Here, Yin and Sophia share how they first became interested in this field, and how they see this important movement in education growing and evolving in China.

1. What was your inspiration for first getting involved in the field of pastoral care?

Yin: Before DSAS, I worked at St. Pauls School, a high school in the US, for about ten years.  St. Paul’s is one of the top private boarding schools in the US. Everyone there is involved in pastoral care, so you are not only a teacher, but also an advisor and a coach. From that experience I learnt how important pastoral care is. The academic development of students is only a small part. Pastoral care relates to their overall development.

Pastoral Care initiatives are designed to engage students across all grade levels in the school.

Sophia: I grew up in a very holistic environment. My mother was a head teacher. She was one of those heads in the UK during the 90’s tasked with raising the academic attainment and achievement of at risk schools in North and South London. Both of my parents were very much into the arts. They encouraged my brother and I to try out lots of different hobbies and pursue music. I grew up in a very positive environment.

Primary student council supporting Earth Day preparations.

Sophia: I believe that children should be encouraged and have opportunities to do exciting things in order to develop their character. I was really encouraged by my own primary school music teacher, who was an opera singer. She motivated and nurtured both my brother and myself through developing a love of music.

Launched in 2021, Primary’s Got Talent gives students the opportunity to perform in front of their peers and DSAS judges.

Sophia: Having experienced a professional music career, as well as becoming a mother, drove me to want to work with children to help develop their confidence, self-esteem, values and character. This, to me, is the essence of pastoral care.

2. How has pastoral care evolved since you were a middle school student yourself?

Yin: When I was in middle school, if you talked about pastoral care, it was more about discipline. If you did something wrong, they punished you, and that was pastoral care. Now we can say discipline is still part of the system, but it’s only a small part.

Head of the Community Service Department of the Lower Secondary Student Council making a presentation at the school assembly.

Yin: Here at DSAS, we realize that students are multi-talented, and there are many types of intelligence. As teachers and educators we see and understand students as individuals. We need to try our best to support and help them to develop, and to help every child to be the best that they can be.

Sophia: I had a really good primary school experience. I think both my schools were quite good at pastoral care. I learned values such as empathy, compassion, and kindness through the religious aspect of the school curriculum.

Mental Health Week included lessons on how to recognize and deal with stress.

Sophia: However, I don’t think we ever discussed topics such as mental health, as it has been quite ‘taboo’ until recent times. At school we didn’t specifically learn about how to deal with stress, or methods of personal responsibility, or even time management. I think a lot of that teaching came from home.

3. What are some specific pastoral care initiatives that you’ve been a part of at DSAS?

Yin: The Student Council at DSAS Lower Secondary School is a very active student organization that promotes student service, self-management, and independent learning. It consists of the Head Boy, the Head Girl and six departments. The Student Council provides a forum for students to express themselves and serves as a bridge between the school and students to facilitate effective communication.

Students take a lead in school events such as the weekly flag raising ceremony.

Yin: By joining the Student Council, students develop their leadership and organizational skills and gain recognition from their peers, teachers, and the school. These play a very important role in the overall development of students. In collaboration with colleagues across several departments, we created locations on the campus grounds called “compassion corners”. The leader of this program is Amy Loveday Hu, our Head of Kindergarten.

The ‘compassion corners’ are represented by flags around the campus. If you feel lonely, or if you need someone to talk to, you can stand under the flag, and a volunteer or a faculty teacher will come and help you with what you need.

During Mental Health Week students were invited to share their ideas about caring for themselves and others in an effort to define 2000 Acts of Kindness.

Yin: Recently DSAS organized a series of activities for Mental Health Week. One activity was the Tree of Kindness. Students were invited to write ways that they thought kindness could be put into action, and attach these ideas as notes to the tree. This is another example of how our school tries to get our students thinking about and sharing ways to take care of themselves and take care of others.

Sophia: We have our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, Economic) curriculum that is delivered during our homeroom morning period. The curriculum covers topics such as relationship education, mental health, growing and changing, anti-bullying, kindness, personal safety and responsibility. Children have the opportunity to discuss these topics in a supportive environment with their homeroom teachers and peers. A recent focus has been on teamwork. Within this topic, students learn how to be active listeners, and how to collaborate more effectively.

