The events of the last nine months will ensure that this past academic year will long be remembered as one of the strangest in the College’s 401-year history. Not a day passes on which we do not reflect how fortunate we have been that COVID-19 did not strike in our 400th anniversary year, 2019. We were able to enjoy a year of celebration, commemoration and revelry, visiting OAs and our friends around the world without really thinking of what a luxury that was. The coronavirus pandemic has affected the whole world in 2020, and we have had to face new challenges. In the third week of March, a week before the Easter holidays, we had to close the campus and turn ourselves (not quite overnight, but in very short order) into a “virtual” school. It is not stretching the point to say we have achieved the equivalent of three or four years’ progress in the delivery of an online education in just a few months. I am proud of how our teaching and operational staff have responded, and continue to respond, to this challenge, but most of all I have admired how well our pupils have risen to the occasion – their appetite for learning and engagement in our co-curricular and charitable enterprises undimmed, despite the vast upheaval they have faced. Beyond the virtual classroom, I have been heartened by the response of our community to the pressing need for philanthropic support. From parents who have donated fee rebates to help us supply PPE to the NHS (and the many other projects our Coronavirus Fund has enabled), to Old Alleynians, amongst others, who have continued to contribute generously and in great numbers to our Bursary Appeal Fund.
In 2019-20, donors committed to gifts of over £1.43m, most of which has been given to support bursaries. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated.
To all those who have joined us on our journey so far to becoming, ultimately, a needs-blind Dulwich, your support is deeply appreciated. You are providing many talented boys with the opportunities that an outstanding education can provide. It is my great pleasure to present this report on the impact that philanthropy has had in the academic year 2019-20 and on the part your support will continue to play for years to come.
On behalf of the Governors, staff and pupils at Dulwich College, thank you for your contribution. We are sincerely grateful for your support.
Dr Joe Spence The Master
3
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online