Since 1619, thousands of pupils, colleagues, parents and governors have been valued members of the College. During this time, we have evolved and adapted, yet core characteristics remain and thrive. Dulwich pupils have always shown a balance of humility, confidence, and ambition. They have a passion for learning, conversation, and inquiry. They wish to be part of clubs, teams, orchestras, societies - in all shapes and sizes; they like to represent their College through initiatives, in collaborations and in competition; and, they care about each other, and the world around them. As well as embodying these characteristics, our pupils, colleagues and governors wish to positively shape the College through their actions, thoughts and achievements, sustaining its relevance and ensuring its local, national and international benefit for as many people as possible. The College’s scale, heritage and structure helps in so many ways. It inspires our pupils, provides a pathway and enables them to explore and take up wide-ranging opportunities. They invariably discover new talents and become part of something far greater than themselves. This vital balance between each pupil’s personal life, the sense of being known, cared for and understood, whilst also being part of a thriving and broad community - with clearly defined values and aims, is what makes Dulwich a special place. I very much doubt that we could find two pupils, past or present, whose experience of the College is truly the same in every way, nor have I met two pupils who are completely alike in personality or passions. I hope, however, that every pupil feels happy, that they feel valued - for their attitudes, actions and endeavours, above all else - and that they enjoy a sense of momentum in all that they do. I hope they all know we wish them every success, and they feel proud to be Alleynians wherever they go. Welcome to Dulwich; we are very grateful for your interest in our school. The College aims to be as accessible and welcoming as possible and we very much hope our community might suit you and your child.
Mr Robert Milne Master
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing We are very proud of the pastoral care which we show all of the pupils who come to Dulwich, especially during the often daunting transition to Senior School. Form Tutors, Heads of Year, and the Head of School are instrumental here, as well as the librarian team, Housemasters and all of the teaching staff who put the boys’ wellbeing first. We run an Anti-Bullying week in the first term, led by Sixth Form prefects, which focuses on helping boys to continue to make new friendships, and also reassures pupils that any concerns can be raised, that they will be listened to and acted upon. We also have the Yelcho Room, a wellbeing space with trained staff members and open every breaktime and lunchtime, where pupils can drop in for a warm drink, play a game or just to chat. Our friendly Counselling Team is well-resourced and boys can self-refer if they feel like they are struggling. Finally, the Learning Support Hub is based in the Lower School, which is a welcoming space for all our pupils, and particularly those with neuro-diverse needs. All pupils will also get to know their Sixth Form Mentors, who meet with their classes once a week, and are a familiar and reassuring presence around the campus throughout their time in the Lower School. Wellbeing lessons in the Lower School focus on making friendships, celebrating character strengths, healthy living, healthy relationships, and safety within the online world of social media. Having these discussions in a single-sex environment is a powerful and meaningful process, where we can help boys to develop their emotional vocabulary in a safe place, and give them the tools to deal with the pressures of early adolescence. “I appreciate being able to talk to lots of different people about how I’m feeling, my Form Teacher and my Head of Year - everyone is so friendly.”
Helping Pupils Settle When pupils arrive in Year 7, we do all we can to make sure that they settle in quickly, forge strong friendships and enjoy being at their new school. To achieve this we: • integrate the 55 or so boys who come up from our Junior School with our new joiners into form groups of around 20 - 22 pupils; • help to forge close relationships between the boys and their Form Tutor, their Head of Year, and myself as Head of School to help them to feel valued and settled; • invite all new joiners to the College to a Welcome Evening in the summer before the long break so that pupils can meet their new Form Tutor and some of their new classmates before the start of term; • hold an Induction Day on the day before the first day of term, when only Year 7 pupils are in the Lower School. This gives them time to get to know their Form Tutor and other members of their Form. Pupils also take part in team-building activities where they are split into small groups, and compete against each other to solve both physical and mental challenges; • give every Form the experience of travelling to Wales for a full week of activities at the College’s Outdoor Centre in the Brecon Beacons in their first term. This trip helps develop self-confidence, perseverance and tenacity when faced with challenges – life skills that are just as important as the academic skills learned in the classroom.
“The highlight of my first year was Wales – it was brilliant. I made lots of new friends and had great fun whilst caving.”
Lower School Wales Trip film
Academic Life: Curriculum and Scholarship
End. We also run a weekly Lower School Scholars’ Programme, open to all pupils in the Lower School, which covers matters of ethical or philosophical interest. This popular programme helps develop boys’ thinking skills and is good preparation for the Academic Scholarship Paper which is sat by the top academic performers at the end of Year 8. Pupils are also encouraged to enter national competitions, including the Junior Maths Challenge, the Trinity Schools Book Shadowing Awards, the STEM Challenge and the BEBRAS Programming Challenge.
