Junior Alleynian 2019

n Last night over 1600 Old Alleynians were hosted at the College, which reminded me of my own school reunion at Whitgift last weekend. We spoke about our fondness for our time and thanked our 92-year old headmaster, who was also there, for his role in creating the men he saw before him. However, I was struck by two things. Firstly, the whole day had been organised by a select group of about 10 of us and I realised that we were the ones for whom the school had really celebrated. We had worn the colours blazers for being in the first teams and were the prefects. Secondly, there were stories of a handful of men who didn’t want to attend the reunion as they had not shared the same positive experience at school. This made me consider the sort of school we have here at Dulwich. If we were to fast forward 30 years to the Dulwich College reunion in 2049 will everyone want to come? My aspiration is to create a school that will celebrate all alumni who are proud of their school and whose achievements are all celebrated, feeling valued for who they have become. Looking back over the year of the big DC 400 events, we’ve had deep, free learning and much more community involvement and service. The Year 6s put on their ‘Great Exhibition’, which was a huge success; the result of 10 weeks work focussing on issues and questions related to their own passions within the UN’s 16 global goals. Huge thanks to Miss Omissi, Miss Diamond and all the Year 6 staff for their efforts in putting that together. We are also very proud of the DC 40 for 400 challenges the boys have undertaken at home and in school; the booklet has served as a scrap book and it has been wonderful to see the depth the boys have gone into with some of their challenges. My huge thanks to Miss Scott for her inspiration and organisation. Finally this year our inclusion of Community Service into the curriculum has been transformative in what is called ‘service learning’. We wish the boys to experience supporting their world and their community through giving their time and energy, not simply raising money through remote means such as cake sales and mufti days, but to really get inside the issues so that they can contribute personally. Year 3 conducted their sponsored silence for We.Org.,Year 4 delivered Harvest Festival donations to the Brixton and West Norwood Foodbank, Year 5 hosted a Christmas party for the elderly residents of local care homes and Year 6 supported the refugee project AFRiL’s sports day, and raised money on stalls at Community Service Day in Founder’s Week. We have built up links with Dulwich Wood Primary school with them coming to our Symposium and Community Day, as well as supporting their green charity and library. My thanks to all the staff for putting this programme together, especially Mrs Knight whose inspiration and hard work saw this to fruition. Other highlights were the Symposium on ‘Conflict and Resolution’ with JAPS and Dulwich Wood. We won the Top of the Form competition against the other Foundation Junior Schools for the first time in 11 years. Wentao Liu scored the highest score in the College for the UK Maths Challenge and the Year 6s overall scored as well as the Year 7s and 8s. We had a myriad of House competitions as usual but highlights were the House Mind Games, House Photography and House DT. In chess we came very close to qualifying for the HEAD’S HIGHLIGHTS (SPEECH DAY 2019)

National Finals, but as the teamwas all Year 5s we are hopeful of success in the future. We have had copious author visits, trips and workshops to support the curriculum. These include, Ben Fogle and Matt Haig, Windsor Castle, Leeds Castle, Hever Castle, Southwark Cathedral, Crystal Palace Park, the Cutty Sark, The Design Museum, Cadogan Hall, Tate Britain and the British Museum. Plus, we had a group within the Lord Mayor’s Show and took over 50 boys skiing to Austria. For Drama the Year 6s put on a splendid production of Peter Pan, Year 4s did their Christmas Celebration performances, Year 5 did their ‘Play in Two Days’, The Three Musketeers, and Year 3s will do their take on the founding of Dulwich College – Edward Alleyn and the Sword in the Ice. My thanks to all the drama staff but particularly to Miss Cosford, Mrs Kelly, Mr Goodrich and all the staff who have contributed to the boys’ enjoyment of their drama this year. In Music there have been more concerts, performances and more boys in choirs than ever before. My highlight was the Winter Concert at Southwark Cathedral with the Madrigal Choir in which over 25 Junior School boys were involved. In sport, as ever, we are so proud that 100% of our boys have represented the school in each of the three terms. We are also delighted to say that so many teams have been unbeaten, including the whole of Year 5 in football! In addition well done to the U10s who won the 25 team Dulwich tournament and to the swimmers who went to the Nationals at Sheffield and at the IAPS gala at the London Aquatic Centre. All of this has been possible through the dedication and talent of the staff. Sadly we have to say goodbye to some staff as they move on. This year we say goodbye to Mrs Stubbs who has been with us for a year as a maternity cover in Year 4. We wish her the best of luck in her business venture and spending time with her young family. Mrs Edwards has been with us for two years in Year 4 and we wish her the best of luck as she also aims to spend more time with her family. Mr Murphy leaves us to take up a new role at DPL as Head of athletics. He has been with us for two years and has completed his PGCE during this time. Mrs Duncan leaves us to move to Buckinghamshire after her maternity leave. She has been totally dedicated to the boys and will be much missed. Mr Davies has contributed to many spheres and we wish him well as he starts a Masters in Environmental Education. Mrs Bishop will be much missed for her friendship, professionalism and dedication to all her boys over the years. She leaves us to spend more time with her family as they start school. Finally, Miss Brind retires after 19 years at the College. I mention that all the staff are dedicated to their charges but Miss Brind takes that to another level. Her care for the boys in her Forms, and latterly in the Learning Support department, is legendary. We will miss her terribly. It has been an amazing year and we now look forward to September and bringing 2019 to a memorable close. We will then move on towards 2119 for another 100 spectacular years.

Dr Toby Griffiths

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