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.

The post Pastoral Care: Helping students be their best appeared first on Dipont Education.

Ahead of presenting at the Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science Online Recruitment Open Day on Saturday, November 5 , we spoke with Amy about how early years education can change the world for the better.

1. What first attracted you to the field of early years education?

I studied to be a music teacher and, during my studies, I had an experience that really shaped my future direction.

I had a placement in an outreach program for young offenders. That was challenging, inspiring, and also a little confronting.

It was inspiring because there was just so much talent and energy in the room. But it was also confronting to be working with these young lads, 18-21 year olds, and realizing that my music class really wasn’t going to make a big difference to them, to their lives, and to the world.

They enjoyed the class, but there was little chance that it was going to make a real difference to the cycle of reoffending and bad choices that had put these unfortunate guys in this position.

That is really what turned me on to early year’s education. I did some research and realized that it’s in the early years that important skills like self-regulation really develop.

If you can help children to understand who they are and what their strengths are, and how they can understand themselves and others better, then you can really make a huge difference to their lives and improve their chances of success in adulthood.

2. Is self-regulation just about stopping yourself from doing bad things, or is there more to it than that?

It is a lot more than that. It includes how you think about yourself, how you manage yourself, and how you control yourself.

You might have to perform a task that you don’t like. How do you apply yourself to tasks like that? Can you say to yourself, “Come on, let’s just do this, it needs to be done”? Sometimes you’ve got choices, and sometimes you haven’t got choices.

Another example is when you are placed in situations that you don’t like. Are you able to get yourself out of it? Do you throw a tantrum, or are you able to control your response?

Self-regulation means something different in every space, and in every different age phase.

A lot of our high school students are good examples of what happens when good habits of self-regulation have been instilled at a young age.

Often if they do well on exams, it’s not just because they’re naturally wildly gifted. It’s because they work hard and manage how much time they spend on their study.

Self-regulation just trickles up into so many things.

In every six months of your life, it will be relevant in a very different way. You develop the foundation for this in your early years.

3. How does working in early years here compare to working in early years in the UK?

I think early years programs here are often a lot bigger, particularly if you’re in a local environment. Our early years department here has 300 students, which is way more than you would expect to find in the UK.

The best part about that is that our building is so beautifully designed that you almost don’t notice that there are so many kids in it.

There are also about 50% of parents who are really fixated on the academic assessment of their children, and then you’ve got the parents who are just like, well, it’s just playing, and it really doesn’t matter.

I think that’s more common in parents in the UK. They tend to be more relaxed about it. The ideal is somewhere in between, with parents realizing the importance of early year’s education while at the same time not being so over-zealous about strictly academic results.

Looking ahead, China is working hard to incorporate more experiential learning and active learning in schools, which is great.

It’s about students from a young age learning about working together and controlling their own destiny. These are exciting times to be working in early year’s education in China.

4. What are the characteristics you need to be a successful early years teacher at Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science? 

I think you need to have a fairly open mind. I don’t think there’s anybody in our school who is doing everything the way that they would have done it in a previous environment.

We are not here to colonize as international teachers. Neither are we here to do things exactly the same way that a large majority of local kindergartens would do it.

What we do as a department is find the approach that we think is developmentally appropriate for our students. That takes a lot of conversation.

People don’t always agree with each other, but it’s really interesting to watch people have these conversations, then step away from them, and then go back to them with a totally different mindset about the issue.

5. What do you find most satisfying about your work?

I think hearing that kids you taught before are going well. It’s great to see that what you are doing is making a difference.

I recently had a grandmother of one of my former students call me to say that her granddaughter got Star of the Week. She was really excited about that. It was just so nice that she thought to share her excitement with me.

I’ve also been contacted with news that a former student had been successful at a high school fencing tournament, or big life events like the first day of university. When parents share these important moments with you, you realise how much your work is valued by them. More than that, though, you realise the difference your efforts have made to improving your student’s lives.

As an early year’s teacher, it’s important to try and find meaningful ways to connect with the whole school. We do what we do so that everything that comes later is easier for these children.  I think that’s just really fulfilling.

You see our students having a great time. You see their parents feeling comfortable and safe. And then you watch them go on in their studies and continue to have a great time. That’s all you need, isn’t it?

The post Exciting Times for Early Years appeared first on Dipont Education.

Brendan will join us in China in August 2022, taking over from Dipont’s Director of Education, Peter Derby-Crook, who stepped in to lead the school this academic year. In having worked with Brendan previously, Peter is utterly delighted: “We really couldn’t have wished for a better leader, in Brendan, to take this amazing school forward in its next stage of development. I can’t wait to see how the school evolves further under his guidance.”

Brendan brings with him a very impressive portfolio of achievements in international education, but this role provides a new type of challenge: “I’ve not worked in China before, and I’m fully aware that there will be a great deal I need to understand swiftly.

“The chance, however, to develop a young school with such prestigious foundations, already catering for nearly 2,000 students, with the added challenge of blending both Chinese and international educational models, will be such a professionally rewarding experience. I can’t wait to meet the whole school community who have contributed so much already.”

A legacy of success

Currently the Director General of Misk Schools, Brendan has responsibility for providing leadership in all aspects of the school’s operation. He brings over 35 years of international educational experience and is using it to shape and guide his team so that together, they can deliver the school’s ambitious vision for a new paradigm in Saudi education, as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Misk Foundation and KSA’s Vision 2030.

“The chance to develop a young school with such prestigious foundations with the added challenge of blending both Chinese and international educational models will be such a professionally rewarding experience.”

Brendan joined Misk Schools in August 2019 from GEMS Education in Dubai, where he had responsibility for a portfolio of 14 British premium schools across the UAE and Africa.

Prior to his role at GEMS, Brendan was Director of Education at The Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) in Abu Dhabi, and Founding Headmaster of its flagship school, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, which he launched in 2014.

Under his vision and direction, Cranleigh became a multi-award-winning school, securing New British International School of the Year 2017 as well as a number of other accolades in recognition of the school’s creative curriculum and outreach programs. Prior to his time with TDIC, Brendan established and led Brighton College Abu Dhabi as Founding Headmaster. Based on the significance of his work in Abu Dhabi, he was listed as a UAE Education Influencer 2017 by WhichSchoolAdvisor.com.

“I’m at my best when I am building teams and galvanizing them behind a shared and inspiring vision. Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science has a bold, forward-thinking set of goals.”

Brendan began his career in 1985 in South Africa from where he moved to Sweden as private tutor to the President of SAAB’s children. His next career step was to the UK and into the independent boarding school sector. He joined Bedford School in 1995 to teach English and sports, where he also held the roles of Senior Boarding Housemaster and Acting Registrar. In 2003, he was appointed Headmaster at Westbourne House School where, during his eight-year tenure, the school grew by 33% and achieved record results.

Breaking new ground in China

Brendan is thrilled at the prospect of bringing his energy, talent, experience and expertise to his new posting.

As he says: “I’m at my best when I am building teams and galvanizing them behind a shared and inspiring vision. Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science has a bold, forward-thinking set of goals. I am greatly honored and privileged to be joining a team that is already delivering innovation in the classroom and to know that together, we are on an extraordinary journey to break new ground in K–12 education in China.”

Brendan will be joining Dipont alongside his wife, Linda, and we wish them both every success for this exciting new chapter of their lives.

The post New Executive Principal for Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science appeared first on Dipont Education.