Dulwich, we encourage Alleynians to be conscientious, capable, self-motivated and collaborative learners who are able to read broadly, research accurately and communicate clearly. We believe strongly in academic enrichment both within lessons, where teachers take every opportunity to teach beyond the curriculum, and have a number of tailor-made days off timetable in subjects such as Classics, Art, Science, Design and Technology and Maths, to enhance pupils’ learning experience. We take advantage of our unique position in London to take Lower School pupils on outings to local historical and cultural sites, as well as theatre trips in the West
subjects that may be entirely new to them. This year, 57% of GCSE grades achieved were at the highest level (Grade 9) and 94% of grades were Grade 7 and above. 155 pupils achieved 8 grade 9-8. As a result we feature in the top 5 performing boys’ schools in the country. 34% of the A level exams sat by our pupils were awarded A* grades and 71% A*/A grades, with 114 pupils achieving all A or A* grades and 135 who achieved 3 A’s or better. Over 90% of papers sat by Dulwich College’s pupils were awarded grades of A*/A/B. The majority of Dulwich College pupils continue their education at some of the world’s top institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, and Russell Group universities in the UK, and Ivy League universities, including Harvard and Yale. In addition to our core responsibility to guide pupils through the qualifications they need for beyond
Dulwich pupils are characterised by their enthusiasm for learning and are able to work diligently, understanding that performance does not come purely from natural talent, but as much by hard work and commitment. We are not bound by an externally set curriculum in the Lower School and therefore we are free to deliver an intellectually stimulating yet accessible curriculum that sparks endeavour and interest in all the subjects that the pupils study and is very much reflective of the 21st century. All boys study Religion and Theology; Geography; History; Wellbeing; Mathematics; English; Science; Music; Drama; ICT; Art and DT. In addition to these subjects, boys study three languages in Year 7 (Latin and Chinese in addition to either French or Spanish) but two languages in Year 8 (either Chinese or Latin or German in addition to either French or Spanish). These classes are all taught by subject specialists, who will teach pupils from Year 7 up to Year 13. They enthuse and inspire boys to think creatively and deeply about
Hear our teachers share why they love what they do.
Clubs, Societies and Co-curricular activities These are important for developing friendships, discovering new lifelong interests, building team and leadership skills as well as for maintaining the necessary balance with academic work in the classroom. • Opportunities in Drama, Music and Sport are many and varied (team and individual sports, orchestras, bands, choir groups, theatre productions) in addition to other activities run by either teachers or our Mentors from the Upper School. • Here is just a sample of some of the clubs and societies, many of them established by pupils, that boys could choose from during a typical Michaelmas term:
Knit Soc Dungeons and Dragons Rugby Kickers Beginners’ Arabic Geo Explorers Lower School History Society Lower School Scholars Young Entrepreneurs Society Debating
Cycling Pottery Wordsmiths Creative Writing VR and 3D Printing Club
Maths Extension Chess
Swimming Water Polo Mythology Fencing Badminton Table Tennis Basketball
Programming Board Games Concert Choir Aviation Society Warhammer Club
Sport On entering the College, pupils will find they are at the heart of the Games and Physical Education (PE) programmes. Our aim is to unlock every pupil’s potential through exposure to a range of experiences and opportunities and increase their understanding of why sport and exercise plays such an important role in their character development. In Year 7 and 8, there are two weekly Games sessions and sports on offer include football, rugby, hockey, cricket and athletics. All run multiple teams and pupils can enjoy weekly fixtures against other local schools. PE is on timetable every fortnight, where boys work on their physical literacy and swim in our on-site pool. Pupils are also offered a comprehensive and varied co-curricular sports programme, that includes Cross Country, Fencing, Table Tennis, Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Swimming, Water Polo, and even Track Cycling at the local Herne Hill Velodrome. We recognise that sport has a positive impact on our pupils’ wellbeing, provides opportunities to develop socially, and can be a welcome change in focus from academic endeavours. Our goal is to provide a high-quality experience leading to a lifetime of involvement in some form of exercise activity.
“The clubs are one of my favourite things about the College.”
Hear from the pupils about the range of clubs and societies on offer at the College
Sport film: Pupils are at the heart of our outstanding sports provision
House system Each boy is allocated to one of eight Day Houses, becoming a member ‘for life’ under the guidance of their Housemaster. Brothers, sons and grandsons follow each other into the same House, a tradition which encourages a fierce but healthy loyalty. The House system also supports the pastoral care of the boys by ensuring that each of them identifies with a smaller ‘vertical’ community, made up of pupils from every Year group from Year 3 to Year 13, within the wider College community. There are inter-House competitions in numerous sporting and cultural activities including: Music, Art, Photography, Poetry Recitation, Art, Chess, Debating, General Knowledge, Drama, Cross Country, Athletics, Football, Hockey, Cricket, Rugby and Patball. Lower School House colours are awarded to a boy for an outstanding contribution to the House during his time in the Lower School. “What I like best is being in a school where I have teachers that I can talk to whenever I want.”
