The College Magazine Winter 2020

The 

Winter 2020 BEIJING 

COLLEGE 

Dulwich College Beijing 15 th Anniversary Specials 

We have Grown with the School 

Digital Education with Young Children 

Wellbeing is at the Heart of Junior School 

Worldwise Academy 2020 Launch Event

wchangxi@163.com 

Beijing.dulwich.org

C O N T E N T S 

Head of College Message 

15 th Anniversary Specials 

No Aspiration Too Big, No Inspiration Too Small ………..…4 

We have Grown with the School …………………………………..6 

Art Celebration …………………………….………………………………8 

Student Achievements 

Class 2020 

New Curriculum Launched in Early Years ……………………16 

Visual & Performing Arts 

Education and Pandemic …………………………………………22 

Spotlight 

COVID-19 Factsheet ……………………………………………………22 

Digital Education with Young Children ……………..…………23 

Dulwich College Beijing MIE Experts ……………..……………26 

Post-COVID-19 Wellbeing……………………………………………30 

Make It Real 

Worldwise Academy 2020 ………………....………………………34 

Learning in Tiantong Law Firm ……………………………………35 

Wellbeing in Junior School ……………….……………..…………36 

Social Awareness in Junior School ………………………………38 

Diversity through Arts …………………………………………………40 

DCI News …………………………………………………………………42 

Cover: Mink L, Sophie P and Jessica T 

Editor, Design & Layout: Kalyana Marechal and Yadi Zhou 

Editorial Support: Cecilia Liang 

Contributors: Simon Armstrong, Becky Bush, Anthony Coles, Sally 

Corben, Stephen Hurworth, David Mumford, Joseph Stewart, Alex 

Tew, Klaudia Tomaszun, Iyabo Tinubu, Andrew Walton, Naomi Wong, 

our colleagues across the DCI network and many of our wonderful 

students and alumni. 

Graphic Designer: Faye Zhang 

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…………………………………………………4 

………………………..…………………………10 

…………………………………………………………………10 

……………………………………………18 

…………………………………………………………………32 

……………………………………………………………34 

Photography: Kidsphoto Studio, Dulwich College Beijing students and 

teachers 

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16 

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The College Magazine (Beijing) 1


W 

elcome to The College Magazine! 

This is my first year with Dulwich 

College Beijing, and my first 

contribution to The College Magazine. I appreciate 

the opportunity to share my experiences and 

observations, however, capturing everything about 

our vibrant community in one piece of writing is 

indeed a challenge. 

2020 was rather unique for all of us. COVID-19 hit 

the world at the beginning of the year and 

generated a massive impact on everyone's learning, 

work, and life. When I started my transition as the 

Head of College in November 2019, I observed 

proudly how everyone in Dulwich College Beijing 

worked together through this unprecedented 

challenge. We had to move the entire curriculum 

onto the online platform overnight. The teachers 

and support staff did a fantastic job responding to 

the challenge quickly and effectively. They worked 

day and night to create the system, redesign the 

courses, learn the new technologies, and take care 

of every student and family. All their efforts paid 

off: the College was commended as the 

international school with a top-quality e-learning 

educational experience. 

We were delighted to witness the resilience and 

independence our students exhibited during these 

challenging months. Despite the unique challenges 

posed by the pandemic to learning, our students 

once again achieved outstanding results in the 

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma 

Programme, averaging 38 points out of 45, 

significantly above the global average. 

Our 2020 IGCSE 

cohort also 

achieved 

exceptional 

results with 

80.5% of all 

grades awarded 

being either A* 

or A (or 9-7), and 

95.4% of the grades 

being higher than B (or 6). 

Our students also triumphed beyond the 

classroom, accomplishing outstanding success in 

arts, music, and sports. During the campus closure, 

the Year 13 Visual Arts students held an 

appointment and invitation-only exhibition in the 

798 Art district. 

In the All-American High School Film Festival, the 

world's biggest and most prestigious international 

festival for high school students, The Red Room, a 

horror film produced by the Film Studies students, 

was shortlisted, representing a pinnacle 

achievement in students' film making. Over the 

summer holidays, Year 12 students Isaac C and 

Artem L took part in the Triathlon in Chongqing. 

Being the youngest participants, they completed 

the full triathlon, and both achieved a place on the 

podium. 

Sophia B, a Junior School student, participated in 

the iFLYTEK A.I., an artificial intelligence developer 

competition, and was awarded "A.I. for the Public 

Welfare" in the category of Social Citizenship out of 

dozens of thousands of competitors. 

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The list goes on, and I am hugely proud of our 

students' passion. Make It Real is one of the 

College’s aims of the year, supporting students to 

connect ideas or concepts to the real world and 

letting them see the relevance between their 

learning and the world beyond the school. We want 

our students to be aware of the global challenges, 

become global citizens, and apply their knowledge 

and skills to solve real-world problems. 

One key initiative is the Worldwise Academy, a 

platform linking students to professionals in the 

world of work. This year, in the Worldwise Academy 

event, we invited parents from various professional 

background. The panel shared their advice, 

experience and resources, encouraging students to 

think deeply to enrich their career pathways. 

Our students' growth and development rely on 

community support. Our parents demonstrated 

tremendous resilience to support their daughters 

and sons and the College throughout these 

challenging months. After the school re-opened, 

Friends of Dulwich, our parent association, 

organised countless events and activities: year 

level-based family get-togethers, culture trips, 

committee meetings, festival performances, a golf 

tournament to name a few. These helped the 

community to re-connect and new families to settle 

in with a peace of mind. I cannot be more grateful 

for the passion and selfless contribution of our 

Friends of Dulwich. 

As Dulwich College Beijing is celebrating its 15 th 

anniversary this academic year, the students 

expressed their gratitude to the community. A 

group of students decided on No Aspiration Too 

Big, No Inspiration Too Small as our anniversary 

slogan since it "allows our community to recognize 

and celebrate its strengths while allowing it to 

inspire and guide the community into building a 

strong identity as a school." 

I am thoroughly enjoying my first year at Dulwich 

College Beijing. The focus, passion and 

commitment of the entire community is something 

to celebrate. It is easy to see the high expectations 

we have for each other, which can only be realised 

if the sense of community, care and trust are at the 

centre of everything we do. I look forward to 

witnessing our student talents as more and more 

programmes spring back to life. It is an honour to 

be a part of the community. 

Best wishes, 

Anthony Coles 

Head of College 



Dulwich College Beijing launched its 15 th anniversary logo and slogan 

No Aspiration Too Big, No Inspiration Too Small 

Dulwich College Beijing officially 

launched its logo and slogan No 

Aspiration Too Big, No Inspiration Too Small 

for the College’s 15 th anniversary this academic 

year. 

The slogan came from our talented students! 

From the students’ perspective, the slogan reflects 

their learning journey and its impact on their 

adulthood. 

The students came up with many brilliant ideas and set their mind on this slogan for the diverse reasons featured 

below. 

“The slogan encourages members of the community to take risks and not to be afraid of any 

goals, any targets they have set themselves. It inspires people by letting them know that any 

of their aspirations are achievable. I think that the slogan is especially relevant to the DCB 

community as we often encourage students to take initiatives and be risk-takers in the 

community.” – Isaac C 

“DCB is known to be empowering for student leaders and its educational philosophy that has 

produced extraordinary academic results. The slogan allows the DCB community to recognise 

and celebrate its strengths while allowing it to inspire and guide the community into building a 

strong identity as a school. It highlights how DCB approaches learning and empowers students 

to achieve their full potential.” – Kevin M 

“It represents Dulwich’s value of courage and persistence, the key 

attribute that resilient people display.” – Jeffrey W 

“I think of Dulwich as a hub for inspirations and aspirations. There are some really talented 

people here who thrive thanks to the academic and social environment the school cultivates. 

DCB stands out in that it does such a good job of boosting a student's confidence. Staff here 

work hard to foster an environment that encourages all kinds of ideas, from small concepts to 

grand aspirations.” – Lauren Z 

“DCB provides a platform for students who aspire, for example, to set up organisations like MUN. 

The range of passions and interests that DCB students have are quite wide, but the school, the 

teachers, and the community still support everything that the students do. Students are 

encouraged to look up to everybody and feel inspired by everyone around them. The people after 

whom the Houses are named are all extraordinary figures, but more than the big names, we have 

learned to admire, feel gratitude for, and be inspired by everyone. This includes classmates, ayis, 

security guards, teachers, and more.” – Yiming S 

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Dulwich College Beijing finds its roots in the double 

heritage from Dulwich College London and Dulwich 

College International, thus building its own history on 

solid foundations of educational innovation and 

pioneering spirit. 

When Edward Alleyn founded Dulwich College 

London 400 years ago, his goal was to give his first 

students the opportunity and invaluable gift of 

combining academic excellence with strong artistic and 

social manners. This legacy of educational balance is 

one of the cornerstones of the Dulwich legacy. 

Over three centuries later, the same 

entrepreneurship and pioneering spirit resulted in the 

creation of Dulwich College International when 

founders Fraser White and Karen Yung first exported 

the Dulwich vision and spirit to the East upon settling in 

Shanghai in 2003. 