Reflecting on school culture, such as the importance of school uniform, gives students a deeper understanding of how they can positively influence their environment.

Sophia: This year we have also developed our flag raising ceremonies. Rather than just having school leaders make speeches, we have student ambassadors lead reflections on topics we have focused on during the semester. We also help to build self-esteem and promote leadership with our weekly ‘Star of the Week’ award. To do this, we nominated students within each grade based on demonstrating school values, leadership, positive behaviour and academics. We have also put a stronger focus on the importance of school uniform this semester. Students now understand how it supports being a team and creates a proud school culture.

4. Are there any cultural differences related to pastoral care when comparing China to other countries?

Yin: St. Paul’s School was a high school, so parents were very hands off. The consensus was “no news is good news”. Here at Lower Secondary of DSAS, parents expect a lot more information about how their kids are doing. A lot more communication happens between the school and the parents.

Coco Fan, Primary School Principal and Director of Teaching and Learning (Grade 1-9), presents a star of the week award, celebrating students who best exemplify the schools culture and ideals.

Sophia: When I first came to China, I had the perception that academics was the sole focus. I have been pleasantly surprised that, in our school, more and more parents are becoming engaged and invested in what we provide for their children. They want their kids to be happy. They also have high expectations about behavior, which goes beyond purely academic performance.

Sophia believes that, through the support of a positive holistic learning environment, students can truly thrive in their studies.

Sophia: I am thrilled that there is a greater focus on well-being and learning in a positive environment with smaller class sizes such as at Wuxi DSAS. Students thrive if they have a positive mindset and continue to receive excellent pastoral care throughout their childhood. Through a positive holistic learning environment, they can become the best that they can be.

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Presented by Brendan Law, Executive Principal, this will be a great chance for you to learn about their approach to teaching and learning, while also having the chance to speak directly with key representatives from the school.

Speakers at the event include the following:

Stefan Sjodin,  Head of Secondary School

Stefan is a career educator with a wealth of experience in education leadership. In his presentation Stefan will introduce the many Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teachers there are at DSAS/KCIS.

CPD is a vital component of any school. These initiatives at DSAS are designed according to teacher preferences and needs with the goal of realizing their mission: to be a learning community aspiring to excellence.

Amy Loveday-Hu, Head of Kindergarten

Amy will share her wealth of knowledge in early years when talking about laying solid foundations for lifelong learning.  She strongly believes that initial school experiences are a particularly sensitive and important period for every child. In this must-see presentation

Amy will share her ideas on how key social and emotional skills are developed during these vital years. As she says, “Our goal of ‘fostering confident young learners’ takes us on exciting collaborative journeys every day.  What we do makes a difference, throughout children’s school careers.”

Yin Xie, Pastoral Assistant Head for the Lower Secondary School & Sophia Morling, Pastoral Assistant Head for the Primary School

Sophia and Yin share a deep dedication to student well-being, and will co-host a presentation on Pastoral Care at DSAS/KCIS. As Sophia says, “As educators, it is our duty to ensure the physical, social and emotional welfare of our pupils”.

The ideal of a fair, kind and responsible community lies at heart of the DSAS culture. Sophia and Yin look forward to talking about the school’s innovative and responsive pastoral care initiatives.

Magdi Elsayad, Head of ICT, Director of Co-Curricular Activities

Magdi has combined his passion for technology with his role as Director of co-curricular activities by introducing tech-related programs such as 3D printing to an already abundant and diverse roster.

He looks forward to sharing his ideas on the value of co-curricular activities, including how the fields of student interest are developing as technology becomes ever-more embedded in our lives.

Coco Fan, Director of Teaching and Learning (G1 – 9)

Coco has taught a broad range of grades and ages in her over twenty years’ experience in education. She will share her thoughts on the current state of education development in China.

Her presentation will be about blending Chinese Bilingual Curriculum with best international pedagogical practices, a stimulating and timely topic in tune with the evolving teaching and learning landscape in China.

