Dear Parents and Guardians,
As we start a new academic year, I am delighted to welcome everyone back to school! After the summer break, it’s wonderful to see our school filled with energy, laughter, and the eagerness to learn. To our returning students and staff, welcome back! And to our new families and staff members, a warm welcome to our community—you are now part of a special place.
In case you missed it, here are a few of the facilities improvements our team worked on diligently over the summer:
Learning Environment Enhancements:
- To create a more focused learning atmosphere, we’ve installed soundproofing insulation in key areas of the school.
- The interiors have been freshly repainted, creating a bright and inspiring environment for learning and creativity.
- We’ve begun the process of replacing furniture in classrooms with more ergonomic options, promoting better posture and comfort for our students during their lessons.
Facilities Upgrades:
- We’ve renewed the fence along the playground side of our school boundary, featuring a sturdier and more modern design that reflects our school spirit with our school colours and name.
- We’re particularly proud of our new pool changing rooms, which will greatly enhance the experience for our students in the swimming programme.
Community and Achievement Showcase:
- We’ve installed a new trophy display to showcase our students’ numerous achievements and successes, celebrating their hard work and talent.
Our IBDP results were outstanding – an average score of 36.5 out of 45 and far exceeding the global average of 30.32. I am immensely proud of our graduates who worked so hard to achieve this feat and would like to give kudos to our stellar IB staff who supported them along the way.
To all our new families and staff members, we are thrilled to have you with us. We understand that joining a new school can be both exciting and a little overwhelming, so we have planned a New Families Welcome Coffee Morning on 29 August. This informal gathering will give you a chance to meet other new parents, key staff members, and make connections over coffee. The next day, 30 August, we will host our Welcome Picnic—a fantastic way to get to know each other better, enjoy some delicious food, and listen to our students’ wonderful performances.
This week, we had a successful Parent Information Evening (PIE) that introduced you to your child’s teachers and provided an overview of the curriculum and extracurricular activities as well as adventure journey plans for the year. It’s an important event to ensure you have everything you need to support your children’s learning.
We also had a special guest on campus to coincide with the parent evening. We welcomed Olivia Bugden of Ignite Swiss, which is our popular programme for Year 9 students where they spend a term at our sister school in Switzerland alongside other Dulwich Family School students and go through exceptional experiences both inside and outside the classroom. Olivia introduced the programme to parents and walked them through the various seasonal programmes by term.
Our Senior School students showcased their house spirit by wearing their House shirts and colours for House Pride Day today. It was great to see our students engage in a day of fun and healthy competition.
Today, we also welcomed a group of delegates from top Chinese universities for an HSK Study (China’s standardized test for Chinese proficiency) in China Expo. Led by Annabel Parker, Co-Founder & CEO at Wo Hui Mandarin that’s part of our Education in Motion group, the delegation learned about our school’s tradition and history and was led by our Mandarin-speaking Head students on a campus tour. We hope the visit marks the expansion of a deeper partnership with Chinese universities and provides a broader set of options for our students interested in studying in China.
I am energised by all the exciting activities and events that transpired on the first week of school and look forward to meeting all of you in person at the Welcome Picnic next Friday!
I wish you a restful weekend.
With warm regards,
Ms Alison Derbyshire