Dulwich College Prospectus

The Master’s Welcome

“When I’m asked to define the College in one sentence I often say that it is a ‘doing’ school, which suits boys who want to get involved with everything – whether they have a natural aptitude for a given activity or are simply enthusiasts. ”

Dr JAF Spence Master, Dulwich College

Welcome to Dulwich College, a vibrant, caring and intelligent community of some 1,550 boys in the Junior and Senior Schools and 230 pupils at DUCKS, our co-educational Kindergarten and Infants’ School. Our boys generally come from within the top 15% of their peers, in terms of academic ability, and from a wide range of backgrounds. We are academically selective and socially inclusive.

create an environment that promotes an independent work ethic and encourages all pupils to acquire a love of learning; provide sporting, cultural, charitable and adventurous engagement for all our pupils to enjoy and through which they can learn to work co-operatively and to lead; nurture a supportive community that encourages a sense of social responsibility and spiritual and personal development;

My responsibility is to ensure that we fulfil these aims and build on our achievements to enable current and future Alleynians to be well prepared for the exciting challenges of life in the 21st century. Please do explore our website, read our recent ISI Reports and visit us to experience for yourself all that Dulwich has to offer.

A Dulwich education is also defined by ‘free learning’ (a commitment to finding time for boys to learn beyond the syllabus and, often, beyond the classroom), the promotion of creativity and the affording of opportunities for pupils to pursue their own educational initiatives. The provision of stimulating teaching and learning is our priority, which we refer to as the Primacy of the Classroom. To this we add a stimulating array of co-curricular activities both complementary and in contrast to the boys’ classroom challenges. The result is a first class holistic education.

Our mission is to:

offer academic challenges that enable each pupil to realise his potential;

ensure that all our pupils feel equally secure and valued.

Dr JAF Spence, Master, Dulwich College

Dulwich College Prospectus

Bursaries and Scholarships

Established in 1619.

Edward Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift – the original name for Dulwich College – was established in 1619 and was a foundation for ‘12 poor scholars’ , three drawn from each of four parishes. The College of God’s Gift also educated fee payers drawn from Dulwich Village (paying an admission fee of 2s and a quarterly fee of 6d) and Alleyn further established four boarding places.

Scholarship is core to our identity and attracting the brightest local boys, boys from farther afield in London and beyond and boys overseas will mean we will continue to realise Edward Alleyn’s vision. incontrovertibly individualistic and from many different backgrounds – economic, religious and ethnic. It is this social mix that makes Dulwich College a special place – it is often remarked upon that College boys are down to earth, are able to fit in everywhere and can talk to anyone. If you would like to know more about our Bursaries and Scholarships please speak to our Registrar. www.dulwich.org.uk/admissions Alleynians are intelligent and enthusiastic; they are also

From the outset there were clear foundation principles by which the College should be governed: sound learning; strong artistic pursuits; and good manners. We hope you recognise these in the College boys you meet today. The other essential Alleynian attribute we still proudly uphold is our accessibility for what the founder referred to as ‘poor scholars’. In other words, that a full education might be available to all, irrespective of social background and financial resources. Our ambition is that we will be able to offer financial assistance for up to 50% of our pupils, whose parents are unable to meet the cost of the full fee. Bursaries are available at the point of entry.

Edward Alleyn

British School, Edward Alleyn, 1626, oil on canvas, DPG443, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

Dulwich College Prospectus

The Dulwich Spirit

Thoroughly modern, absolutely traditional

Over its four centuries the College has established a tradition of inspired learning, genuine scholarship and free thinking. To a boy we might describe Dulwich College as a place where he can be what he wants to be, and to his parents, as a place to give their son a vision of the world. Our heritage is rich with stories of inspiration, courage and resilience, yet while history is something to learn from, our boys have an openness to the future and how they might contribute to it. They feel that they are part of a family that helped explore, pioneer, discover and celebrate the world we have today. They want to give back what they receive. That is the Dulwich spirit.

“Every single element is designed to help you excel. The teachers support you, build your confidence. Pupils are at the centre of everything. Here you really can become your own person.”

Sixth Former

Dulwich College Prospectus

The Schools Dulwich College comprises the Junior School (Years 3-6), Lower School (Years 7-8), Middle School (Years 9-11) and Upper School (Years 12-13), together with DUCKS, our co-educational Kindergarten and Infants’ school (age six months to Year 2).