Turning fifteen being a significant milestone in 

Chinese culture, marking the transition from childhood 

to young adulthood, the College’s 15 th anniversary 

represents a perfect milestone to remind the 

community of where the school’s DNA comes from, and 

to understand how this identity helps its diverse 

students to face the challenges of tomorrow. 

In a short span of fifteen years, our College has 

steadily grown into one of the top international schools 

in Beijing. 

Fifteen years of service to the Beijing community, 

and fifteen years of achievements reflecting the 

collective efforts of its community of students, parents, 

staff and partners. Dulwich College Beijing provides a 

supportive environment empowering its students to 

follow their aspirations and take initiatives. 

2005: Little Riviera main entrance 

This was indeed a real-life demonstration of what 

further became the Dulwich motto: Graduate 

worldwise to Build bridges to the world based on a 

Students come first strategy. This legacy has survived, 

and will surely survive to address the challenges of the 

next 100 years. 

2005: Riviera Campus 2020: Legend Campus main entrance 

This is perfectly summarised by Head Girl Yi Xin L who 

emphasises that being given leadership opportunities 

certainly enhances one’s skills and core values of 

leadership, concluding that “these core values are what 

really make a student in Dulwich College Beijing”, thus 

empowering students to achieve their full potential. 



We have Grown with the School 

Mink L, Jessica T and Sophie P have been in Dulwich College Beijing for 15 years. We invited them to come 

back to the campus’ playgrounds and share their journey. 

Meet Mink L, Head Boy 2019-2020 

Describe your DCB journey in one word 

Eventful. 

A summary of your DCB journey 

I began my journey when the school first opened in 2005. 

Back then, everyone in Early Years still went to school on 

another campus. It was where I found my love for football 

and met many lifelong friends. Moving into Junior School, I 

also moved to the current campus. Transitioning into Year 3 

was a little frightening at first. However, I soon realised how 

much fun Junior School would be. Senior School was when I 

matured more and learnt more about how to study. Now, in 

my final year, I can safely say my DCB journey is what 

shaped me into who I am today, both in terms of academics 

and personality. 

Your best memories of DCB 

Most of my best memories of DCB are from the residential, 

service and sports trips that I participated in. Trips are great 

opportunities for students to form new relationships. They 

provide chances for students to get more familiar with 

different teachers, as well as students whom they do not 

typically chat with at school. I can accredit many of my best 

friendships to my time spent on residential trips. 

Your take-away from DCB 

DCB has taught me the importance of leadership and 

respect. The school offers many platforms for students to 

step out of their comfort zones and take on leadership 

positions. Looking up to fellow students displaying 

leadership, confidence and respect has helped me realise 

my own potential. Furthermore, the teachers who have 

supported me along my journey have shown me that 

respect is not bound by age or status. Respect can be a 

mutual relationship formed between all people. 

Where do you see yourself 15 years from now? 

In 15 years, I see myself working a comfortable and 

enjoyable job, as well as living in a comfortable home with 

people I love. By then, I hope to be able to provide for my 

parents after all the sacrifices they made for me. I hope my 

life decisions will make them proud. 

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Meet Jessica T, Communication & Language 

Prefect 2019-2020 

Describe your DCB 

journey in one word 

Rollercoaster. 

A summary of your 

DCB journey 

Honestly, my DCB journey 

has been full of ups and 

downs. At DCB, I got to 

know some of my good 

friends, met a lot of great 

teachers who have helped 

me so much along my 

journey, and learnt an 

incredible amount about myself. 


My best memories are probably of my time in Early Years 

or of the residential trips. Back in kindergarten and Y1/2, 

school was basically just about having fun and making 

friends, so I have a lot of good memories of our activities 

back then. I think, looking back on residential trips, they 

were a great opportunity to bond with my classmates, and 

even though I complained a lot, I really miss that. 


One thing that DCB has taught me is that the journey is 

more important than the destination. 


Hopefully, in 15 years, I’ll be happy with where I am and 

what I’m doing with my life. Right now, that means that I’ll 

have graduated from a top university, surrounded by 

friends and family, doing a work that I genuinely enjoy and 

care about, and making a difference in the world. 

Meet Sophie P, Performing Arts Prefect 2019-2020 

Describe your DCB 

journey in one word 

Growth. 

A summary of your 

DCB journey 

As a DCB student, one thing 

I used to struggle with a lot 

was change. I have spent my 

entire childhood here, with 

many of the same students, 

but as we grew up and people 

started to leave, I had a hard 

time saying goodbye. But just 

as people left, new students 

would arrive, and I made some of my best friends on the 

first day of Senior School. I'm very lucky to still have so 

many of them with me today, graduating Year 13 together. 


Definitely Moonlight Madness or Founder’s Day spent with 

my friends at school. I remember running around the 

South Pitch with water guns and eating far too much 

cotton candy from the food stalls. It was something that I 

looked forward to every year and is something I’m going to 

miss. 


I was a shy kid. I didn't like speaking to strangers or taking 

on new experiences. But Dulwich's emphasis on 

community really helped me break out of my shell and 

gain faith in myself. From things like House events to 

group projects in Year 7 drama class, DCB helped me build 

confidence in myself and that's something I hope to never 

forget. 


It's going to be weird moving away from DCB. Dulwich had 

always been a constant in my life, someplace I could count 

on and feel at home with. But I'm also excited to be 

moving ahead. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to be 

in 15 years, but wherever I am, I hope that I'm happy (and 

maybe still in touch with some Dulwich friends!). 

‣ 

Mink L, Jessica T and Sophie P met at DCB 15 years ago 



Art Celebration 

Dulwich College Beijing 15 th anniversary art competition: 

celebrating community spirit with art 

Photography 

Early Years 

Junior School 

Senior School 

1 st Prize: Daniel D (Y2) 1 st Prize: Wentian C (Y3) 

1 st Prize: Pacey Q (Y6) 2 nd Prize: Ashley L (Y13) 

3 rd Prize: Hudson L (Y9) 

Parents & Staff 

1 st Prize: Joseph Stewart 2 nd Prize: Faye Zhang 3 rd Prize: Beibei Zhang 

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Visual Arts 


Early Years 

2 nd Prize: Siyao C (Y1) 

3 rd Prize: Oscar F (Y1) 

1 st Prize: John X (Y2) 

Junior School 

1 st Prize: Eleanor R (Y6) 2 nd Prize: Kyle L (Y3) 

3 rd Prize: Serena W (Y3) 

Senior School 

1 st Prize: Ellie K (Y10) 2 nd Prize: Andrew L (Y9) 3 rd Prize: Cathy M (Y11) 

Parent & Staff 

1 st Prize: Jacob Dong 2 nd Prize: Faye Zhang 



Congratulations Class 2020! 

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 

students for their stellar International 

Baccalaureate Diploma Programme results. 

In the 2020 assessment period, Dulwich College 

Beijing students averaged 38 points out of 45 

(global average: 29.9). 37 students achieved over 

40 points and 4 achieved 45 points. 

These results also 

represent the collective 

efforts of the whole faculty 

including the Senior School 

teachers, university 

counsellors and the pastoral 

team who worked in unison 

to create an exceptional 

environment to nurture the 

students’ mind, body and 

spirit. 

“A huge THANK YOU to all 

the family, friends, 

and staff who've helped 

me survive the two-year 

trial by fire that is the IB. Congratulations as well to 

everyone in the class of 2020 - it's truly been an 

extraordinary senior year,” said Jennifer Z, the 

Deputy Head Girl and one of the three toppers 

achieving 45 points this year. 

“Graduates, be proud of all that you have achieved 

and the hurdles that you have overcome in this 

extraordinary year. Be confident in your capacity to 

thrive beyond DCB,” said Rachel Edwards, the Head of 

Senior School when she was addressing to the Class of 

2020. “Reflect on how you arrived here, what you have 

learned about yourself and who helped you along the 

way. My 

sincere 

thanks to all 

staff, past 

and present, 

for 

challenging 

and 

supporting 

these fine 

young people 

and to all our 

parents who 

were with us 

and them 

every step of the way.” 

We are proud of each and every one of our Class of 

2020 graduates, who we know will continue to live our 

values and make their mark on the world. 

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Life beyond IB 

Dulwich College Beijing’s perfect scorers 

and their classmates have received 

offers from some of the world’s top 

universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton 

University, University of Chicago, Brown University, 

Carnegie Mellon University, University of Cambridge, 

University of Oxford, London School of Economics 

and Political Science, Imperial College London, 

Tsinghua University, Waseda University, and Sciences 

Po-University of British Columbia dual degree 

programme across diverse fields of study. This year 

also saw our first offer of admission to the 

prestigious Korean Advanced Institute of Science and 

Technology, which only admits forty or fewer 

overseas students a year. 

As the class of 2020 move on to even bigger and 

better things, both students and teachers reflect 

fondly on their time at the College. “Dulwich is a 

community of people and not a place,” Edward L 

reflects. “Regardless of where we end up, we will all 

carry a piece of Dulwich with us through the lifelong 

bonds we have formed with both our mentors and 

peers.” 