Mike Hindle, Head of King’s College International School

Mike is a vastly experienced educational leader. He firmly believes that learning should be engaging, challenging and rewarding, and that every student has the capacity to excel. Mike  will draw from his broad experience to talk about overcoming cultural and language boundaries in a happy international community.

As Mike says, “Happy children learn better, whatever their cultural heritage and background. By celebrating the diversity of our school community we can joyfully prepare all our students for their future lives.”

Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science educates students to be well-rounded, innovative and collaborative individuals. It’s goal is to help students to appreciate their own, and others, cultures and traditions.

The school was founded with the strong support of the Wuxi local government, and through a partnership between two world-leading schools – Nanjing Foreign Language School, China and King’s College School, Wimbledon, UK.

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Sophia Morling is Assistant Head of Primary (Pastoral) at Dipont independent school, Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi.

She shares her professional background and how she has found the last three of working at the school.

What is your educational philosophy?

I believe that all children are unique and that they should have the opportunity to learn in a stimulating and fun educational environment that is safe and nurturing.

My early experiences in education focused on delivering learning opportunities targeted towards a variety of ‘intelligences’ as described by Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. As I have developed as a practitioner, I have utilized multiple intelligences in my teaching philosophy and this theory is now integrated into my practice.

My desire is to create a primary school where all our students can flourish and meet their full potential.

I also believe that wellbeing, teaching, education and personal achievements are all interconnected. I think through promoting the importance of mental and physical health within a school, can help students to develop self-efficacy, motivation, self-fulfillment and resilience.

What motivated you to become an educator?

I was born into a teaching family in London. My mother was a headteacher for challenging inner London schools, while my brother is a secondary school robotics engineering teacher.

I graduated from the University of Leeds in 1999. My first job was working in television as an operation assistant in the programming and operations department at BBC White City.

After I had my first child, I moved to Dubai with my family. I found I was always observing and reflecting on how my children learned. I decided that it was the right time for me to move into education. While my son was in nursery, I studied to be an early years educator.

My first teaching job was working with younger children in a nursery environment.

A few years later, we moved to the south of France. Keeping in line with my children’s developmental stage, I decided to continue my learning journey. I studied a masters-level postgraduate certificate in education with the University of Buckingham. I then held a primary teacher post for a few years at an international bilingual French and English school, where I developed the English and music curriculum.

Why did you decide to move to China?

As a mother to ‘third-culture kids’, who have lived in London, Dubai and France, learning English, Arabic, and French, I involved my children in making the decision about where to move to next. My son suggested that he would like to go to China, as he had completed a school project and wanted to see the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army!

I investigated this idea and interviewed for a few different schools. I was delighted when I was offered a position to work at this fantastic school. My husband’s father went to King’s College School in Wimbledon, so there is a family connection.

You’re now in your third year at NKCS, how have you found the experience so far?

I am really enjoying observing students’ development. This year, I am teaching some of the same students that I taught two years ago. It is heartwarming to see how they have progressed and developed in character and academically – their English skills, in particular, have really improved.

Our teachers work together as a team to nurture and support our students. It’s a pleasure to go to work every day and to be able to work in the beautiful campus surroundings.

Seeing all the children happy in the morning, greeting me at the gate with a high five and showing me something that they have made at home is so meaningful. Meanwhile, it is rewarding to see parents at the gate at the end of the day offering their feedback on things we can improve or are doing well. All these moments make my experience as an educator rewarding.

What differentiates NKCS from other bilingual primary schools?

NKCS is a well-organized school with a lot of dedicated, hard-working professionals. It is a very different operation from my previous school, mostly due to the size of the campus and the number of students. This brings different challenges, as collaboration and communication are crucial for classes to stay aligned and the quality of teaching and learning remain consistent.

The culture in the primary school is extremely positive as everyone is friendly and collaborative.

Our school offers a lot of subjects and co-curricular activities (CCAs) led by staff and external companies. In addition, Spanish is now being added to the curriculum. We also have outstanding facilities. There is a fantastic drama department and auditorium for school productions, while the sports facilities include an amazing swimming pool, running track and a fencing academy.

An aspect that is unique to China is the use of WeChat for communication with parents and school staff. In other countries, it is rare to use such a platform, but parents here can keep up to date with news and activities.

