College News
activities dovetail very well with those of the College, making best use of facilities outside school time. Book your wedding or party at the College, or a weekend away in the beautiful Brecons! DCE also runs the not- for-profit Foundation Schools Coach Service. DCEO is responsible for oversight and governance of the international schools programme and the delivery of our educational mission overseas, also raising revenue for the College. What fact surprised you most about the College’s Enterprises work? Its breadth and extent. We have the largest and most successful model of this kind of any school in the UK, whilst retaining great support from teaching staff, without any of the conflicts one might have expected. You recently undertook a comprehensive tour of the international schools. How do they compare with Dulwich SE21? Visiting ten cities in as many days across the Far East from Korea, through China, Myanmar and Singapore, I was immensely impressed by the vibrancy and quality of all the schools and their absolute commitment to the Dulwich ethos, based on the four pillars of academic excellence, sport, the creative arts, and community involvement. I was also forcibly struck by the deep respect and affection for the ‘mother ship’ in London, and the visibility everywhere of the connection, from the architecture (every school has a DC model clock tower) to the well-publicised history of the College. They are smart, modern, high-class schools which reflect our ethos whilst retaining their own uniqueness borne from an international pupil base. In addition to overseeing the business-side of DCE and DCEO, you manage all operations for the College, from the construction of The Laboratory, to essential renovations to the Barry Buildings, to catering, to car parking. Where is your favourite place on the campus? Impossible to say… if only because wherever I go I see more that needs to be done to raise standards! I love the beauty of the space and grounds, and like to linger along Hunts Slip Road to appreciate the less familiar view of our beautiful campus set against the backdrop of London’s extraordinary skyline. How different will the built environment of Dulwich College be, comparing 2011, when you joined, to 2019, when we celebrate the 400th? It’s fair to say that the built environment was in need of much TLC in 2011, with some fairly significant infrastructure failings. Since then, through the strong support and commitment of the governors, we have been able to deliver a raft of improvements from boilers, to buildings, to pitches. By 2019, the centre of the campus will have shifted to an axis round the Laboratory, with restored and refurbished Barry Buildings inside and out, improved facilities for sports
and the arts, and transformed outside spaces where cars are relegated to their proper place away from the heart of the College, with reflective spaces and quiet areas are established at the core for study, games and a moment to pause. We will also by then have replaced the decaying trees of Chestnuts Avenue with an entirely new avenue of semi-mature but suitably grand limes (of the non-sticky variety). There are now seven Dulwich International Schools. What’s next? A second campus will be added in September 2016 to DC Shanghai in the Minghang district, removed at a fair distance in this huge city and the other side of the river from the current school in Pudong district; the two sites will co-exist. Following the successful elections and positive signs of transition to democratic process in Mynamar, Dulwich College Pun Hliang has been established in Yangon and another large new school is being built in Star City, to open in a new residential area south of Yangon in 2017. Pun Hliang was a small enterprise initially set up by Harrow. On their withdrawl, Dulwich College was asked to take over and works are in progress to upgrade the site and establish the school on a firmer footing, with some 100 pupils due by September 2016 (a 35% increase in admissions over the previous year). The addition of these schools will bring the total of international schools to 10 by 2017.
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