Launching Worldwise Alumni Network to Build Bridges for Alumni 

When Fraser White and Karen Yung 

founded the first international 

Dulwich College in 2003, their vision was 

to create a school that would build bridges to the 

world. 

Now, 17 years later, Dulwich College International 

has grown into a family of 13 schools across Asia 

with an alumni network that is now more than 

3000-strong. 

"I am constantly amazed at what our alumni are 

doing after they've left us," remarked Karen Yung, 

Co-Founder and Chief Collaboration Officer of 

Dulwich College International. "Many of our alumni 

have gone onto some of the world's most 

prestigious and niche university 

programmes. They've gone on to be not just 

doctors and lawyers and engineers, as many have, 

but they have also gone on to be music composers, 

artists, entrepreneurs. They are making an impact 

around the world, and they are making things 

happen every single day.“ 

By bringing our alumni from across our family of 

schools together, Worldwise Alumni Network aims 

to build bridges for them to develop themselves 

personally and professionally, connect and pioneer 

positive change in the industry, the society, and the 

global community. 

We are so excited to officially launch the network 

and invite all alumni to sign up on the platform to 

unlock all membership benefits. Everyone over the 

age of 18 who has ever attended a Dulwich school 

is eligible to join. 



Outstanding IB Results in the Face of Adversity 

(First published on Beijingkids WeChat official account on 31 August 2020 by Robynne Tinball) 

“However difficult life may seem, there is 

always something you can do and succeed 

at.” – Stephen Hawking 

Despite the unique challenges to 

learning posed by the coronavirus 

pandemic, Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) 

Class of 2020 achieved outstanding results in the 

IB Diploma Programme, and four even scored a 

perfect 45. 

“Adversity made us 

stronger as a learning 

community this year 

and we believe that 

collaboration and the 

support of our whole 

community were key,” 

Jennifer Z 

said Rachel Edwards, Head 

of Senior School. “No 

matter where our staff or 

families were located, we 

were very much together 

and support was in place 

every step of the way. We 

couldn’t be more proud of Vivian H 

our graduating students 

who are more than ready 

for their next exciting adventures.” 

Celebrating perfect scores 

DCB’s overall IB results are impressive, but 

even more remarkably, four students managed to 

score a perfect 45, placing them in the top 0.1% 

of candidates worldwide. The perfect score 

holders, Jennifer Z, Cherin Y, Vivian H, and 

Zhiyang H, described the excitement of results 

day. “When I first saw the results I thought there 

was something wrong with my eyes because I 

never expected to get a perfect score.” Cherin 

said. 

Jennifer’s, Cherin’s, Vivian’s and Zhiyang’s 

achievements certainly stem from hours of 

hard work and dedication but mastering the IB 

isn’t just about studying and revision. For Jennifer, 

passion is an underrated quality and one that 

helped her achieve her outstanding results. “The 

extent and quantity of the work in the 

programme is quite exhausting,” she explained. “If 

you don’t genuinely care, then you won’t find the 

energy to power through.” For those embarking 

on their IB journey this coming year, Vivian offers 

Zhiyang H 

some sage advice: “Do 

not sacrifice your sleep 

for an extra hour of 

revision or plain 

procrastination. It’s very, 

very important to have 

good sleep.” 

It is worth noting that 

the students with over 40 

points are typically those 

who maintained a 

balance between studies 

and personal passions – 

those who really really 

embraced the CAS 

Cherin Y 

(Creation, Action, Service) 

aspect of the IB and 

devoted time to connecting with friends, family 

and the school community. “In my experience, 

scoring 40+ points comes as an organic by-product 

of a healthy, balanced approach to academics, 

arts, activity, and responsible action,” said Kieran 

Burgess, Assistant Head of Senior School: IB 

Coordinator, “These results are a real vindication 

of a healthy culture, and all staff have played a 

part in creating this culture.” 

Can’t stop, won’t stop learning 

As these perfect scorers show, even a pandemic 

couldn’t stand in the way of DCB’s commitment to 

outstanding results. As soon as the coronavirus 

outbreak hit in late January, DCB was in close 

contact with the IBO, keeping them informed of 

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general developments in China, as well as the 

specific challenges the school was facing. Teaching 

was swiftly pivoted online, often across multiple 

time zones, and then the IBO made the decision to 

cancel exams. While this relieved some of the 

pressure on students, it also raised questions about 

how final grades would be calculated. 

well-prepared to face whatever the 2020-2021 

school year throws at them. “Our online learning 

offering is genuinely considered world-leading,” 

Kieran said. “The IBO themselves chose to spotlight 

us, out of all IB schools in the world, in their global 

magazine as an example of how well we responded 

to the shutdowns.” 

Senior school online 

maths class 

Even creative subjects such as 

music were moved online 

Kieran Burgess, Assistant Head of Senior School: 

IB Coordinator 

However, DCB had measures in place, as Kieran 

explained. “As a school, we ensured that 

coursework and predicted grades were calculated 

no differently to any other year. This was key: we 

knew that our predictions were historically more 

accurate than the world average, and we knew that 

our results were consistently high. Therefore, we 

didn’t really need to add anything in most cases — 

simply to ensure the same processes were followed 

so the IBO could trust our grades once more.” 

This strategy paid off, as DCB’s results were even 

closer to predictions than last year, and they 

haven’t seen the turmoil that other schools around 

the world have experienced, such as the scandal 

over adjustments to predicted A-Level results 

currently gripping the UK. 

Now, Kieran and the rest of the DCB team are 

busy preparing for the new school year. With 

remote learning likely to remain a fact of life for 

some time to come, the experiences of the 2020 

spring semester have left DCB 

“Our students are academically prepared for 

wherever they may go because the IB Diploma 

Programme supports holistic growth,” Jeffrey 

Harmon, Director of University Counselling, 

explained. “But beyond academic readiness, we 

also want to make sure our students are socially 

and emotionally prepared for living on their own.” 

That means guiding students through the 

application process, from preparing documents to 

understanding what residential options or studentrun 

organisations a university might have, but also 

giving them opportunities to develop real-life skills 

like cooking and managing their finances. 

Jeffrey Harmon, Director of University Counselling, awards 

a graduation gift to a student 



Congratulations to Dulwich College Beijing IGCSE 2020 Cohort! 

Eighty-two DCB students undertook a 

total of 856 exam courses as part of 

their IGCSE* curriculum. True to 

their school’s reputation, the 2020 Year 11 cohort 

achieved a robust 80.5% of 

all awarded grades being either A* or A. 

Such achievement is a testament 

to their commitment, hard work and resilience 

during an incredibly challenging year! We wish 

them the best of success for a promising journey 

into their final two years of Senior School. 

One student graded A* across all subjects while 

twenty others achieved either A* or A. Additional 

Mathematics stood out with an impressive 

100% students scoring A* or A while Triple 

Science Award saw 98% of the grades being A* 

or A. This year again, 75% of all Mandarin 

students obtained A* or A whether as First, 

Second or Foreign Languages learners while 61% 

of English Literature students and 91% of the 

History students scored A* or A. 

*IGCSE is the UK’s General Certificate of Secondary Education adapted to an international 

context. Covering Years 10 and 11, this rigorous programme culminates in external 

assessments. When students reach Year 12, they would already be familiar with the format of 

a two-year curriculum cumulating with external final examinations. 

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Fourth Annual SE21 Enterprise Fair 

By Andrew Walton 

On Halloween day, two Year 10 and two Year 11 

STEM classes presented the fourth annual SE21 

Enterprise Fair in the Sports Hall. Seven Year 10 

teams of entrepreneurs sold items they designed 

and produced. Their stalls were visited by ghouls 

and goblins from Junior School and Senior School. 

The event also featured tables from Interact, 

STUCO, a Year 8 student team raising money and 

awareness for causes and Helion Robotics 

publicizing their extra-curricular activity. 

Considering necessary restrictions, our Year 11 

STEM students were quite successful in designing 

an engaging user experience and supporting the 

Year 10 students in providing a Haunted Castle 

marketplace. The escape room experience was 

also super popular: it had long lines and took 

bookings for the week. Big thanks to everyone who 

helped support this year’s event, and to those 

students and staff who purchased from our 

vendors. Here’s looking ahead to next year! 



New Curriculum Launched in Early Years! 

By Becky Bush 

Remember the “good old days” when education 

was simple? There was a list of objectives that 

teachers had to cover each day, children 

memorised useful facts and completed their 

worksheets, and parents knew exactly what was 

going on in the classroom, at exactly what time. 

Well, those days are long gone... and thank 

goodness for that! 

Since Dulwich College Beijing first opened its 

doors in 2005, play-based, transdisciplinary 

learning has been an important part of the Early 

Years programme. The role of young children as 

agents of their own learning has featured heavily 

across all classrooms, both indoors and outdoors, 

in order to foster motivation, independence and 

responsibility for their own learning. 

In keeping with what we know about the 

benefits of a play-based approach to learning, and 

the more recent focus of international educational 

research on the notion of a rigorous educational 

programme for young children, the Early Years is 

now moving towards a more concept-based, 

inquiry-driven learning model. 

Why have we chosen a concept-based, inquirydriven 

model? Here are just some of the many 

reasons! 

