Head’s Highlights (Speech Day 2025)
Maritime Museum, Hampton Court, Crystal Palace Museum and the Natural History Museum. We’ve enjoyed workshops on Vikings, Aztecs, Arctic explorers, steel pan and gamelan music. We’ve seen West End productions, been inspired by art at Dulwich Picture Gallery, and marvelled at nature in Kew Gardens. Music continues to be a defining strength of our school. This year, 160 of our 225 boys have taken individual music lessons, with over 60 passing their exams. We’ve held big concerts, pop in and play concerts, breakfast beats concerts, and specific concerts for percussion, piano, strings, guitar, wind and brass. Every year group has staged a production, and one third of our boys took LAMDA exams. Sporting participation remains at 100% across all year groups and terms. Our U11 teams have enjoyed particular success in football, hockey, swimming and cricket — reaching national finals and showing great promise for the years ahead. Our commitment to social mission and service learning remains strong. Every boy has engaged in acts of service, both through the curriculum and our Service Learning Day. Over 1,000 boys across the College took part in 50 projects supporting our local community — a meaningful testament to our values. As ever, I want to thank our staff for their exceptional professionalism, passion, and care for the children in our school. It is their talent and dedication that make this Junior School such a special place. Let me finish by saying I was recently at a school fair at Wimbledon Common Prep, surrounded by excellent schools. A number of prospective parents asked me, trying to differentiate us, “What makes Dulwich special?” I spoke about our academic standards, our social mission, our inclusive co-curricular programme — and above all, how our boys are empowered to be and do everything. This really struck a chord and we are beginning to see more and more parents actively choose us over other excellent schools and coming from even further away to join DC and our amazing Junior School. But perhaps the best answer came not from me, but from our Year 6 parent in our exit survey. Of the 31 Year 6 families who responded, 30 gave the school a rating of 9 or 10 out of 10 when asked if they would recommend us — placing us well beyond ‘world class’ by global education standards.
n We began the year in the Junior School with our highest ever number of pupils — a record start. But we were aware of the headwinds on the horizon. We faced concerns about a new government, the potential impact of VAT on school fees, and an upcoming inspection. And yet, we end the year having navigated all those challenges with real success. We passed our inspection with flying colours, saw a record number of 7+ applications — bucking both local and national trends — and now look ahead with real excitement to September. But today is a moment to pause and reflect — especially on our wonderful Year 6 pupils and their journey through the Junior School. The outcomes of this year’s 11+ and scholarship processes demonstrated the significant progress our boys have made. Their academic development, particularly in writing, Maths, and across the curriculum, has been impressive — and measurable. In Maths, we saw standout successes. In the Primary Maths Challenge, our gold award winners rose from five in 2018 to 16 this year. An astonishing 28 boys qualified for the bonus round, making us the third highest-achieving school in the country. In the UK Maths Challenge — open to students up to Year 8 — we achieved our highest number of awards in five years. Academic enrichment continues to be a cornerstone of a Dulwich and a Junior School education. This year’s Great Exhibition saw Year 6 boys showcase their key skills in oracy, research, analysis, and community action. Topics ranged from Doctor Who and frogs, to racism in sport, the gender pay gap, and the value of GCSEs. Our Symposium on “Tradition and Innovation” brought together pupils from JAGS and Dulwich Wood Primary. The highlight was a truly inspiring talk by Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock on her journey in science and the wonders of space. Book Week, themed around “ Marvellous Mysteries and Curious Crimes ,” saw the boys being absorbed into this theme with their story writing and reading. Across the year, we welcomed nine authors, including Alexander Armstrong, David Baddiel, Hamza Yassin and Tom Percival. We were also delighted to win a london Schools Library and Book Knowledge Competition. On the chessboard, we were equally inspired by our pupils’ enthusiasm and the presence of Bodhana Sivanandan, a nine-year-old chess grandmaster, who played simultaneous matches with our boys from across the College. Our House competitions continue to be a vital part of school life — blending academic, creative, sporting, and personal values. Boys across the College connect in vertically integrated events, from House Science to the return of House Aquathlon. Next year, we look forward to House History, where we’ll commemorate VE80 and reflect on what our families were doing during the time of the Second World War. Our partnerships with Sydenham High and JAGS have flourished, offering joint enrichment days in subjects as diverse as philosophy, computing, art, languages, engineering, sport, and Forest School — showing the true breadth and depth of our pupils’ learning. Trips and visits have been as rich as ever. We’ve explored the Imperial War Museum, the British Museum, the National
One parent wrote:
“He has had an amazing time. Under the care of superb staff, he has studied a rich and engaging curriculum and experienced so many co-curricular opportunities — all on a wonderful campus with outstanding facilities. Thank you to everyone at the school for all their hard work in making it so terrific.” To our Year 6s — thank you for all you’ve brought to the Junior School. We are proud of you. You have been curious, courageous, kind and determined. We wish you every success as you move on to the next stage of your Dulwich journey.
Dr Toby Griffiths
June 2025
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