The Dulwich College educational philosophy places equal emphasis on the development of a student’s intellectual and personal development. To that end we focus on three core areas throughout the school: academic excellence; a commitment to sport; and the promotion of a wide range of art, music and drama.

Parents need to know that their children are challenged, but not pressured, in the classroom, and that they are acquiring the skills needed to be successful in life. Examinations of the past were paper based, and demanded a blend of knowledge and analytical ability. The students of today must further demonstrate that they can develop projects over a period of time, that they can work alone and in groups, that they can adapt to new ideas, that they can use modern technology, that they are able to solve problems and to deal with situations, and above all that they are committed to a life of continued learning.

In addition to the obvious benefits of promoting fitness and a healthy lifestyle, involvement in sport is one of the best ways to develop social, team and leadership skills.  At school students have a chance to experiment and to discover where their skills lie by trying their hand at a variety of sports, and many will continue to be involved in these in their adult lives. Our commitment is to have a wide range of sports available along with high levels of professional coaching.

Performance and the development of individual expression is the heart of a school. Our aim is to give every student the opportunity to demonstrate their talents for themselves, their friends and their families. Some will exhibit, some will be soloists, and others will shine as part of a group, but all will have the reward of being a part of a community that is proud of what it does. Our standards are high and the development of this area of school life is a high priority.

Mr Neal McGowan
Headmaster

Dulwich College Beijing

The College arrived in Beijing in August 2005 with an academic programme based upon the English Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and National Curriculum for England, suitably adapted for the international market, and today there are close to 1300 students on the roll, the youngest aged just twelve months and the oldest following the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme, building on our consistently strong IGCSE results.

There is an expectation that our students embrace all that the College has to offer, moving to universities around the world with a breadth of experience to match their examination grades. They all study Chinese through to age 14, and most will continue with this language through to at least IGCSE level. Our purpose is that Dulwich students should take advantage of living and learning in the most dynamic economy in the world today, discovering its language and culture. Indeed, each year group in the Senior School travels to a different part of China every year as a part of their curriculum, discovering for themselves the diversity of China today.

Our curriculum is suitably adapted to reflect the needs of students in an international school and extends well beyond the formal classroom with a strong emphasis on the development of the individual. Dulwich Beijing has over 40 nationalities making up its student body, although almost 60% of our students come from the UK, North America and Australasia. The language of instruction is English and, whilst we do offer support programmes for students for whom English is an additional language, our admissions policy is to keep the number of these students to a maximum of twenty percent in each class, ensuring that English remains at native language level in lessons, whilst gaining from the richness of a multicultural environment. The college is a 21st Century school which has invested heavily in its computing facilities, running a Virtual Learning Environment and adopting a one-to-one laptop programme for students in Years 9 and above. There are interactive whiteboards or Interactive LCD screens in every classroom and all staff receive regular technical and pedagogical training in the use of technology.

The College main campus is at Legend Garden, next to the Wen Yu river, ten minutes from the airport, and just off the expressway leading downtown. The campus offers extensive, world-class facilities.

• The main school is built around the Media Centre with a full range of paper-based and digital resources. Interactive whiteboards feature throughout the building and the College's Virtual Learning Environment supports work in the classroom.
  
  
• Arts facilities include an ICT suite for music composition, large teaching rooms, practice rooms, a Black Box theatre and the Edward Alleyn Theatre. To give a broad musical grounding all students in the Junior School are required to learn a different musical instrument each year with the College providing these from: recorder, violin, viola, cello, flute, trumpet, saxophone and clarinet. We also encourage the learning of Chinese musical instruments. Our Art wing supports four fully resourced and supported art rooms students' art work abundantly adorning the corridors.
  
  
• To support the sports programme, the College has a hockey pitch, two full sized football pitches, a rugby pitch and Beijing's first cricket pitch; tennis courts; a sports centre which includes a 25m swimming pool, a sports hall, fitness and dance rooms; a golf centre with a driving range, bunker and putting green.

Our younger students are housed on either the River Garden campus or the Beijing Riviera Campus where there are age appropriate facilities.

Many visitors comment on the atmosphere on all of our campuses

Music At Dulwich College


Performance is the heart of a school. Our aim is to give all students the opportunity to perform for themselves, their friends and their families. Our standards are high and the development of this area of school life is a high priority.

Pre School
The overall aim of the programme is to develop an understanding and appreciation of music. Children explore the basic elements of music, singing and movement through use of sound, rhythm, melody and harmony.

Key Stage 1
Children learn to play a variety of percussion instruments and sing a variety of songs from memory, adding accompaniments and creating short compositions. Year 1 and 2 students may take part in a choir after school.

Key Stage 2
Every student in Year 3 is provided with a recorder and participates in our Karate Recorder Programme. Their lessons cover basic rhythm and pitch notation, as well as the fundamentals of music theory. Year 3 students also participate in one hour of performance per week.

Year 4 students participate in our String Programme. After introductory lessons on the violin, viola or cello, they choose an instrument and learn the basics of music notation and skills on their instruments. Year 4 students participate in one hour of performance per week.

Year 5 and 6 students have introductory lessons on the Trumpet, Trombone, Clarinet, Saxophone and Flute. After the introductory lessons, the students choose their preferred instrument to continue with for the year. They perform weekly in Band Class and are invited to Band Clinic to aid their development further. This is coupled with a strong emphasis on music theory and singing.

Key Stage 3
Music in Key Stage 3 encourages active involvement in a variety of different forms of music making. Students work individually and in ensembles, and by studying different genres, come into contact with a wide range of live and recorded music. The curriculum develops the students’ ability to listen to, and appreciate, a wide variety of music whilst developing their ability to make musical judgments about their own and others’ compositions. There are regular occasions for many students to perform. There are 9 units in Key Stage 3 and all focus on Performance, Composition and Listening and Appraisal. There is a strong IT emphasis in all aspects of their music education.

Key Stage 4
Students who have selected music as an IGCSE subject take instrumental lessons for the duration of the course, as 30% of their final grade is based on their instrumental performances. We offer tuition in graded Trinity exams to aid them in this discipline. The Curriculum covers European notation, harmony, ensembles and their constituent instruments, standard Western music genres, genres of major world music traditions, structural forms of Western music tradition, harmonic and melodic compositional devices, performing techniques and effects.