1. Inquiry increase rigor and cognitive load. 

2. It fosters student interest and engagement. 

3. It develops important soft skills. 

4. It creates lifelong learners. 

5. It supports differentiated learning. 

6. It can lead to increased self-confidence. 

7. It increases intellectual risk-taking. 

8. It encourages metacognition. 

As children’s author Lloyd Alexander observed: 

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a 

question and not finding it, than we do from 

learning the answer itself.” 

How will this work in Early Years? 

Introducing the Early Years Programme of 

Investigation… 

The Early Years Programme of Investigation was 

launched in August 2020, with each year group 

from Toddler to Year 2 engaging in a Unit of 

Investigation related to the learning thread of 

Identity. As the year progresses, our Toddler, 

Nursery and Reception students will participate in 

a further three Units, and Years 1 and 2 in a further 

four Units from the following learning threads: 

Expression, Organisation, Exploration and 

Sustainability. 

Each Unit includes specific concepts, knowledge, 

skills and our core values to be taught across 

various subject areas, which are mapped across 

the Early Years to provide a rigorous learning 

programme. We believe that this approach to 

teaching allows children to make connections to 

their learning in a variety of situations, leading to 

generalisation of understandings, and to attain a 

broad range of skills that will serve them for the 

rest of their lives. 

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At the start of each Unit there will be an exciting 

learning experience which invites children to 

inquire. Children will formulate questions about 

what they’d like to learn which, along with guiding 

questions from the teacher, form the foundation 

for their inquiry. Although teachers know clearly 

which knowledge, concepts, skills and values they 

will be working on with the students, they don’t 

know exactly how the learning will take place and 

it will look different in every class! 

Let’s take a glimpse at what the children have 

been learning so far this year! 

Happy investigating! 

Toddler - During their Unit of Investigation on 

Identity, Toddler explored the guiding question 

“How have I changed?” They chose items from 

the Mystery Box which they identified as being 

for babies, not for “big children” like them! 

Nursery - Our Nursery children 

investigated their Identity 

through looking at families and 

noticing similarities and 

differences between families. 

Reception students created a “recipe 

for friendship” as part of their Identity 

Unit. 

Year 1 students worked 

through a design cycle to 

solve a problem during their 

Exploration Unit. 

Year 1 - Thinking about and 

recording how they have 

changed over time on a 

timeline supported our Year 1 

children as they investigated 

the concept of Identity 

Year 2 students enjoyed 

creating models of where their 

class animal came from, as they 

made connections between 

previous and new learning 

during their Identity Unit. 

Year 2 - In preparation for 

the Christmas Fair, Year 2 

students created their own 

businesses, collaboratively 

deciding on their company 

name and logo, and thinking 

about rules for their 

company. This was part of 

their Organisation Unit. 



Senior School Young Musician of the Year! 

Following the auditions where nearly sixty students displayed a range of amazing musical 

talents, twelve finalists of the Senior School Young Musician of the Year competition took 

the stage to wow the privileged live and online audience. There was a variety of musical instruments 

and styles on offer and the judges, made up of Ms Haynes, Ms McFaul (Head of Primary Music) and Ms Li 

(Early Years Music Teacher) had a very difficult task to decide on who the winner would be. 

A massive thank you to the students and staff who came along to support the finalists, and to the family 

members who tuned in via the livestream. 

Congratulations to all the participants, especially the finalists and place winners! 

Key Stage 3: 

1 st place: Brian Z (Year 9) with a superb 

rendition of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E 

Minor 

2 nd place: Kimberly C (Year 9) - Piano 

3 rd place: Lareina L (Year 7) - Voice 

Also performed: Peyton L (Year 9), Viktoria H 

(Year 9), Andy L (Year 9) 

Key Stage 4/5: 

1 st place: Jason C (Year 12) with a passionate 

drums interpretation of Feel That from Vic 

Mensa 

2 nd place: Audrey W (Year 11) - Guzheng 

3 rd place: Steven H (Year 11) – Piano 

Also performed: Andrew M (Year 11), Tracy L 

(Year 11), Yiming S (Year 12) 

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Dulwich College Beijing Student Film Shortlisted 

for the All-American High School Film Festival 

I 

magine being at school after dark. The 

normally noisy halls are now eerily quiet, 

with the staccato flickering of a fluorescent light 

illuminating a corner. Did we mention that it’s 

Halloween? 

That’s exactly what the IB Film Studies students 

do when 31 October rolls around. For the second 

year running, the DCB Halloween Film Shoot 

engages Film Studies students to stay at school late 

on the spooky holiday and complete a film shoot 

within the evening, leaving only when all footage is 

shot. 

IB Film Studies teacher Darren Ormandy reached 

out to the originally American students-only festival 

with two exceptional student pieces; one film was 

selected to compete in the festival. The following 

year, Darren submitted The Red Room, one was 

successfully shortlisted in 2020. 

IB Film Studies teacher 

Darren Ormandy 

“It’s a very mature 

piece of work and 

genuinely scary. I know 

how much work goes 

into making a film, and 

Adelle was incredibly 

hard-working on it. It’s 

a massive achievement 

and indication of a 

globally appealing film.” says Darren, an awardwinning 

filmmaker who worked in Beijing’s dynamic 

film industry. While Adelle wrote, directed and 

edited the film, her fellow students and friends 

served as the cast and crew. 

Not only is this unique exercise an opportunity for 

students to experience the complete filmmaking 

process from A to Z, but The Red Room, made by 

our 2020 Film Studies students led by Adelle Y, has 

been shortlisted in the Horror category at the All- 

American High School Film Festival. 

Adelle Y 

Eray E 

Takanori F 

Izzy H 

Isaac L Sonia H Angela L 

Adelle Y and The Red Room crew 

The world’s biggest and most prestigious festival 

for high school students, the All-American High 

School Film Festival represents the pinnacle of 

student creativity in film making. Two years ago, 

“It was a group effort. While I wrote the story and 

finished the script, many of us worked on the 

storyboard, the casting and the practical 

preparation prior to production day. Mr. Ormandy 

was really involved during pre-production and 

guided us in the right direction, but he left us in 

charge during the actual production.” said Adelle Y, 

now a Year 13 student. 



Year 4 students used Google Earth to find the cities or areas in the world they wanted to portrait with black 

drawing pen, watercolour paint and coloured pencils. 

Jewel H Seven T Eva K 

Diana G 

Tina D 

Carlos J 

Luka K 

Elfi S 

Dora L 

Xinyang S 

Derek X 

Peyton M 

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IGCSE student artworks for the 

Smile Angel Hospital project 

Justine M Emma Z Jiera S 

Ava L 

Anais M 

Seung Yon K 

Taeyeon L 

Lauren Z 

Pia M 

Justin K 

Katrina C 

Chloe W 

Sally L 

Michael L 


Education and Pandemic 

COVID-19 Factsheet 

What is COVID-19? 

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which 

may cause illnesses that are known to cause 

infections that impact the respiratory system and 

breathing capacity. These include the common 

cold, flu and serious forms of pneumonia. 

I am COVID-19, I am a new 

coronavirus. I love dirty hands! 

Dirty hands take me to other 

parts of your body. 

Symptoms 

The symptoms (the signs that a person may be infected with the virus) are very similar to that of a common 

cold or flu. It may include signs such as a fever, feeling tired, coughing, aches and pains, nasal congestion 

(also called a stuffy nose), runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea (a runny tummy). If you, your child or any 

family member show any of these signs, please seek medical attention. 

Protect & Prevent 

Most infections are spread through your HANDS 

and the hands of others. Keeping your hands clean 

is the easiest and most effective way to prevent 

you from picking up germs and viruses that will 

make you ill. Wash your hands often with soap and 

running water for 20 seconds. 

Our hands touch many surfaces and objects every 

day, this is how germs and viruses get from theses 

objects to our hands – and then enter our bodies 

when we touch our eyes, nose or mouth. 

Don’t touch the T-zone! 

Never put your 

fingers in or on 

your… 

eyes, 

nose or 

mouth! 

………………………………………………………………………………………….. (Source: COVID-19 Explained to Parents of Young Children by UNICEF) 

Health and Safety in Dulwich College Beijing 

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An Overview of Digital Education with Young Children 

some of the students were listening to stories, 

teachers could schedule individual contact sessions 

on Seesaw. These stories also allowed students to 

take some nice relaxing off-screen time, just 

listening to the stories away from the screen. 

What were the key challenges? How did you 

overcome them? 

Interview with Mr David Mumford, 

Head of Early Years 

What are your key learnings from the COVID-19 

period when digital education was provided to 

the Early Years students? 

We first learnt the pace of online learning had to 

be slower than in class to ensure students could 

keep up. A teacher talking to young students in a 

classroom has different ways to retain their 

attention. These methods cannot be applied 

effectively in an online class, so the teacher has to 

break the lesson into a series of shorter activities, 

alternating between teacher talk and various 

activities. 

Our second learning is that dual language 

support is more difficult to manage in the digital 

world than in the classroom, so we had to bring 

dual language at home. With on-demand recorded 

lessons, students can tailor the pace of the lessons 

to their own needs at home: they can pause to ask 

for support or translation, or replay it as often as 

needed. The digital approach really gave parents 

and students the flexibility to watch lessons ondemand. 

