In Year 7, our primary aim is to help boys feel comfortable and safe at the College so they may fulfil their academic potential. Lower School boys are generally taught in form rooms and this helps them to quickly establish a sense of community and belonging. At the start of each day, boys can expect to be greeted personally by their Head of Year, and friendships that were established during the team- building days at the beginning of the Michaelmas Term are cemented when each class spends a week at the Dulwich Outdoor Centre in the Brecon Beacons. For many, this trip is a highlight of their time in the Lower School. It helps to develop self-confidence, perseverance and tenacity when faced with difficulties – life skills that are just as important as the academic skills learned in the classroom. We deliberately encourage a broad curriculum, which exposes boys to a wide range of emotions and situations, so they are able to develop their sense of empathy and tolerance. This is achieved through the delivery of a diverse curriculum that explores themes of race and identity, including day trips away from the College, to Neasden Temple for example, and free- learning days that involve other schools within the community, such as Year 7 Spanish Day in association with City Heights and Dulwich Prep London. Boys take part in a comprehensive programme of Wellbeing lessons, which are held weekly. Initially, these lessons focus on personal relationships, making
friends, discrimination, tolerance and anti-bullying but then expand to include healthy eating and living, puberty and exploring human rights and what it means to live in a democracy. Boys are encouraged to develop their emotional literacy and a six-week resilience course, including keeping a gratitude diary, encourages this. In Year 8, wherever possible, boys remain with the same Form Tutor they had in Year 7. In this way, we continue to provide the continuity and consistency necessary to help boys cope with the challenges presented by adolescence and puberty. At a time when boys are experiencing significant emotional and physical change, we provide them with a stable environment in which they can safely explore and develop their own identity and sense of independence. We encourage boys in Year 8 to use their recent experiences to help the new Year 7 cohort to settle. We help boys in Year 8 to develop their leadership skills by running clubs and societies for other members of the Lower School. We also encourage them to continue to take part in as many co-curricular activities as possible, so they might find a particular area in which they can specialise later during their time at the College. Finally, we encourage boys to reflect on their experiences in the Lower School, so that they are then able to manage, independently this time, the transfer to the next stage of their life at Dulwich in the Middle School.
As part of the six strands of our Wellbeing Programme, boys in the Lower School cover a range of topics:
Emotional health
Spiritual health
Physical health
Living in community
Healthy living
Preparation for the future
Friendship
Hobbies and interests
Calm and focused
Road safety
Internet safety
Personal responsibilty Revision techniques
Teasing and bullying
Gratitude and optimism
Sleep and concentration
Healthy eating
Peer pressure
Alcohol
Resilience
Family life
Puberty
Smoking
Relationships
Coping with failure
Discrimination
Understanding your brain
Carbon footprint
Manners
Political literacy
Human rights
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