the vocabulary can be tied in with current learning and upcoming events. In Year 1, the ‘Senses Safari’ was linked to the adventure had by two characters from a core text and on World Kindness Day, the lucky dip cards were linked to gratitude under the term ‘Kindfulness’. There have been some training sessions to deepen Early Years staff’s knowledge of mindfulness and the small ways they can ‘season the day’ with mindful moments. Most recently, DCB hosted ‘Mindwell’, who led PD sessions involving staff from all departments across the College. Parents have been able to see some mindfulness in action through Seesaw. The posts always receive plenty of likes and comments. The teachers encourage the children to teach their parents and siblings and look for ways to be more mindful at home. In particular, we keep in mind that the students have busy schedules both in and out of school. Giving them tangible strategies to deal with their feelings and impressing the need to take a time out from an early age should stand them in good stead as they grow. The College Magazine (Beijing) 11
Page 1 and 2: Winter 2019 Dulwich College Beijing
Page 3 and 4: C O N T E N T S From the Headmaster
Page 5 and 6: Snapshots The College Magazine (Bei
Page 7 and 8: Art Early Years Art Raccoon & Fox C
Page 9 and 10: Art Senior School Art Year 7 - Anim
Page 11: Snapshots 1st Prize: Jing Jing C, Y
Page 15 and 16: Snapshots The College Magazine (Bei
Page 17 and 18: News JS Student Councillors Visit M
Page 19 and 20: Spotlight ing Through Topics apply
Page 21 and 22: News Art is a subject that works we
Page 23 and 24: Spotlight Writing Competition Term
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Page 27 and 28: Sports JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTS Dulwich
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Page 31 and 32: Five years ago, they were girls roa
Page 33 and 34: Spotlight Paul Jarman Composer, Con
Page 35 and 36: Around DCI World Mental Health Day

The College Magazine Winter 2019

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