How does our primary school put into practice the school’s core values (respect, compassion, honesty, collaboration and personal responsibility)?

This year, I have developed a pastoral curriculum that has been rolled out across primary. This is delivered by the homeroom teachers every morning.

On Monday morning, for example, the children will have a ‘welcome to school’ discussion to talk about their weekends and find out what interesting things they did. They might also discuss emotions so that teachers are able to understand how they’re feeling. In addition, every morning begins with a pastoral-led session covering topics such as ‘being mentally healthy’ ‘building positive relationships’ and ‘how to deal with conflict’. Students also focus on exploring the school’s core values.

What advice do you have for parents?

We expect parents to act as role models for their children, inquire after their wellbeing and make time to talk with their children. Simple questions such as ‘How was your day?’, ‘What did you have for lunch?’, ‘Who did you play with today?’, ‘What was the best part of your day?’ all contribute to a child’s wellbeing and development. It is important for parents to encourage their children to talk about their emotions. They should teach them to find support and speak to their teachers if they are unhappy, concerned or anxious. Children need to learn that they can always ask for help.

Everyone in our school is responsible for pastoral care and always available to offer support to any student.

Parents can make an appointment to see their child’s homeroom teacher at any time and discuss concerns, whether academic or pastoral. I encourage parents to always speak to their homeroom teacher if there are any concerns, rather than talking amongst other parents. Communication and collaboration amongst parents, students and staff will contribute towards a connected, successful and positive learning environment for the whole school community.

Please note that since January 2022, Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi has been known as Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science.

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Taking over from current principal Dr John Kennard, Peter will lead the school as it begins its fourth year. He joins the school from Dipont, where he has served as Director of Education since 2019. He will continue to maintain oversight of Dipont’s Education Team.

Peter is a leader with a passion for educational reform. Over the past 40 years, he has led several schools in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Dubai, and other countries, to become leading local and even global educational institutions.

Dipont: Congratulations on your appointment Peter. What attracted you to join NKCS?

Peter: I must congratulate the leaders and all the staff and students and parents because what they’ve done in establishing this school is simply miraculous. Everybody just does such an amazing job. Founding a new school is difficult and it’s made more complex because NKCS is a bilingual school with a mixture of cultures. Not to mention the challenges that covid has brought to school life.

I have huge respect for everybody and my view is that NKCS will continue to grow to be one of the best schools in China.

So why would I not want to join such a great school? I love being a principal and being involved in schools and school communities. I just couldn’t resist this opportunity! Dr John leaves big shoes to fill, he’s done a great job but I’ll follow and do my best!

I am so excited about working together with the community. Whenever I’ve visited in the past, I’ve always felt incredibly welcome – all that attracted me to this position.

D: What are your ambitions for NKCS?

P: We are hoping to be the best school in China with a dynamic learning community that nurtures and inspires everyone to be the best they can be. We aspire to create a community where we’re learning and following our passions. Children who study with us will be confident and able to communicate and speak confidently.

If, as a school, we can help students to become lifelong learners, they will go on to achieve their goals. We need to nurture and inspire students to take responsibility for their own learning journey, to be collaborative and creative and take those skills beyond school. We need to teach them that you continually grow throughout your whole life.

D: As a school offering A-level and IBDP courses, what are your expectations and goals for NKCS in this new phase?

P: What I would be very keen to see in this school is that children have life experiences as well as academic experiences. So if students do A-levels, they also need to have other experiences in their curriculum to give a well-rounded approach to their growth. We need to provide care and counseling to help them deal with the pressure and stress that they’re under and we need to support parents so that they know how to support their children during these important years.

With the international baccalaureate, there is a broader experience and it forces you to take subjects outside of your favorites. It makes you think about knowledge, where it’s come from, and how what you’re doing fits into it. But it’s difficult because the academic challenge is very, very high, and there’s not a lot of space for other things. So, we will have to be very creative with the timetable and the balance of subjects and skills in order for children to be healthy in mind and body.

I would also hope that all children, whether they do A-level or IB, will have a community, action and service aspect to their lives to develop good habits and commitment.