DUCKS

Junior School

Strong sense of identity

For information about DUCKS, our Kindergarten and Infants’ school of 230 girls and boys, please refer

While the Junior School is very much part of the College, care is taken to provide boys with an environment appropriate to their age. Boys join Year 3 at seven years old and make increasing use of the College’s extensive facilities as they move through the school. We help the boys to achieve high academic standards while also nurturing their individual interests and encouraging their talents to blossom. For more information please refer to our separate prospectus: www.dulwich.org.uk/junior-school or call the Registrar on +44 (0)20 8299 8432.

Each school has its own Head, as well as Deputies, Year Heads and Form Tutors who have daily contact with the boys in their care. These teams oversee the academic and pastoral welfare of the boys and ensure that close links are fostered and maintained between parents and the College. This structure enables many subjects to be taught in form groups and encourages a strong sense of identity within each school.

to our separate prospectus: www.dulwich.org.uk/DUCKS or call the Registrars on +44 (0)20 8693 1538.

Dulwich College Prospectus

Lower School

Everyone can try everything

Between 70 and 80 boys enter the Lower School in Year 7 (age 11+), joining around 50 boys from the Junior School. We provide a stimulating and stretching academic challenge while also ensuring the boys feel secure and confident. During Years 7 and 8, all subjects are taught by specialist teachers and we place a strong emphasis on developing sound academic and organisational skills. Outside the classroom a broad range of co-curricular activities encourages boys to make the most of College life.

“One of the most important aspects of starting life in Year 7 is helping the boys to settle in and make new friends. We know that boys achieve their best only if they are happy at school. The wellbeing team invest a good deal of time to ensure we get this crucial step right as we know it pays great dividends in the long term.”

Iain Scarisbrick Head of Lower School

Forging friendships

During their first term, Year 7 boys spend a week at the College’s Outdoor Centre in the Brecon Beacons where they get to know each other in a relaxed environment. Activities include climbing, caving, gorge-walking, waterfall exploration, mountain-walking and map-reading.

This trip is hugely popular and lasting friendships are made.

Dulwich College Prospectus

Middle School

Discover, develop, achieve

There are around 620 boys in Years 9 to 11 and we welcome up to 75 new entrants into Year 9 (age 13+) to join those moving up from Year 8. The curriculum focuses on establishing a sound knowledge base and developing the boys’ study skills to enable them to fulfil their academic potential and to grow as confident, rounded individuals. Boys usually study ten GCSE/IGCSE subjects in Year 10 and 11 and transfer to the Upper School at the end of Year 11. There is early public examination entry for boys who demonstrate a particular aptitude for languages or mathematics.

Life-long learning

The libraries at the College cater for the specific needs of different age groups, between them housing 32,000 books, CDs and DVDs. These resources support our ambition for all boys to develop into independent, self-motivated, life-long learners. The Raymond Chandler library is popular with enthusiastic Lower School readers and regularly hosts literary quizzes and author events. The Wodehouse Library provides a comfortable space for quiet study, while the conversation area buzzes with discourse, debate and chess. With borrowing available from the British Library, and College membership of JSTOR (the digital library) there is no area of learning which the boys cannot access, while the periodicals room, hung with paintings from the Dulwich Picture Gallery, allows the boys to read newspapers and periodicals in a traditional library setting too.

“Curiosity is everything. ‘How do you reconcile Marxism as linear, economic determinism with his comment that History repeats itself?’ I don’t know, I’ll have to go away and think about that one. That is the reward of teaching here.”

Dr Nick Black Head of Middle School

Dulwich College Prospectus

Upper School

Each year 40 new students enter Year 12 (age 16+) to join those moving up from Year 11. Boys select four subjects to AS level in their first year of study; continuing with at least three to A2 in the second year. Through the Dulwich Diploma , which requires boys to work beyond the A level syllabus, we encourage self-motivation and independent thinking, enabling them to take responsibility for their academic

“It is an incredibly stimulating environment where we look to develop all aspects of a student’s academic and co-curricular interests and to prepare them for the twenty-first century. This gives them the grounding to thrive, not only at Dulwich but well beyond it.”

and moral development in preparation for university and their working lives.

Richard Berlie Head of Upper School

Upper School Symposium

The Symposium has become the Upper School’s keynote academic event when all boys in the Upper School are taken off timetable for one day to explore academic areas beyond the curriculum. The Symposium director works with Year 12 and 13 students to select the theme, and guest speakers are chosen with the aim of promoting intellectual curiosity and stimulating debate. Afternoon seminars give pupils the chance to experience their teachers exploring subjects about which they are most passionate and knowledgeable. The Symposium also helps inform boys’ choices of university courses and career considerations.

Dulwich College Prospectus 16

Academic Life

Education is lived, not just learned

“If your child is gifted in one area, they will soar here. If they are a good all-rounder they will be encouraged to be a great all-rounder.”