Our main focus was to ensure the students 

would have enough off-screen time, so very early 

on, we aimed to get the balance right. We 

structured the day so the first 15 minutes would be 

dedicated to Zoom lessons, then students would 

move away from the screen to complete a Seesaw 

or outdoor activities, before having another Zoom 

lesson. We knew moving the students away from 

the screen implied involving parents in preparing 

and supporting the activities we offered, so we 

tried to keep the right balance between the need 

to minimise screen-time and that of engaging 

parents. 

It was rather challenging for everyone to learn 

and get used to new teaching technologies. Liam 

Benjamin was one of our technology experts 

during that period: he created training tutorials for 

all the teachers, and regularly updated them. We 

also shared top-tips with parents to help them be 

familiar with these technologies and the 

consequent requirements in terms of students onscreen 

behaviours. 

Lastly, we learnt to adapt many in-class activities 

to the online environment. When we realised we 

couldn’t keep up the pace of daily individual posts 

on Seesaw, we created more group-learning 

screen-free activities. For example, we developed 

more on-demand content like pre-recorded 

storytelling, in both English and Chinese. Whilst 



Very early on, we talked to the parents about 

treating their home as a classroom, not in terms of 

look-and-feel, but in terms of organisation, 

schedule and behaviour. Being aware of 

safeguarding in front of the camera was probably a 

key learning for us and the parents. We realised we 

had to raise awareness on safeguarding in front of 

the camera as opposed to safeguarding at home. 

We had to remind students and parents that some 

perfectly acceptable behaviours within their home 

environment could be misperceived when being 

seen on camera by the rest of the class and other 

parents. 

How do you comment on the overall effects of 

digital education for small children? What would 

be the gains, and what would be missing when 

comparing online learning to fully off-line 

learning? 

The benefits of e-learning really depend on how 

much parents can engage with their child during 

off-screen time. We knew how concerned parents 

were about screen time. There are some real 

benefits with online learning, however, minimizing 

screen time for Early students immediately implies 

parents will be requested to support the nondigital 

learning activities at home. E-learning could 

become challenging if they were not available to 

provide such support. 

The way we addressed it was to leverage Seesaw 

and alternate online Zoom lessons with off-screen 

activities to mitigate both the screen time with the 

level of parents’ involvement. 

During our hybrid learning phase, we could bring 

teachers still abroad into the classroom while the 

on-campus teachers would provide the interactive 

part of such learning. This is proven to be a quite 

effective format of digital learning. 

We can provide parents with good quality 

content to help them being engaged during the 

online classes. 

What are the impacts of digital education on 

children’s language development, especially for 

children who need to develop bilingual 

capabilities? 

On-demand content help non-English speaking 

parents to support their children because they can 

listen to the recording at their own pace or use 

translation. Having such on-demand instructions 

also makes it easier for the students to follow and 

slow down their learning pace. We were also able 

to use technology to make a dual language video 

for children. From an EAL point of view, working 

with small groups proved more effective than with 

the whole class, so the students who needed the 

most support from our bilingual teachers worked 

together, while a few individual sessions were 

maintained with our AEN leader Jonathan 

Mowjoudi to address very specific needs. 

We have no quantitative baseline to assess the 

students’ language development skills before and 

after the COVID-19 online learning period. 

However, some teachers have noticed that some 

children show lesser listening and speaking 

abilities in English as well as in Chinese. We are 

wondering if that could be related to the lack of 

interactions with other students and teachers, 

resulting in a decrease of proficiency in the usual 

school-related topics. 

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What is the psychological impact of digital 

education on young children? What should 

parents or guardians do to mitigate potential 

psychological effects? 

We quickly realised the one thing that was really 

missing was the students being together. We 

created a registration period to allow students to 

be virtually together and say hello to each other. 

That was a way for students to reconnect and learn 

to listen to each other. 

We were able to find ways to continue the 

teaching of knowledge, but we couldn’t really 

replicate the real-life socialising conditions in an 

online environment. When students get together, 

they learn to grow up and socialise by sharing, 

compromising and learning from each other. 

Not only do the school and the parents need to 

find the right balance in managing on-screen and 

off-screen time, but they also have to be mindful 

of the need to allocate time for students to 

socialise with each other, be it at school or during 

playdates. 

How do you see the role of parents in digital 

education for young children? 

Young students see their parents as role models, 

so it important to set a good example by managing 

their own screen time in front of their child. 

Parents also play an important role in ensuring 

their children do not spend unlimited additional 

screen time after school so they don’t miss out on 

something else during that time. 

The challenge here is to find the right balance 

and commit to one’s own principles. 

What are the key areas you would like to 

celebrate during this period of e-learning? 

• The way we listened to parents and adapted 

our teaching plan. 

• We recognized in-class learning can’t quite be 

the same way as online, and we made some 

compromises. 

• The teachers learnt quickly to make the best 

out of the technology. 

• The right people leading digital education with 

the right level of expertise like Liam Benjamin 

and Matthew Hughes. 

Early Years teachers dressed up as Zoom sessions for Halloween – A special learning experience for the young children 



Digital Education at Dulwich College Beijing 

Upskilled with 17 MIE Experts 

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic 

has impacted many sectors of activities in 

ways and to an extent that could hardly be 

imagined. The field of education makes no exception to 

this observation. With the challenges that all schools 

around the world have undergone, digital education has 

not only become a standard but a priority. On the 

technology front, the need to constantly invest in a 

strong and up-to-date technological platform has 

emerged as well as that of appointing (and training) a 

team of experts in charge of keeping up with the latest 

educational technologies and training the teaching body 

accordingly. On the personal development front, 

teachers can no longer stay away from the vast array of 

digital teaching tools and have to re-invent the way they 

engage and teach students who no longer sit in their 

class but behind their screen. 

Time is indeed a tour de force that not everyone can 

improvise within a fortnight! 

More crucially, a group of DCB experts continuously 

aims at delivering high-quality engaging digital 

education to make digital education an efficient 

alternative to classroom teaching for our students. Out 

of an extensive team of education and technology 

experts, 17 Dulwich College Beijing members acclaim 

the title of Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert, 

an exclusive programme created to recognise global 

visionary educators who are using technology to pave 

the way for their peers in the effective use of 

technology for better learning and student outcomes. 

IT 

Infrastructure 

Creative Tools 

Connections 

DIGITAL 

EDUCATION 

Experts 

Relying on a strong IT platform 

In today’s constantly evolving landscape, supporting 

innovative digital education with efficient and 

interactive tools is more critical than ever. Dulwich 

College Beijing is convinced that a robust and 

technologically up-to-date IT platform is the 

cornerstone to bringing online all the activities that used 

to be on campus. Providing high-speed and steady video 

and audio-conferencing capabilities to a large number 

of simultaneous connections over a long period of 

Junior School teacher, 20/21 MIE Expert Iyabo Tinubu 

Teaching while learning 

When the entire world functions with social 

distancing, digital education stops being a concept to 

become a routine. Consequently, teachers rapidly had 

to acquire the agility to juggle with the plethora of 

innovative teaching digital tools and develop their own 

creative ways of using them. “I am a life-long learner, 

who is always looking for new opportunities to improve 

my skills, update my knowledge professionally and 

personally,” said Junior School teacher and MIE Expert 

Iyabo Tinubu, “I have completed several Microsoft 

courses, which I use effectively to engage students. This 

allows me to incorporate a variety of technology in my 

every day teaching to enthuse and motivate students.” 

The important goal is to “upskill teachers in the use of 

educational technology in their classroom as well as the 

approach to teaching and learning with technology,” 

according to Senior School Ed Tech leader Yosef Karasik, 

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Senior School Ed Tech leader Yosef Karasik and students 

visiting Microsoft China before the pandemic 

also an MIE Expert Trainer and one of the recently 

awarded MIE Experts. 

“I want my students to be ready for their future in the 

21 st century,” said Tracy Blacklock, Junior School Ed 

Tech leader, MIE Expert Trainer and MIE Expert. “I am 

constantly learning new ways to teach using 

technologies to make myself a better educator.” 

Junior School Ed Tech leader Tracy Blackblock providing 

feedbacks to students on OneNote 

Technology provides, people connect 

The education world today does not lack of teaching 

tools. The Microsoft setting already offers a vast array 

of widely used applications including Teams, OneNote, 

Stream, Forms, Office 365, Immersive Reader and Squigl 

to name a few. What differentiates good innovative 

educators from others is the way they make these tools 

attractive and engaging to their students. 

We have a team of technical experts from the ICT 

department and each of the schools to train teachers on 

the latest available educational technology. They make 

sure that teachers use the most frontier technology 

with the savviness that allows creativity and humour to 

Senior School maths teachers engage students with a 

humourous poll 

shine. “From OneNote to Teams, once Microsoft has 

new APP released, I always try it first and share it with 

our staff.” said another newly accredited MIE Expert 

and ICT member Alex Qiu. 

