Dulwich College Beijing

Dulwich College Beijing

Motto	Detur Pons Mundo ("Building Bridges To The World")
Established	2003
Type	Private international school
Headmaster	Mr.Neal McGowan
Founder	Mr.Fraser White, Mr.Eric Li, Ms.Karen Yung, Mr.Fritz Libby and SAHA Union PCL
Location	89 Capital Airport Road Chaoyang, Beijing Beijing 101300 China
Staff	150+
Students	1250 (approx.)
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	1–18
Colours	Navy blue and red
Website	www.dulwich-beijing.cn

Dulwich College Beijing is an international school for expatriate children living in Beijing, China. The academic programme is based upon the National Curriculum for England and Wales. It has a school for children aged 7–18, and two other schools for children 1-6, all located near Shunyi town (within Beijing munipality).

Dulwich College Beijing runs the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for Years 10 and 11 (Grades 9 and 10) in preparation for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) that runs for Years 12 and 13 (Grades 11 and 12). The IGCSEs at Dulwich Beijing are considered rigorous preparation for the IBDP; all students are required to complete 9 IGCSE certificates.

Student population

Dulwich Beijing is an international school Dulwich Beijing has over 40 nationalities making up its student body, although almost 60% of the students come from the UK, North and South America and Australasia. The language of instruction is English, with a high level of English needed to succeed in academic studies.

General student life

All students except those in Toddler and IB classes at Dulwich are required to wear the school uniform, which changes according to the weather.

Dulwich Beijing uses a housing system. There are five houses in total: Alleyn, named after Edward Alleyn (the founder of Dulwich College London); Wodehouse, named after the author P.G. Wodehouse; Johnson, named after Amy Johnson; Soong, named after Soong Ching-ling; and finally, Owens, named after Jesse Owens and founded towards the end of the 2009-2010 school year.^[1]

Facilities

Dulwich College Beijing

• One main building with extra constructed building which holds the language and religious education department.
• Sports Center with swimming pool and gym. (There is another sports dome that is due to open for use in November 2011)
• Driving range
• Football field
• 8 fully equipped labs used in Senior School (Years 7 to 13)

Extra-Curricular Activities

Sports available include; rugby, swimming, football, basketball, badminton, tennis, golf, volleyball and netball. Participation can be through the Dulwich Challenge activities or the Dulwich College Program.

Junior School

Senior School

The Dulwich Beijing Senior School (Years 7-13) has a wide range of activities that students can participate in outside of their usual academic studies. These include:

Dulwich Challenge Activities (Academic, Action, Creativity, Service)

Teacher and student run activities that contribute to the Dulwich Challenge, a programme for Year 7-11 students that requires participation in academic, action, creative and service activities that cultivate in year-end awards (divided into three tiers of achievement: Dulwich Challenge, Extra, and Elite). Examples of such activities in term one of the 2011-2012 academic year include: Rummiklub, Creative Writing Club, Chess League, MUN, an assortment of athletic activities, Student Press, Cooking Club, Film and Yearbook Club, Interact Club, annual drama productions, Debating Club, and several Choirs.

It should be noted that Dulwich Beijing Senior School music department runs an array of music-related activities that are suitable for any age and skill set.

The Physical Education department also runs successful and popular competitive sports programmes that compete with other high school teams in Beijing, around China, and around the world. Dulwich, as an active member of international school networks such as ACAMIS, FOBISSEA, and ISAC, often hosts sports competitions and sends teams to Suzhou, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, and many other locations to participate in healthy competition. Sports include football, rugby, volleyball and teams range from Under-12 girls/boys to Varsity.

The Drama Department runs school-wide productions every year which typically includes a musical every other year. Depending on the production, the cast may be limited to a certain year group (such as Years 7-9, or Year 10-13) but can include the entire school. They are directed by the faculty of the Drama department and occasionally IB Theatre Arts students. Ticket revenue goes to the Drama department and its expenditure on the show's set design, technical aspects, and other sources of spending. Productions are typically held in the Edward Alleyn Theatre, but have in the past included the Lakeside Café and the school's function room. Past productions include: Blood Brothers, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer's Night Dream, Big the Musical, Toad of Toad Hall, Dahl's Witches, and The Rocky Horror Show. Theatre students in Dulwich Beijing also have annual productions that are invitation only. Year 11 IGCSE students and Year 13 IBDP students put on shows for a live audience that are for their respective assessments.

Student Government

The Senior School Student Council also has elections in the beginning of every academic year. The Executive positions for Council Chairperson, Treasurer, and Secretary are available to any student in Senior School, although they are required to make at least one speech during the Democracy Week assembly. Students vote for each vacant position separately in a secret ballot that is typically counted by the Head Students. Each form class also has its own elections to select a form representative who will then become a member of the Student Council and participate in weekly meetings and other duties, to primarily communicate between the students and the Council. The Council also produces a fortnightly newsletter called "The VoiceBox" that is distributed to students, parents, and teachers via email, although some copies are printed. Responsibilities of the Student Council have included finding solutions to problems that students have raised, and anticipating student needs that could contribute to school life. It also hosts events such as parties and the annual Formal, and receives some funding from the PTA committee of Dulwich Beijing, the Friends of Dulwich.

The respective Chairpersons of the Student Council, from the academic year beginning 2007, have been: Joseph Lim, Jorge Zaraté, Amy Zhao, and Benjamin Tan. The Executive team for 2011-2012 has yet to be announced.

The Friendly Faces

The College also runs a student peer counselling group called the Friendly Faces, for students who feel like they cannot talk to parents and teachers about certain issues. These "Faces" are typically introduced each year in assembly, and receive training from a certified psychologist. They have a confidentiality policy that can only be overridden when there is a threat of danger. There is also a Friendly Faces in the Junior School, but to a lesser extent.

IBDP CAS

The IBDP requires that students in the programme participate in the Creative, Action, Service (CAS) programme. This often results in IB students starting new projects to fulfil their requirements, and can involve Dulwich faculty as well as students of all ages. Past projects have included training Chinese support staff how to speak English, Model United Nations training for younger students, and regular visits to orphanages and migrant schools. Year 12 students also go on a CAS trip week at the beginning of the academic year, where they work on a certain project all week. In the past, this has included helping to maintain orphanages and looking after children as volunteers.

Other Service Activities

The school runs a successful Interact Club that has close ties with the Rotary Club. The Club runs an annual house-building trip to poverty-stricken areas of Cambodia as its main international project.

References

"Beijing Schools Considered by Expats" http://gsgi.co.uk/countries/china/beijing/schools-in-beijing-considered-by-expats Good Schools Guide Retrieved on 13 February 2009 (Pending).

External links

• Dulwich College Beijing"
  1. ^ "School Life, School House System". Dulwich College Beijing. 2007. http://www.dulwich-beijing.cn/SchoolLife/SchoolHouseSystem/tabid/297/Default.aspx. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
• Dulwich College London
• Dulwich College Shanghai
• Dulwich College Suzhou
• Dulwich College Seoul