Our philosophy is based on a commitment to teaching and genuine outward-looking scholarship. All our pupils are ambitious academically and we want each to find their areas of interest. Examination results are key, yet it is vital that boys also develop their own intellectual interests and learn to think confidently for themselves. Boys are curious and need space during their lessons and beyond to explore the questions their subject studies suggest to them. It is often in learning for its own sake, and in leading others, that the most significant progress is made. We believe there is no substitute for time spent with enthusiastic subject experts, and other like-minded boys, to foster learning not constrained by a syllabus. Attending a lecture, running a society or entering a competition are often formative academic experiences, and it is these that will equip boys to be better learners in the broadest sense when they leave Dulwich. Free learning

Parent The Good Schools Guide

Dulwich College Prospectus

The Dulwich Campus

“There is a sense that Dulwich is bigger than us. It is in the walls. There is a real pride that we are part of that. There is a sense that we are becoming part of that history.”

Sixth Former

Set in 70 acres of leafy grounds, the College is a continually evolving campus. We are committed to providing stimulating learning spaces that are conducive to communal and independent thinking, reflection and socialising. The combination of our historic buildings with contemporary facilities creates a distinctive environment, providing many opportunities for learning, with indoor and outdoor areas that encourage innovation, initiative, the exploration of ideas and creativity.

A new home for Science

laboratory: where boys can embark on their own adventures in science, and where science is brought to life and shared globally through experiment, creative thinking and inspirational teaching. As well as being a new home to OA Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lifeboat, James Caird, The Laboratory’s exhibition and performance spaces make it a place in which the whole College and the wider community are able to come together.

The Laboratory is our most ambitious building project since the completion of the Barry Buildings in 1870. Designed by Grimshaw Architects to bring together the twin cultures of the Sciences and the Arts, this landmark building will be central to the life of the campus. Art has been integrated into the fabric of the building itself and pupil artists have worked closely with some of our distinguished Old Alleynian (alumni) artists. The building is conceived as a true

Dulwich College Prospectus

Wellbeing

Beyond pastoral care

The wellbeing team is extensive and includes Form Tutors, Heads of Years, Day House Masters, wellbeing teachers and co-ordinators, the College counsellor, the Chaplaincy team, and boarding and medical centre staff. These people form a far-reaching network of support accessible to all boys in the Junior, Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. While we are a Christian foundation with our own Chaplain, the College values that its pupils are drawn from a wide variety of faith traditions.

Our pioneering wellbeing programme underpins school life. Designed to promote self knowledge and build emotional intelligence, boys learn about physical and emotional wellbeing. The programme comprises six strands: emotional health, spiritual health, physical health, living in community, healthy living and preparation for the future. Boys are prepared for the world of work, provided with mentoring opportunities and encouraged to get involved with local and international communities. They learn about friendships, family relationships and mindfulness, and are taught tactics to encourage resilience, handle stress and prepare for examinations.

“These lessons are so good. No-one talks about these things – but we do.”

Year 11 pupil

“I like wellbeing lessons because they prepare us for life. We learn about the real world and how to handle realistic situations.”

Year 9 pupil

Dulwich College Prospectus

“These beautiful period properties are located at the edge of the campus and give boys the opportunity to ‘leave for school’ and ‘come home’ to relax in the enormous gardens and common rooms.”

Boarding

Boys can board from age 11 in The Orchard and Old Blew. These beautiful period properties are located at the edge of the campus and give boys the opportunity to ‘leave for school’ and ‘come home’ to relax in the enormous gardens and common rooms. Senior boys continue here with their extended family or move to one of the two on-site houses, Blew and Ivyholme. Younger boys share bedrooms, typically with two or three in a room, while seniors have their own study bedrooms.

Weekly Boarding

Communal space is at the heart of each of our four houses although it is the people that provide the pulse. Housemasters and boarding staff take considerable care with the wellbeing of every boy and work with tutors to ensure academic potential is fulfilled. Our proximity to London enables us to enrich our students with cultural events and social outings, and also makes travelling to and from home easy, whether it be via the airport or simply to another part of London.

Monday to Friday, with the option of staying for the week-end, weekly boarding is the best of both worlds and a great option for many boys who enjoy the fast pace of a high energy day school along with the support, ease and community that boarding life brings.

Dulwich College Prospectus

Confidence, resilience, teamwork, leadership

and honesty

These are the hallmarks of our sports programme and the values we promote through PE and Games. Every Dulwich boy is encouraged to try as many different sports as possible. Through sport we want to encourage all boys to lead a healthy and active lifestyle at the College and beyond.