D: What would you most like to say to NKCS students and parents?

P: If I only had one word, it would be “congratulations” because I’m coming to a school that is so well established and has already achieved great things. But it has also potential to grow and develop and be even better. And I think ‘Aspiring to Excellence’ is exactly the right approach.

Please note that since January 2022, Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi has been known as Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science.

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The accreditation, which is awarded by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), means that Nanwai King’s joins the ranks of IB World Schools and is authorized to deliver the full IB Diploma Program.

The IBDP is an academically challenging two-year pre-university program for students in Grades 11 and 12. It is one of the most influential international education programs in the world and develops students intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically.

Students at NKCS will begin studying a bilingual Chinese and English version of the prestigious program from the start of the 2021 academic year. After earning the full diploma, they will be eligible to apply to the best international colleges and universities. The IBDP will be offered alongside the current A-level curriculum in the school’s international curriculum center.

High-quality teaching

Not only does the IBDP accreditation mean that senior NKCS students can gain another internationally recognized pre-university qualification, it also demonstrates the quality of teaching at Nanwai King’s.

“It can take a number of years for a school that hasn’t offered IB programs before to gain accreditation,” explains Dr John Kennard, executive principal of NKCS. “The fact we have gained the accreditation in just our second year of operation is remarkable. It’s testament to the experience and commitment of all staff involved in planning for and delivering the IBDP at Nanwai King’s.”

Staff at NKCS spent two years achieving the accreditation. The accreditation process has a number of stages that include preparing and submitting extensive documentation and hosting a visit to the school by the IBO. IB candidate schools must demonstrate that they can ensure the quality of the IB Diploma program offered.

The IBO ensures academic quality for all of its programs via a strict quality control system. IB authorization is not granted indefinitely – all IB schools are supervised by the IBO with Diploma programs needing to pass an evaluation and review process every five years. This ensures schools offering the IBDP maintain the IBO’s high standards and retain their authorization status.

Now that NKCS has achieved IB World School status, it will benefit from a variety of teaching resources and support from the IBO. This includes being able to participate in world-wide teaching forums, and communicating and sharing information/resources with other IB institutions around the world.

Please note that since January 2022, Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi has been known as Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science.

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“I’ve been worried sick,” says John Kennard, executive principal of Dipont Education’s school Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi. “I worry about the children; I worry about my staff. I really haven’t slept well over the last few months.”

Like many heads of schools in China and around the world, John’s sleepless nights are the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic that has closed schools and disrupted learning for millions of pupils.

For John, the trials and tribulations that would come to define the 2020 school year began when Nanwai King’s closed for the Chinese New Year holidays on 17 January. As many teachers, students and their families, including John, traveled across or out of China for the holidays, there were already signs that semester two would not resume as expected in February.

The outbreak of coronavirus in epicenter Wuhan was gaining pace, rumors of lockdowns were starting to swirl, and authorities were already moving to ensure schools remained closed after the holidays. But, as John reflects, no one at that stage really knew how long closures would last…

Learning under lockdown

The Chinese New Year vacation was spent hurriedly preparing for lessons to go online, with teachers and staff scattered across the world. Rapidly changing information about the situation was communicated to parents, while members of the school community wrestled with whether to return to Wuxi or stay put in holiday destinations. Wuhan and Hubei officially declared a lockdown on 23 January, setting the precedent for similar measures in other Chinese cities.

The new school semester began remotely on 10 February. By that time, John, his senior leadership team and many of the school’s teachers had managed to return to Wuxi and gone into strict lockdowns at their homes.

Those teachers who were back in the country were able to deliver live online lessons, mostly through video conferencing platforms Microsoft Teams and Zoom. In the early days of online learning, there were technical issues as the systems became overloaded with the sheer volume of traffic. Teachers had to adapt and experiment with the best way to deliver their classes and content. Videos, for example, were quickly abandoned as it became clear that sending and receiving them was too difficult.

Older pupils, for the most part, were able to cope with online lessons virtually all day. Things were more challenging with younger pupils, who were least able to sit on a computer all day. John admits the school did have to rely on parents and grandparents to help deliver learning activities to these age groups.