Charity and Service Being a pupil at the College is a wonderful opportunity, and it also means we have an important job: looking out for others - locally, nationally, and globally. We want every pupil to get involved! You’ll be encouraged to host fun events and take part in activities to raise money and awareness and help people who need it. Every year, we choose a special College Charity of the Year. We focus our main fundraising efforts on this cause to make a real difference. Recent examples include Emmaus Homelessness Charity, Spring Community Hub, and The Uganda School Project. Through our amazing charity events - like cake sales, exciting penalty shoot-outs, a sponsored ‘no homework’ day, and many more creative ideas - we raise tens of thousands of pounds for our chosen charity. We also support other important causes throughout the year with special, one-off events, such as Movember and Save the Children. We have a big and very active Lower School Charity Committee. This is a fantastic way to share your ideas and help choose how we support our chosen charities. If you are interested in joining, please chat with your Form Tutor first. Each year, we dedicate a whole day to Service. Every pupil in the Senior School gets out into the community to help. This might mean clearing up local parks, picking up litter, or volunteering at local primary schools. It’s a day when we all work together. Kindness and empathy (caring about how others feel) are at the heart of our school. It’s truly wonderful to see our pupils show such maturity and willingness to think about giving back and serving the wider world.
Ties
The College colours are black and blue, and these are used on the standard College tie. Boys, however, can be awarded ties for contributions to activities, such as Sport, Music or Drama, as well as being awarded a tie by the various societies in the College. Collecting a range of such ties is very popular with pupils (there are over 80 different ties!) and they are worn with pride. “One of my favourite things is the number of ties on offer; this allows boys to express themselves and show what they enjoy doing.”
Co-educational Opportunities
At the College, pupils enjoy all the benefits of a single-sex education, with the additional opportunity of learning in a co-educational environment. We use our links with local girls’ schools such as James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) and Sydenham High School GDST to organise bespoke co-educational activities where boys and girls work together on a given project in small, mixed teams. In the Lower and Middle School, we run regular scientific and creative collaboration days with JAGS and there are a wide range of co-educational opportunities available with joint drama productions and musical performances. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) is run jointly between the College and JAGS, and the Union of Societies and charitable fundraising ventures have a number of events organized by the prefect teams from each school. Moreover, the Young Enterprise Programme enables pupils to work in partnership with students at Sydenham High School, developing entrepreneurial skills and working as a team to set up a small business; girls at Sydenham and at JAGS also have joint rowing training sessions at the College during the week and on the Thames at weekends. In the Sixth Form, pupils choose Liberal Studies courses and Advanced Electives, weekly academically enriching courses which are not found on A level curricula run in mixed groups of pupils from the College and JAGS spread across the two schools. A diverse range of year-round events, across a range of disciplines, is also offered with our partner schools as part of SSLP (Southwark Schools’ Learning Partnership): this also affords our pupils many opportunities to meet other young people across the borough and beyond. All of these ventures are underpinned by a strong pastoral emphasis, where there is a focus on the positive interactions between the pupils from both schools, and the friendships which ensue.
Creative Arts and Design Creative thinking runs through the Dulwich DNA. Art at Dulwich College aims to develop the visual literacy of all pupils, to enliven the academic life of the College in ways that exist beyond the art studios. Drama is offered within the curriculum to the end of Year 9 and thereafter at GCSE and Advanced level. “Devising, scripting, rehearsing and then performing the plays over two days was hard work, but enormous fun. It was undoubtedly one of my highlights of Year 7.”
Lower School boys seize every opportunity to get involved in productions and workshops, all hosted in our purpose- built theatre. Recent Lower School productions have included Matilda Jr, A Monster Calls and The Red Shoes . Lower School House Drama gives students the opportunity to develop their own directing and devising skills and has recently celebrated West End musicals and Magic and Portals. We encourage senior boys to work with younger students when developing their work. Dance is embedded in the Year 7 and 8 curriculum, with taught choreography and boys’ own creative work encouraged. Art is a popular subject in the Lower School, with boys exploring a wide range of materials in well-equipped studios. Students can experiment freely in dedicated spaces for ceramics, printmaking, Photoshop and Blender as well as drawing and painting. Through a variety of co-curricular clubs, young artists are encouraged to develop their creativity, discover new skills and find a real sense of belonging within the Art department. Design and Technology is a lively and practical subject in the Lower School where boys learn to design, make and test products with a broad range of materials. In well resourced workshops they develop confidence with tools, machinery and digital technology such as CAD and 3D printing. Co-curricular clubs, including Innovate, give pupils further chances to experiment, build personal projects and feel at home in the department. All students study our diverse, vibrant and exciting Lower School Music course which includes a mixture of practical music making, composition and theory skills. Each Year 7 student sings in Concert Choir during the Michaelmas term which culminates in a performance at Cadogan Hall as part of the Winter Concert. From Year 8 upwards students use the latest technology in our Mac suite including writing their own Blues piece using the software Logic Pro. The curriculum is enriched by an extensive co-curricular programme and all students are encouraged to further develop their musical learning in our choirs, orchestras, jazz groups, rock bands and other ensembles.