Andrew Waugh

Dulwich College Prospectus

Sport for All

We have a strong sporting reputation and many of our pupils excel in their chosen field. Such athletes are supported through our Excellence Programme, which provides expert coaching, strength and conditioning, nutritional advice, physiotherapy and inspiration from external speakers as well as a member of the Games department as a personal mentor.

Each year we play an average of 1,700 sporting fixtures involving more than 80 per cent of boys across 25 sports that range from rugby and cricket through to fencing and table tennis. The College supports this with excellent facilities and enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff.

Dulwich College Prospectus

There is no house style here; we want students to create their own style. Our role is to encourage independent thinking and to help boys engage with the problem-solving creative process, to ask the question ‘what if?’ and ‘how, why and where?’ Boys visit the department in their free time to work on existing projects and develop ideas – teachers are always on hand to help. Our bespoke exhibition space, The Store, is a contemporary venue to display some of the work created at the College.

Art

Robert Mills

Dulwich Creative

Studying and engaging in the Arts is a vital part of the College’s philosophy and we encourage a continued and enthusiastic, life-long love of the Arts in every Alleynian. It is this commitment that inspired Dulwich Creative, a week-long initiative that brought Art, Drama, Music and Design Technology in a series of events and activities to draw out and showcase boys’ creative talents. Every pupil in the school, from the Kindergarten to Year 13, was involved in sculpting, drawing, hearing and seeing artists at work. There were music recitals, public rehearsals, dramatic performances, poetry readings and fascinating expeditions which engaged the whole College community.

Observe. Experiment. Explore. Do it more than once. Make mistakes. Don’t use your first idea. Change things. Have an opinion. Process rather than outcome. Edit. Slow down. Speed up. Question. Collaborate. Take risks. Repeat yourself. Allow accidents to happen. Imitate.Trust your instinct. Do it more than once. Creativity is not device dependent. Do something. Getting it wrong is getting it right.Work on three things at once. Beg, steal and borrow from other ar tists. Act don’t react.

Dulwich College Prospectus

Drama

Spirit of invention and daring

In the theatre, we encourage boys to be fearless and experimental with new performance concepts and ideas, fostering their instinct to play and invent. Drama & Theatre Studies is popular at AS and A2, and external moderators often commend boys’ work as being of the highest dramatic order. Our pupils have the opportunity to act, as well as to direct, design, build, and work technically within the creative team on sound, lighting and stage management.

“I’m still on a high from the creativity and talent that abounds in the Edward Alleyn Theatre; it oozes from every nook and cranny and from every person connected to it.”

Lesley Sharp Actress

Careers in the creative industries

With a pedigree of OAs forging careers in the creative industries including Sir Peter Bazalgette, chair of the Arts Council England, and Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, it is no surprise that many of our boys look to extend and explore their love of drama and theatre beyond what they have experienced at school.

Dulwich College Prospectus

Music

Deeply rooted and treasured

Music is here for all the boys and it flourishes in the academic curriculum. As a large school we benefit from substantial numbers of boys committing to orchestras, choirs and bands, from string quartets to rock bands, chapel choir to House choirs, from Baroque style to contemporary music technology. As many boys are Grade 4-7 in standard, we can be ambitious in our choice of repertoire and venue, with performances at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, King’s College Cambridge, St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall and Southwark Cathedral.

Music Scholarships

Superior stringed instruments are made available to boys as part of a Music Award where appropriate, and state-of-the-art technology facilitates the study of ambitious and contemporary composition techniques. The College has an enviable record of entry to higher education including scholarships to Oxbridge, and the London conservatoires.

Our focus is specialist musical talent, nurturing those boys who are highly gifted. Scholars are assigned a mentor to ensure their progress is nurtured and maintained. Our aim is to teach Music Award holders what a professional musician does through a programme of performing, composing, history and analysis.

Dulwich College Prospectus

The 50+ clubs and societies at the College represent much of what is best here – enthusiasm, diversity, innovation – and provide a forum for boys of all ages to share their interests and ideas. Clubs range from Frisbee to Japanese Animation, from Poultry to Politics, from Classics to Cookery. Although teachers are involved, many of the societies are run by the boys for the boys; they are the driving force. From Robotics to Debating College Life

Many societies have become an integral part of College life, with boys playing a role far beyond the confines of a weekly meeting. Chess comes into this category as does Debating, with College teams competing successfully in national and international competitions.

House system

A thriving House system offers boys from Year 3 the opportunity to take part in a wide range of competitive activities including art, chess, poetry, general knowledge, debating, sport, drama and music.