“I believe in collaboration and using technology to 

make lessons more interesting and fun. PowerPoint 

online has allowed my Year 3 students to collaboratively 

work together to make fantastic interactive 

presentations. I use OneNote to share lessons with my 

Key Stage Three students. They upload completed 

assignments, I mark and give feedback. They self-assess 

their work to make improvements and work 

collaboratively on projects. Skype has allowed teachers 

and students to interact with each other across the 

world.” said Tracy. 

Junior School Ed Tech leader, MIE Expert Tracy Blackblock 



In Confinement, yet Active and Connected! 

When COVID-19 hit and Beijing went 

into confinement, no one would 

ever have guessed it would last for so long. 

While switching into e-learning mode and dealing with 

the side effects of such unusual situation, our Dulwich 

College Beijing community didn’t let itself down. 

Students, teachers and parents alike stood strong and did 

their best to keep the spirits up and help others. 

Let’s take a 360〫view of the many activities that took 

place besides teaching and learning at Dulwich College 

Beijing! 

On the service to others front… 

On the wellbeing front… 

From the Junior 

School Family Cupcake 

Challenge to individual 

students initiatives, 

many unleashed their 

baking creativity to 

make perfect treats 

to enjoy the Junior 

School weekly Friday 

virtual concerts, or a 

friendly movie night … 

on Zoom, even 

connecting two 

different DCI schools! 

#DCIconnect - A night at the movies for 9 students from 

DCB and Dulwich Pudong 

An Art fundraising initiative from the Senior School Art 

prefects, providing to Wuhan Pu Ren Hospital with 400 

medical masks. 

On the community front… 

To encourage Junior School students to keep up with 

their reading, Head of Junior School, Mr Daniel Nichol, 

set up a bus-library. It allowed children to borrow 

books without the need to come into school. And 

Bookmobile was born! 

A Wuhan community centre receiving 2500 medical caps 

funded by Yiming S’ music album. 

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On the sustainability front… 

Junior School went to great extent to organise a 

socially distanced Eco-Camp. During the virtual 

camping session, students had clear sustainability 

and environmental goals set through the day before 

enjoying a nice bedtime story. 

House debate focused on the engaging and thoughtprovoking 

subject: “Throughout COVID-19, global leaders 

have proved to be exemplary role models”. Both final 

teams, Alleyn (proposing) and Johnson (opposing), 

convincingly developed their arguments, resulting in 

Johnson winning the tournament! 

Being stranded at 

home offered 

everyone the space 

and time to reflect on 

things everyone could 

easily do to save 

Earth. Five weeks 

before Earth Day 

2020, Earth Day 

became… every day 

with a set of 50 easy 

actions for everyone 

to take! 

Finally, DCB Pop Idol competitions in Junior and Senior 

Schools went ahead… virtually. 

Well done to Lareina L and Victoria F, our 2020 Junior 

School and Senior respective Pop Idol winners! 

And what about the enrichment front? 

Well, if one can teach and learn online, why not 

debating, competing or even performing online? Not 

being able to come on-campus did not deter our 

students and teachers to aim to achieve their best. 

Over 120 Dulwich College Beijing students made it 

through initial rounds of the Oxford Computing 

Challenge alongside the top 10% of students 

worldwide. 

Two of our students made it through to the finals. 

Very well done to Eddy J (Year 9), who ranked 21 st in 

the Intermediate category, and Mark L (Year 12), 

who ranked 15 th in the Elite category! 

Only six out of the initial thirty contestants reached the 

KS2 Young Musician of the Year finals. Congratulations to 

Gavin L (3 rd prize), Andy Z (2 nd prize) and to Smiley Z for 

being awarded the KS2 Young Musician of the Year! 

The College Magazine (Beijing) 

29


Post-COVID-19: Is Wellbeing the Most Overused Word 

or the Most Under Actioned Concept? 

By Stephen Hurworth 

Since our return to school post-COVID-19, the 

word wellbeing has continued to dominate 

conversations. People’s time has become more 

precious and many are protecting their time more 

than ever before. How we are all spending our 

protected time is absolutely crucial. The irony is with 

most of the Dulwich College Beijing community, free 

time often blends with our schoolwork. It is almost 

the nature of the beast. The College is filled with 

ambitious, driven and highly focused students, 

teachers and support staff. This 100% has been a key 

component to the success of the College over the 

last 15 years. 

enable you to hit the ground running, fresher and 

more effective than ever before. After all, it’s not 

rocket science… 

Exercise 

“If exercise came in pill form, it would be hailed the 

blockbuster drug of the century…” - Spark (2010) by 

Dr John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman 

Senior School students enjoy a relaxing jam session as 

one of their applied wellness activities 

What if our protected time wasn’t spent in the 

midst of getting ahead of ourselves, extra classes 

and planning for the future? Would we lose ground 

on fellow students competing for top universities? 

Fall out of the top 2 International Schools in China? I 

fear that some would argue that it could commence 

the start of a decline in excellence. Research would 

say otherwise, especially when it comes to the 

power of the switching off. 

Below are some essential activities that will take 

your mind off the hustle and bustle of school/work 

life, take a step off the College treadmill and will 

Conducting regular exercise can have incredible 

benefits, not only for our physiological and 

psychological health but also for our performance at 

school. 

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Beijing.dulwich.org


Firstly, in addition to priming the state of mind 

(studies show that young people learn better 

immediately following exercise), exercise also 

influences learning directly (and permanently) at 

the cellular level. The plasticity of the brain is at 

the heart of this. Increased neurotransmitter 

activity improves attention and long-term memory, 

but also causes synapses to swell and make 

stronger connections. Exercise stimulates the 

production of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor 

(BDNF), the master molecule of the learning 

process, which increases learning by stimulating 

neuron growth. Rate of learning correlates 

positively with enhanced levels of BDNF. Activity 

improves stem cell production in the hippocampus, 

which in turn enhances memory. 

Applied practice: Implementing an exercise 

routine a day for around 30 minutes can have 

significant benefits to your overall health and 

productivity. Start simple with no equipment 

fitness clips. Then gradually sign up to the gym and 

make a lifelong commitment to including exercise 

into your daily routine. 

users are left with an ‘overabundance of 

dopamine’ that distracts one from the task in 

hand. 

Applied practice: Breaks such as screen-free 

thinking time, mindfulness, healthy snacking and 

moderate exercise have been proven to positively 

impact wellbeing, physical and psychological 

health, and lastly our performance. 

What does wellbeing look like at Dulwich College 

Beijing? 

This year the Senior School has embarked on a 

new outlook on what contributes to wellbeing at 

Dulwich College Beijing. Through conducting 

research, student focus groups, surveys and a 

continual craving to enhance the wellbeing 

provision, we now have a new four strand 

approach that are focused on a four-week rotation. 

Activating the switch off button 

We are in quite the transition period in 

education as technology will inevitably have a 

greater and more integral role to play in how we 

learn. In our busy daily routines, pressing the 

switch off button is absolutely crucial for our 

wellbeing and overall productivity. 

It is no surprise that one of the most common 

activities to conduct whilst participating in breaks 

nowadays is to scroll through social media. How 

much is this negatively impacting our ability to 

perform? 

Results from a recent survey by the Huffington 

Post found that activities like social networking can 

significantly increase stress levels. Further research 

by David Rock, Harvard Business Review 

contributor and author of Your Brain on Facebook 

stated that, when we connect with people online, 

we don’t tend to get the oxytocin or serotonin 

calming rewards that happen when interacting 

with people in the flesh. Furthermore, social media 

❖ Systematic approach to student support 

❖ Applied wellness 

❖ Life skills curriculum that equips students to 

flourish in and out of the Dulwich College 

Beijing bubble 

❖ Continually bolster and enhance HOUSE spirit 

& inter-year collegiality 


Spotlight 

B a c k to S c h o o l 

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Beijing.dulwich.org

P i n k D a y 

Spotlight 

H a l l o w e e n 


Make it Real 

Dulwich College Beijing Worldwise Academy 2020 Launch Event 

The Worldwise Academy 2020 launch 

event took place on Saturday 14 

November 2020 at X Museum with 

esteemed panellists sharing their views on the 

theme of No Aspiration Too Big, No Inspiration Too 

Small. 

Launched in 2019, the Worldwise Academy 

(WWA) initiative plays a significant role in 

Dulwich’s mission of building bridges between 

students and the wider professional world. 

Anthony Coles, Head of College and chairperson 

of the Worldwise Academy executive committee 

defines it as “a collaborative approach that brings 

students, parents and staff together.” According to 

him, “hearing directly from professionals in the 

areas of Science and Technology, Business, 

Economics and Entrepreneurship, Arts and 

Creative Industries and Public Affairs, Law and 

Education will not only help students match their 

talents to potential career pathways, but also 

broaden their view on the world.” 

Michael Xufu Huang, co-founder of X Museum, 

underlines the shared goal between X Museum 

and WWA: “X Museum aims to encourage 

emerging young artists in their bold and free 

expression of art, giving them the opportunity to 

stand out in the International Art world. Similarly, 

WWA is a platform built for students to potentially 

find their inspirations in unexpected places.” A 

Dulwich College London alumnus himself, he 

portrays how exploring new opportunities and 

hard work could lead to reaching one’s aspirations. 