“While I think a lot of parents gained a greater appreciation of a teacher’s work, many did struggle with the technology and the sheer pressure of the situation,” says John. “We were in constant contact with families to offer support and advice on how to work with younger pupils. It was tough, especially for those parents who also had to work from home themselves.”

While many teachers managed to return to China, a percentage had got stuck outside due to the restrictions many countries placed on flights to and from China. The varying time zones that teachers found themselves in, along with a lack of equipment (many had gone on vacation and left laptops at home in China), caused the biggest issues.

Challenges were combated by teachers setting lessons via email, sending pupils work to be completed in their own time. Teachers actually found that some students excelled during these ‘email lessons’ as they were able to complete work at their own pace and did not have to cope with any shyness of interacting with peers in the classroom.

Others, however, understandably struggled with the virtual learning environment, missing the routines of school and face-to-face social interaction.

“Everyone missed their friends so much, they missed the teachers and the social side of school,” says John. “You just can’t replicate that online, so that was tough for a lot of pupils.”

Some things remain the same

Throughout the period of online lessons, while so much of pupils’ everyday life was different, John and his staff tried to keep some aspects of the school day reassuringly the same. Pastoral care, for example, remained an important part of teachers’ roles, as they supported pupils through the emotional and social challenges of life under lockdown.

At other times, regular house competitions and activities, such as online musical performances, were run to lift spirits and maintain a sense of community.

John believes that one of the most grounding activities during this time was the weekly flag-raising ceremonies. Usually held in the school’s auditorium on a Monday morning for the whole school, in confinement, the flag-raising was delivered via a pre-recorded video. Different teachers gave an online address at each ceremony, many of whom shared their experiences of the lockdown.

“We needed to show the children how everyone was dealing with the situation,” says John. “We had one teacher who gave an address from his home in Croatia, while another showed that he was at home and still doing his weight training. Another teacher was doing yoga exercises every day with their children. The children too were able to share their lives under lockdown – it was really meaningful to everyone.”

The flag-raising ceremony took place every week throughout the more than 12 weeks that online learning would last. As the situation intensified around the world and perhaps sensing what was to come, John was able during this period to persuade all of his teachers still outside of China to return to the country, despite difficult journeys and much anxiety about the situation in China.

“Getting staff to come back was challenging,” admits John. “At that point, there was a lot of fear about what was happening in China – coronavirus hadn’t yet started to affect Europe or the States. Teachers had family in their home countries asking them not to come back and I understood why people were reticent at that time.”

It required John to give teachers much reassurance about the actual situation in Wuxi, which in the end saw only a few hundred cases and no deaths. This, combined with, what John felt was, reliable and transparent information from local authorities, helped him to encourage everyone to return from far-flung corners of the world.

It was extremely fortunate that teaching staff at Nanwai King’s made this colossal effort. As China began to emerge successfully from the health crisis, on 29 March authorities suddenly declared the country’s borders shut to all foreigners, including those already in possession of a valid resident permit. Thousands of teachers found themselves stuck away from places of work. John believes that Nanwai King’s might well be the only school in China to have its full body of international teachers back in the country.

Getting back to ‘normal’

After passing a series of rigorous inspections by police, and health and education authorities, as well as submitting the travel and health information of every single one of the school’s 1,350 pupils and 180 teachers, and their families, the school was granted permission to commence reopening in March.

Nanwai King’s is around now two weeks into its new normality. A two-month staged return has seen pupils of different age groups slowly return to the school. Grade 9 was the first to arrive back on 30 March, with kindergarten pupils the last to come back, at the end of May.

“The children were so excited to be back,” says John, laughing at the happy memories. “It was very emotional to have everyone back together at last.”

The very planned, methodical return of pupils has given teachers and staff time to test the different safety measures that have been put into place. These include regular temperature checks for pupils and staff, strict dining regulations that require set meals to be pre-served to two diners per table (all of whom must face the same direction to eat). Classroom and PE lessons have to be socially distanced, while every classroom must be disinfected after every lesson.