Activities and excursions

We encourage boys to take part in expeditions as well as community- based activities such as the Combined Cadet Force, Scouts, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and Community Service. More than 280 academic, cultural and sporting outings, trips and expeditions take place throughout the school year to multiple destinations, including to Dulwich College International Schools in the Far East.

Dulwich College Prospectus

Beyond Dulwich

Life lessons

Almost all our boys go on to higher education, the majority to the most competitive universities in the UK, to the US and to other global destinations, and thereafter into all the major professions, with a significant number working in Engineering, the Law and Medicine. The College also has a long standing reputation for producing some of the finest actors, musicians, sportsmen and writers in the country.

Upper School boys receive practical guidance on how degree course choices might influence future careers. They benefit from our professional insight programme which draws on links with hundreds of external contacts including Old Alleynians who lend their expertise via advice and opportunities for students. Specialist College staff and a network of external contacts assist boys in planning their futures. Careers education and guidance is freely available in the careers suite, and boys and their parents attend the annual Courses and Careers Convention to consult with representatives from the major professions and around 25 leading universities. Our professional networking evenings bring together external sector specialists from among our contacts. Boys with relevant career interests meet and network with the professionals, establish links and can then create their own opportunities.

“You feel ready to go into the world because the College does an excellent job of preparing you for the future. Teachers don’t want this to be the high point for you – they just want you to carry on and get better.”

Sixth Former

Dulwich College Prospectus

Global Community

“If I do come to England, the only place I really want to see is Dulwich.”

PG Wodehouse Old Alleynian

Connecting to a wider world

From the moment boys arrive at the College, our role is to help them develop the tools to face the challenges of life in the 21st century. We help boys find their own answers during their time here. We prepare them in their transition from boyhood to adulthood, part of which is ensuring they leave with a strong appetite for what comes after Dulwich College.

Old Alleynians

Within our community, a generosity of spirit is nurtured and the deep loyalty between Alleynians is matched by their interest in the wider world. Edward Alleyn’s legacy has not only endured here for four centuries but has, in recent years, spread overseas in the form of our international schools, adding an international dimension to the significance of being an Alleynian in this global age.

OAs support the work of Careers. Eminent OAs include explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, former Bank of England Governor Lord George of St Tudy, and authors PG Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler. More recent OAs include artist Jeremy Deller, cricketer Chris Jordan, England rugby players Andrew Sheridan and Nick Easter, actors Rupert Penry- Jones and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chair of the Arts Council Sir Peter Bazalgette and Director of the National Gallery Gabriele Finaldi.

Founded in 1873, the Alleyn Club is a flourishing alumni association with some 10,000 Old Alleynian (OA) members living in more than 90 countries throughout the world. We seek to foster beneficial life-long relationships between OAs and the College through social, sporting and professional networking opportunities.

The Club also provides support to pupils at the College through bursaries and prizes, and many

Further information on all aspects of College life can be found on our website: www.dulwich.org.uk.

Guidance on visiting the College, the registration process, boarding, fees, scholarships and bursaries is contained in the supplement to this prospectus. Separate prospectuses and supplements for DUCKS and the Junior School are available online, and on request in printed form.

For enquiries regarding admission, including arranging a visit, please contact:

Entry into Year 7 and Year 9 (ages 11 and 13) The Registrar Telephone: +44 (0)20 8299 9263 Email: the.registrar@dulwich.org.uk Entry into Year 12 (age 16) The Upper School Registrar Telephone: +44 (0)20 8299 9281 Email: upper.school@dulwich.org.uk Entry into Years 3-6 (ages 7-10) The Junior School Registrar Telephone: +44 (0)20 8299 8432 Email: junioradmissions@dulwich.org.uk

The recurring algorithm throughout the prospectus reflects the pattern on the exterior of our new Science building, The Laboratory. This pattern derives from Lindenmayer systems used across the Sciences and adopted by composers and artists to replicate the algorithmic beauty of the natural order. The recurring pattern has been established on the building in shades of terracotta and concrete to represent order in nature and the unity of learning in a unique design, connecting with the richness of the historic Barry Buildings and the wide green spaces of the College campus.

DUCKS co-educational Kindergarten and Infants’ School (ages 6 months to 7 years) The DUCKS Registrars

Telephone: +44 (0)20 8693 1538 Email: ducks@dulwich.org.uk

It was developed collaboratively by Grimshaw, architects of The Laboratory, and the sculptor Peter Randall-Page.

Photography by Daniel Shearing Design by Anderson Norton Design

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Dulwich College Prospectus - Years 7-13