“The arts define our culture our identity and our national conversation.” Sir Peter Bazalgette OA
Creative Arts film: Art, Drama, DT and Music highlights
The Campus Our leafy grounds with over 1,000 trees give pupils the opportunity to connect with nature at breaktime and lunch, and inspire our teachers to take boys for lessons outside of the classroom. We have a Wildflower Walk which is a perfect space for boosting wellbeing and pupils can also enjoy tranquil spaces such as the Memorial Garden and the new, award-winning Spirit of Partnership Garden. The fact that pupils do not have to navigate the entire College campus during their time in the Lower School helps them to settle in quickly. Nonetheless, the size and openness of the College and its grounds allows the boys to grow in independence and maturity as they progress to the Middle School and finally the Upper School. The Laboratory, where Lower School boys enjoy their Science lessons, was the winner of the RIBA London Award 2017 and our iconic Grade II* listed Barry Buildings (1870) are where they can look forward to continuing their studies in Year 9.
Watch our aerial film
The Lower School The Lower School is one of the five schools that make up the College. Many of the boys’ lessons take place in their Form Rooms in the dedicated Lower School building, though they move for lessons in specialist buildings for Art, Science, Design and Technology, Music and Drama. A brand new wing of the Lower School includes the Raymond Chandler Library, with Fiction and Non-Fiction collections specially curated for our pupils, and IT and Robotics suites at the top. It is a wonderful space for reading, academic study and all other activities supported by our fantastic team of librarians. Right next to the playground, the library is at the very heart of the Lower School and is integral to our pupils’ lives at the College.
Foundation Schools’ Coach Service While the College occupies beautiful historic buildings set in 70 acres of green, open space, we are only 12 minutes from Central London by train. Boys can also take advantage of the Foundation Schools’ Coach Service which provides a safe, convenient and environmentally friendly means of travel to and from school and also for children taking part in after school activities. A large number of routes are offered within Central, Greater and Outer London, and further details are available on our website: www.dulwich.org.uk/coaches
150 Visiting Speakers to the College every year
I hope this booklet gives you a flavour of what life is like in the Lower School, and that it serves to
60+
confirm and enhance your experience of the College.
Languages spoken at the College
Throughout Years 7 and 8, we seek to encourage creativity, compassion and open-mindedness, resilience and integrity, a collaborative outlook and an appreciation of how we all benefit from living in a diverse and inclusive society. We strive to deliver a demanding yet interesting curriculum, which gives pupils a chance to think deeply about the world that surrounds them. We help pupils to develop outside the classroom, encouraging them to partake fully in the wide variety of co-curricular activities on offer at the College. But most importantly, we make sure that every pupil feels safe, secure and supported, so that he can learn to the very best of his ability. As Head of the Lower School, it is my privilege to oversee the academic, pastoral and co-curricular experience of all of our pupils, to see them grow in confidence and to see them well-prepared for life further up in the College and beyond. If you have any further questions about life at Dulwich, please do not hesitate to contact me.
15,888 Extensive OA community
20+ Nationalities in the boarding community
70+
42 Musical ensembles
22 Average class size
Clubs and Societies representing enthusiasm, innovation and diversity
100+ Expeditions and trips
Fran Cooke Head of Lower School
525
Individual music lessons taught each week
1,100
16 Sports on offer in the Lower School
To find out more about life in the Lower School, please contact: Fran Cooke, Head of Lower School Telephone: 020 8299 9283 Email: cookefa@dulwich.org.uk
For enquiries regarding admissions, please contact: Mrs Alison Williams and Mrs Polly Twisk, Registrars Telephone: 020 8299 9263 Email: the.registrar@dulwich.org.uk
College sports fixtures
“I believe the school is truly outstanding in the education of boys. They truly understand them, teach them to engage and to inspire. They nurture an environment that encourages the boys to do well and the boys celebrate each other’s success – academically and co-curricularly. It is “cool to be clever”. This attitude I have seen has brought out the best in my boys, it has encouraged them to work to the best of their abilities. All the while there is a great relationship between the boys and the teachers, humour as well as teaching good discipline.”
Current Parent
Dulwich College. A supportive, diverse and inclusive community.
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