The flag-raising ceremony that became an integral part of the school day during confinement has had to continue online, as congregating in groups of more than 50 is prohibited. Many co-curricular activities that would usually see pupils of different ages come together have had to be postponed or taken up online as mixing age groups is also not allowed. Admissions events for new parents have gone online or split down into smaller events every weekend.

It’s a lot to take on and the school remains in a period of learning and adjustment. Children understandably have been affected by their experiences and as each year group returned to school, they were given the opportunity to talk about things with teachers.

“The pupils have actually adapted to everything very, very quickly,” says John. “They’ve learned a great deal over the last few months about managing unexpected situations and building resilience.”

Parents of course have been apprehensive about their children going back to school, although John feels that, for the most part, they are supportive of schools reopening and face-to-face learning starting again.

He says it’s been fundamental for the school to engage with parents over the last few months, in order to reassure them and address any concerns. The school caters for 1,300 families and has parent support groups with representatives at different grade levels, who have been the liaison point between parents and the school.

Older pupils have generally been able to keep up to date with work, while teachers have submitted predicted grades for those who will not be able to sit external examinations. Perhaps, surprisingly, it’s the parents of younger children who are most concerned that they’ve missed out.

“It is difficult to reassure parents,” says John. “But it’s important for us to reiterate that children around the world are in the same situation. It’s hard but children will catch up.”

While schools in China settle into a slightly surreal new era, the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt. China’s borders are still closed and while there are positive signs that restrictions will be eased soon, allowing new teachers to enter the country, everyone is still waiting for further direction from the government and education authorities.

So, while it seems that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is over now for China, John’s restless nights may well continue as the entire world continues to recover from this most unprecedented of situations.

Please note that since January 2022, Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi has been known as Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science.

The post From online learning to a new normal: schools in China begin to reopen appeared first on Dipont Education.

Jeff Zhu, vice president at Dipont, responsible for the development of the schools, looks back over the first year and where the schools will go from here.

Dipont: Where are the schools now, in comparison to when they opened last year?

Jeff: When the schools opened in September 2018, they each had around 800 pupils. Now, in their second academic year, they have increased their enrolment figures to around 1,300 pupils each. This is remarkable because when we opened we weren’t sure whether parents in smaller cities like Hangzhou and Wuxi would respond to our hybrid model of internationalized education – there simply hadn’t been any schools like ours operating in those cities. Parents have been really enthusiastic about our educational approach and enrolment figures look healthy for next academic year too.

D: But the success of a school isn’t solely measured on enrolment figures, is it?

J: No, absolutely not. What’s been really heartening to hear is how our schools are having a transformative effect on pupils. Our model is very student-centered and responsive. We’re aiming to create a challenging – but supportive – environment. We’ve a lot of students who have transferred from other schools and many of their parents have told us that their child used to have to be dragged to school but that they now can’t wait to get to school because they enjoy it so much. That’s so encouraging to hear. We’ve heard the schools referred to as ‘smiling campuses’ because everyone, from pupils to teachers to visiting parents, is happy and enjoying their time there.

D: How do you plan to evaluate the schools’ ongoing success?

J: As well as ensuring that we’re creating nurturing, respectful and happy environments for everyone in our school community, ultimately success will be measured on where our pupils go after they graduate from us. We need to wait a few years before they are taking A-levels (and eventually the I.B.) but we’re hoping that by the time they are, having gone through our immersive bilingual system, that their English levels will be high or near-native. We would hope that they’ll achieve results that are on a par with pupils studying at the very best schools internationally. These results will enable them to study at the very best higher education institutions around the world.

D: What have been some of the challenges of the past year or so?

J: Language is an ongoing challenge – we’re trying to create an immersive bilingual environment, not just a Chinese school with some English classes added on. We’re teaching subjects and lessons in a mix of both Chinese and English. Obviously, Chinese is the first language of the vast majority of our pupils, so we need to ensure that they are learning what they need to while taking into account the difficulties of studying in another language. Some parents have expressed concern that their children are picking up subject content at a slower pace, especially in comparison to pupils studying in an all-Chinese environment, so we need to make sure we’re doing all we can to support students in their language learning. This includes increased English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction and adapting our curriculum model to reflect students’ learning pace. But, it’s early days yet and research shows that pupils in dual-language immersion programs can actually outperform peers who only study in one language. Our students will pick up their pace dramatically in the coming years and be extremely adept at working in the two languages – skills that will stand them in very good stead in the future.