The panellists shared sincere accounts of their 

journey of aspirations and inspirations, failures and 

successes that have led them to where they are 

today. They gave invaluable advice and personal 

examples of the importance of stepping out of 

one’s comfort zone and experimenting without 

fear of making mistakes, to maintain one’s 

motivation through continuous learning and selfimprovement. 

They all emphasized that learning 

from failures leads to success as one builds strong 

personal values, resilience and constant 

adaptability along the way. Finally, they shared the 

importance of maintaining one’s focus on what 

really matters, like an inner compass. The current Z 

generation bears the responsibility of changing the 

world, however, is seemingly better equipped than 

their parents because technology gives them the 

means to be more conscious of the global issues 

and actively engaged. 

The event was skillfully hosted and moderated 

by our students: Rachel W and Mink L, Yi Xin L, 

Jolin T, Kevin M, and Jadelle C who concluded the 

evening by emphasising that “Aspirations and 

inspirations bring purpose to our life. While it 

seems that kindness and humanity are common 

vectors of inspirations, our most counter-intuitive, 

yet most powerful, key to success is to overcome 

our natural fear of failure.” 

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Make it Real 

A One-of-a-Kind Leaning Experience 

at Tiantong Law Firm 

By Guan Rong T (Year 12) 

On Saturday 14 November, eighteen Year 12 

students had the privilege to attend an open day at 

Tiantong Law Firm, one of China’s top law firms. It 

was an honour for us to be greeted by a Chinese 

legal pioneer, the Managing Founding Partner of 

Tiantong Law Firm, Mr Jiang Yong and Mrs Jiang at 

the elegant main door of the Beijing courtyard 

where the law firm is situated. 

I was humbled by the meticulousness of the 

Jiang’s in incorporating elements of Chinese 

cultural memorabilia into their legal-focused 

environment, including the wooden doors with 

carvings depicting a particular story from the 

Chinese classic romance of the Three Kingdoms, 

another set of wooden doors depicting the Eight 

Immortals. 

As a learner myself, I was greatly inspired by the 

mock trial conducted in Tiantong Law Firm’s 

mooting courtroom, an exact replica of Chinese 

courtrooms, where their own lawyers practise for 

their trials. The practical experience of wearing the 

robes of a Chinese barrister and speaking from the 

bench to defend a “client” was comparable to no 

other: nothing we could find in a textbook or any 

media interpretation. 

Our trip was further enriched by Mrs Jiang’s 

curation of a variety of documents dating back to 

the Ming Dynasty, as well as some Chinese printing 

– more takeaways from an already all-impressive 

trip. 

My own insights were shared by my peers: 

“The visit truly granted me the memorable opportunity 

to experience the past and present of Chinese law while 

embracing the antique environment of the law firm” – 

Jeffrey W 

“It was interesting to see how the architecture of the 

modernized interior contrasted with the Chinese 

courtyard traditional elegance.” – Rino F 

“What made the experience at Tiantong unique was the 

fusion of old and new; you had the ancient scriptures 

laid out right next to a digital exhibition screen, furniture 

made of fragrant silkwood adorning meeting rooms and 

offices.” Lauren Z 

Thank you to Ms Tomaszun, Mr Broadhead and 

Mr Royters for facilitating this trip! 


Make it Real 

Wellbeing is at the Heart of Junior School 

By Naomi Wong 

We know in Junior School that for students to be 

ready for learning, they need to feel physically well, 

safe and in balance. We recognise that they cannot 

cognitively process new information or make sound 

decisions, if they do not have good mental health 

and wellbeing. 

Therefore, we have made Wellbeing and Social 

Emotional Learning (SEL) a key priority for all 

students. Our wellbeing as individuals depends on 

knowing how to stay healthy of body and mind and 

practicing these skills every day. When our students 

learn about science and participate in Physical 

Education lessons, we teach them about nutrition 

and exercise. In our Wellbeing curriculum we also 

focus on keeping our mind well and being 

connected to our community. 

For children to be able to successfully 

need good social and emotional intelligence. 

Current experts have identified these skills to be 

self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, 

relationship skills and responsible decision-making. 

(CASEL https://casel.org/sel-framework) 

While some children learn these skills by 

emulating them from significant people in their 

lives, for many children this is not enough. Just as 

Maths and English are better to be explicitly taught, 

so are social emotional skills. 

In the Junior School we have built a bespoke 

curriculum around Wellbeing. It is underpinned by 

the core Dulwich values: Respect, Integrity, 

Kindness, Open Mindedness, Confidence, Resilience, 

and Responsibility. Students develop their own 

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Make it Real 

Circle time Meditation Yoga 

understandings of what behaviours reflect these 

values in practice and develop their own 

expectations for their class. 

Each morning students begin their day by 

building community in their classroom to feel 

connected and safe at school. Students ‘check in’ 

with how they feel – Self-awareness. They discuss 

as a class, strategies for what they can do if they do 

not feel ok – Self-regulation. 

They practice mindful activities such as breathing 

and yoga, so they have a toolkit they can always 

turn to when they need centering. 

Each classroom has a calm space for students to 

practice self-regulation when they need to and 

there is an indoor lunchtime wellbeing area for 

quiet play and reflection. 

- Social awareness. We help students learn to make 

safe choices in their life and evaluate the 

consequences of decisions - Responsible decisionmaking. 

Our morning discussions also cover topics such 

as friendships - What does it mean to be a good 

friend? Or how do you resolve conflict? - 

Relationship skills. Other times they focus on 

learning about empathy and other people’s point of 

view, or how we care for other people in the world 

Good student wellbeing is not just dependent on 

a morning class in Junior School. It is how we live 

our day and how we frame every interaction 

between individuals in our community. It is about 

providing a positive climate for learning. We 

value social emotional intelligence along with 

academic skills as we know this will lay the 

foundation for a productive, happy and 

connected life as adults. 


Make it Real 

Developing Social Awareness in Junior School 

By Iyabo Tinubu 

A daily life challenge of Social Awareness is the 

awareness, acceptance and inclusion of ethnical 

diversity. As an international school, we are 

educating the leaders of tomorrow, so it our civic 

responsibility to ensure that our students make 

connections with people of other races from the 

past and now, and celebrate diversity as a whole, 

should it be ethnic, religious, physical or 

psychological. 

different cultures, exposing students to different 

names, different values, different traditions and 

folk cultures. 

Junior School Black History Month assembly 

Did you know babies start to be conscious about 

races as early at 18 months? In Junior School, we 

believe that by learning to understand, appreciate 

and empathise with others, students also learn to 

know more about themselves and their own 

identity. We want to change the narrative from 

negative to positive, teaching students to 

recognise and manage implicit biases. 

It is a move forward to preparing our students, 

beyond the Shunyi bubble, for the wider world and 

what they may expect with regard to perceptions 

at university, in the workplace, unethical behaviour 

and how to speak out and handle this proactively. 

We want to prepare them for the day they move 

abroad and become a minority themselves. 

Diversity, Equality and Inclusiveness are well 

integrated in our curriculum. Diversity is brought 

into the classrooms when reading stories from 

Students learning African folk dance at assembly 

October gave us the perfect opportunity to put 

our words into action as it marks Black History 

Month in the UK, highlighting the annual 

commemoration of the history, achievements and 

contributions of black people in the UK. Black 

History Month was created by historian Carter G. 

Woodson (1875-1950) in the USA. He wanted to 

challenge preconceptions at the time that “the 

negro has no history” and founded The Association 

for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 

which encouraged scholars and historians to 

research and preserve black history and culture. 

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Make it Real 

Students enjoying a virtual session with the hip-hop/rap 

musician Karl Nova 

Lessons in October focused on acknowledging the 

contributions of people of colour: historical figures, 

migration, contribution and racism… Throughout the 

year, the Hidden Figure of the Month aim to expose our 

students to positive role models as Students 

Councillors take turn to research and post a brief on a 

figure of people of colour. 

Black History Month was a great opportunity for us 

to celebrate black people who have paved the way for 

us all to thrive, as well as a time to challenge 

preconceptions, stereotypes and negative portrayal of 

all people of colour that still exist today. As a longerterm 

focus, our aim is to embrace and celebrate all 

cultures, race and ethnicity in order to facilitate 

positive social change. 

Students’ artworks during Black History Month 


Make it Real 

A Change Project: Diversity through Arts 

By Joseph Stewart 

This term the art, music and drama 

departments collaborated on providing learning 

experiences aiming to develop our Key Stage 3 

students’ understanding of Racial History and 

Critical Understanding. This meaningful project 

will continue until December, but here’s a glimpse 

of their progress. 

Year 7 have been exploring cultural identity 

through story telling. They have created visual 

biographies of themselves, their grand-parents 

and teenagers from other countries to explore 

similarities and differences. This project will 

culminate in students becoming “cookie activists” 

and making edible portraits inspired by artist 

Jasmine Cho. Jasmine makes cookie portraits 

of unsung Asian-American heroes and will be 

doing an online presentation to Year 7s. 

As part of their focus on the theme of freedom, 

Year 8 are studying the works of Afro-American 

quilters. These intricate textile designs were made 

from fabric scraps and embedded important visual 

messages. 

