The Master’s Introduction
There is a distinctiveness to a Dulwich education based on the balance of academic rigour - the primacy of the classroom - with a commitment to finding time and resource for holistic learning (including free learning, that learning which goes on beyond the syllabus, either in or beyond the classroom). This strategic plan seeks to show just how rigorous we can be academically and what a challenge we provide for our pupils as well as offering them appropriate pastoral support and a plethora of opportunities beyond the classroom through which they will find their vocation and avocations. The more I look at the question of life Beyond Dulwich the more determined I am that we need to inculcate those timeless skills and attitudes of leadership, teamwork, the ability to communicate and the ability to think outside the box for every and any new 21st century job title. Where this strategic plan is deliberately light is in the context of virtual learning and the impact of AI in education. Now things are back to normal after the pandemic our first duty is to audit where virtual learning worked well and to see how it can best be written into our plans.
This plan offers a change of focus in our definition of our social mission as moving from the parochial to the national. The Chair of Governors set me a challenge that this plan begins to meet when he asked: Beyond acknowledging that bursaries and partnerships are good of themselves, what are the social and educational issues that need to be addressed by our work in this area? Two major issues are that not every child in the UK receives an education that enables them to fulfil their academic potential and that not every school leaver is prepared for life at university or to benefit from the chance of being a life-long learner. The other problem is that the state cannot afford to pay for the education it wants to offer all the children in the UK, but has been resistant to seeing the independent education sector as part of the answer. There has been activity suggesting that this may be the moment to call for the state and other agencies to embrace educational partnership for the benefit of all. It is just possible that state support of independent-state school partnership projects and placements might be considered by one or more of the major political parties. It’s in the context of this that I invite you to read what follows.
Dr Joe Spence The Master
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