D: How important is it that parents are supportive of what the schools are trying to do?

J: It’s absolutely crucial. By sending their children to our schools, parents are indicating that they’re supportive of our model. Indeed, many say that they love our vibrant, diverse and bilingual campus cultures. But, of course, we’re doing something very different and at times parents might struggle with that process, especially as it involves their children’s education. As we progress, working more closely with parents to explain what’s happening and to ensure their buy-in is going to be really important.

D: What’s next for the schools?

J: Well, there’s really such a lot still to do, it’s a journey of evolution for everyone involved. We’ll keep reacting and responding to challenges and opportunities as we move into a new phase of development, after our crucial first year. Each of the schools will continue to develop their own cultures and identities, staff will become more settled and experienced, and students more comfortable in the learning approach. We’ll continue to expand our provision and open up grade levels. Away from Hangzhou and Wuxi, we’re in the process of opening new schools in partnership with King’s College School, Wimbledon, in Chengdu and Changzhou. In addition, we’re well on our way to opening Shanghai Huaer College School Kunshan, which combines Chinese and American education. The demand for internationalized education in China is huge, we’re really just scratching the surface. There’s plenty to keep us busy for the next few years!

Please note that since January 2022, Shanghai Huaer Collegiate School Kunshan has been known as Dipont Huayao Collegiate School Kunshan.

Are you a teacher or education professional? Check out our vacancies page for the latest teaching jobs in China.

The post Two schools, one year in: a journey of evolution appeared first on Dipont Education.

King’s College School, Wimbledon, invites talented teachers to join the event and find out more about working within the growing family of King’s schools overseas.

The King’s College Schools overseas family includes RDFZ King’s College School Hangzhou and Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi, both developed in partnership with Dipont and opened in 2018. Both schools will be recruiting for kindergarten, junior and senior school teaching, heads of department and leadership posts beginning in August 2020.

Members of the schools’ senior leadership teams will be available on stalls to speak to attendees about working at our overseas schools. Speakers will include Andrew Halls, Headmaster of King’s College School, Wimbledon.

Event details

Date: Saturday, Dec. 14 2019
Time: 8.30am – 5pm
Venue: New Hall, King’s College School, Wimbledon, UK

To find out more information or to register for the recruitment event (deadline Dec. 6 2019), please email Oliver Knapman, recruitment manager, on oliver.knapman@dipont.com.

The post Recruitment event: King’s College Schools overseas appeared first on Dipont Education.

“Dipont Education opened two new schools in September 2018 that were set up in a unique partnership model with local government, two highly regarded Chinese schools (Nanjing Foreign Language School and The High School Affiliated to Renmin University), and King’s College School, Wimbledon.

“Nanwai King’s College School in Wuxi and RDFZ King’s College School in Hangzhou have opened with over 800 students and 700 students respectively and will each grow to over 3,000 students at capacity. Opening two large schools at the same time was certainly challenging, but it allowed the management team to combine efforts across the two campuses and collaborate on all the intricacies of set-up. The Founding Heads were in post 12 months before opening, with other senior team members joining throughout the year, which ensured a well-planned and strategic start to both schools for recruitment, student admissions and policy development. In terms of recruitment, the original plan was well laid out, but tweaked as necessary as the year progressed. We appointed over 260 expatriate teachers, Chinese bilingual teachers, and teacher trainees to start in August 2018.

“There is considerable demand from Chinese families for internationalized schooling and the opportunity for their children to become bilingual through this. This is tempered, however, with concern that their abilities in their first language are still well developed, that the rigors of the Chinese curriculum are maintained, and that they retain a strong sense of cultural identity. Government policy, particularly in the compulsory phase for Chinese curriculum education between 6 and 15 years of age, will obviously continue to affect how schools and education groups operate.”

Read the full article in International School Leader Magazine’s February 2019 edition.

The post “Considerable demand for internationalized schooling” appeared first on Dipont Education.