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Make it Real 

Year 9 students are studying the work of four 

artists who use visual expression to explore 

politics and protests relating to social issues. They 

will then choose which artist’s work resonates 

most to them and develop their artwork to 

communicate about a social issue they feel 

passionate about. 

By Simon Armstrong 

In music this term, we have been looking at the 

impact of Afro-American musicians and their 

impact on music as a whole. While Year 8 have 

been looking at the origins of blues music, making 

the connections between the African slave trade 

and the formation of blues after the end of the civil 

war, Year 9 students have been looking at the 

struggles of reggae artists. Students have been 

learning about the principles of reggae and how 

music is used in protest, especially against the 

Vietnam war. Year 7 students have started to learn 

about African drumming techniques, the oral 

tradition of the music in Africa, and how some 

musicians are able to trace their songs back to the 

twelfth century. 

Both students and staff have really enjoyed 

working on these topics and discovering the 

connections between the music we listen to in our 

everyday lives and where it can be traced back to. 

By Alex Tew 

In drama, students have been looking at a range 

of past and current experiences. It has been 

fantastic to see them explore how drama can 

communicate both sensitive and important issues 

in the world. The quality of the performance work 

has been outstanding, and so were the discussions 

we have had. Year 7 have been exploring Nelson 

Mandela’s life and using dramatic techniques to tell 

his story in an informative and effective way. This 

resulted in fantastic student-created first-person 

monologues really delving into how he may have 

felt at important moments of his life. Year 8 have 

explored the story of Rosa Parks and we have 

discussed the impact of her actions on the wider 

world. The performances created have been 

stunning and informative. Year 9 have been looking 

at a range of stimuli based on the theme of protest. 

They were given a pack that involved photographs 

and news articles. The quality of the performances 

has been really high with a range of topics 

explored, such as the Black Lives Matter movement 

and issues surrounding the environment. 


DCI News 

Has COVID-19 Created a “New Normal” in Education? 

From Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong 

The idea of a “new normal” 

permeates almost every aspect 

of our lives, and the events of 

2020 brought unparalleled 

changes to our plans and 

perspectives. Every decision we 

make is guided by our desire to 

put students first. It is this desire 

that ensured our community 

was able to stay strong during 

difficult times. 

During the COVID-19 crisis, staff and student 

expanded their digital literacy. Our pre-COVID-19 

curriculum already incorporated educational 

Caroline Taylor, Head of 

College at Dulwich College 

Shanghai Pudong 

technology, with opportunities for children to work 

with coding, robotics, 3-D printing and filming, to 

name a few. 

But, with the new challenges of online learning, 

our teachers and administrators found innovative 

ways to engage students and 

created new methods for assessment of 

learning. Teachers used digital platforms 

to provide highly-personalised 

feedback and individual care to 

students, whilst being separated by 

distance. Our graduation ceremony in 

2020 combined virtual and onsite 

ceremonies, and gave rise to some new 

traditions that will remain into the 

future. With campus access limited, the 

College has provided opportunities 

for parent-teacher meetings to dial in 

virtually, which allows greater participation for 

working parents. 

The “new normal” challenged us and gave each of 

us opportunity to grow beyond what we thought 

was possible. We will continue to nurture our strong 

College community and partner together with 

parents. We are stronger together as colleagues and 

in a community when we find creative ways to meet 

both challenges and opportunities. 

Yangon Thadingyut Festival 

From Dulwich College Yangon 

The Thadingyut Festival, also known as the 

Lighting Festival of Myanmar, is held on the full 

moon day of the Burmese Lunar month of 

Thadingyut. As a custom, it is held at the end of 

Buddhist Sabbath and is the second most popular 

festival in Myanmar after the Thingyan Festival. It is 

also one of the most meaningful festivals in 

Myanmar reflecting its rich Buddhism practice and 

culture. 

42 

Dulwich College Yangon hosted our celebration in 

October. Parents, students and staff wore traditional 

Myanmar costumes for the event. Students from 

different year groups participated in Myanmar 

cultural performances. 

All the parents, students and DCY staff lit the 

candles and enjoyed the Myanmar traditional food 

at the end of the celebration. This year it was all on a 

virtual platform of course. 

Beijing.dulwich.org

DCI News 

A Community Tackling Plastic Pollution in Shanghai 

From Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi 

At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, we are 

committed to reducing our contribution to plastic 

pollution by taking steps such as avoiding single-use 

plastic bottles on campus, recycling, and educating 

our students on the steps they can take to address 

the problem. We are also committed to taking 

direct action. 

On Saturday 14 August the Dulwich College 

Shanghai Puxi community travelled to coastal 

Shanghai to partner with Hands On Shanghai in 

directly tackling ocean plastic pollution and refuse. 

Parents, students, teachers and support staff alike 

all braved the heat to collect as much garbage as 

they could. After a long afternoon in the sun, the 

team managed to remove over 257kg of garbage 

from this beautiful coastal wetland. Collecting 

everything from plastic wrappers, foam (one of the 

more common items) and plastic bottles, through to 

cigarette butts, fishing nets and discarded clothing - 

it became clear that it isn't just plastic making its 

way into our environment. 

Compared with 1.3 billion tonnes of potential 

plastic waste in the oceans by 2040, 257kg may 

seem like a drop in the ocean, however events such 

as this hold a deeper meaning. Students were 

provided with a valuable learning experience. Vivid 

memories of finding seemingly innocuous 

household items washed up in the coastal wetlands 

allowed students to reflect on how their daily 

actions (or lack thereof) can have a lasting and 

devastating impact on the environment. 

It was surely a day to remember and one that the 

community can be proud of. 

A New Campus in the Zhuhai Greater Bay Area 

From Dulwich International High School Zhuhai 

2020 is an incredible time in the life of Dulwich 

International High School Zhuhai (DHZH). We’re 

entering into the school’s 11 th year of operation 

and preparing for a new phase in its development 

as the leading international high school in the 

Greater Bay Area region of Southern China. 

The school is preparing for the move to Hengqin 

Island to an incredible purpose-built facility in 

2021. The eight-hundred-student campus will not 

only allow our education offering to expand further 

with more cross-curricular programmes and the 

addition of new exam courses in areas such as 

drama and computer science, but will also provide 

modern facilities and greater opportunities across 

all subject areas and for student boarding. 


DCI News 

Forest School at Dulwich College (Singapore) 

From Dulwich College (Singapore) 

Dulwich College is the first international school in 

Singapore to introduce Forest School into the DUCKS 

early years programme, pioneering the movement 

to provide real world learning and problem-solving 

opportunities to young children. This allows children 

to apply academic skills, build emotional resilience 

and learn to manage risk through self-initiated 

interactions with nature. 

Forest School at Dulwich uses the outdoor 

environment to deliver exceptionally high-quality 

learning experiences. 

At Forest School, children are not taught in the 

traditional sense; it's all inquiry-led and 

retrospectively planned rather than directed 

learning. Students are empowered to acquire skills 

through powerful self-delineated inquiries. Forest 

School takes children back to real challenges where 

the skill acquisition is a necessity to fulfil their own 

fascinations. 

For example, a child is observed in a session 

inquiring about what is living underneath a large 

heavy log. The Forest School Leader immediately 

reacts to their inquiry, employing a deep 

understanding of the curriculum, coupled with being 

mentally light enough on their feet to judge the 

efficacy of their level of input. This all happens while 

furnishing the child with the lateral skills they 

require to move the log (or rationalise that possibly, 

it is not safe or kind to the animals which call it 

home, to do so) in an engaging way. 

As to lift a log one needs the ability to create 

leverage, as well as the environmental awareness of 

any potentially hazardous animals which might live 

under it and the ethical awareness of whether it is 

something that should or should not be done. These 

may include units of measurement, opposing forces, 

gravity, mass, weight, tension, the load-bearing 

properties of different materials, personal safety, 

shape and more. Therefore, the simple act of lifting 

a log to observe insects instantly becomes an 

opportunity for vast skills and conceptual 

acquisition. 

Nobody has had to fabricate a learning 

opportunity or concern themselves with student 

engagement – that is already available in gross 

abundance at Forest School. 

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DCI News 

Eat a Rainbow 

From Dulwich College Seoul 

We have been emphasising our Eat a Rainbow strategy to help children 

make good choices at lunchtime. Students are encouraged to choose and eat 

foods with a minimum of 5 colours i.e. orange carrots, white pasta, dark 

green broccoli, purple cabbage, red pasta sauce. This is an easy-toremember 

way of making good choices for our minds and bodies. 

Happy Chuseok! 

From Dulwich College Seoul 

The special celebration of Chuseok is upon us. 

This is an important time for many of our families, 

giving us an opportunity to come together, to enjoy 

good food and to give thanks to the generations 

that came before us. This harvest festival also 

signifies the changing of the seasons as we move 

from summer into early autumn, and, as such, is 

celebrated in many different ways around the 

world, ranging from Thanksgiving in Canada and the 

US, to the Mid-Autumn festivities across China. 

However you choose to spend this time, please rest 

and enjoy together!

The College Magazine Winter 2020

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