Good Teaching Does Not Happen by Accident: A Year of Professional Learning

Good teaching does not happen by accident. At Dulwich International High School Programme Suzhou, the teachers your children see each day devote considerable time to becoming better at what they do, and this year was no different from any other in that regard.

Here is what professional learning looked like this year, and why it matters for your child.

Knowing Every Child

One of our priorities this year was strengthening relationships. Children learn best when they feel known, secuted and confident that they belong. That sense of belonging helps create a calm, focused classroom.

Last October, education consultant Matthew Savage led a two-day workshop with our staff and students on wellbeing, belonging and “The Kind Art of Noticing”: the deliberate practice of seeing each child clearly, so that we can understand and support them well.

Dr Gou, from MindSpring, brought a more practical dimension of that same work, helping staff recognise when a young person may be struggling and respond with informed understanding rather than assumption.

A further eleven of our teachers attended a regional conference dedicated entirely to student wellbeing and returned with ideas we have since put into practice. Through our partnership with SENIA, a number of teachers also took part in specialised training in supporting all students, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).

The Craft Behind the Lesson

The other half of the story is the craft of teaching itself.

This academic year, twenty of our teachers attended Cambridge Assessment training in locations across China, covering a range of IGCSE and A Level subjects. The training deepened their understanding of assessment requirements and strengthened their ability to prepare students with clarity and confidence.

Every teacher worked through a course from the Evidence Based Education Great Teaching Toolkit. More importantly, they continued meeting throughout the year to compare observations, test new approaches, and evaluate what worked in their own classrooms. Together they logged 726 hours of learning on the platform. It represents a considerable collective commitment to improving classroom practice.

Bringing the World In

We were also privileged to welcome two visiting experts, who brought fresh perspectives to our teaching.

Joe Arkley, from the Royal Shakespeare Company, worked with staff on helping students speak up and communicate with confidence. Ron Lancaster, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto spent a day with our mathematics teachers exploring new ways to reveal the creativity, challenge and enjoyment within the subject.

Across three dedicated professional learning days, staff explore assessment, effective learning, English language development and active learning.

How a School Keeps Getting Better

Members of our leadership team continued their own development through Education in Motion(EiM)'s group-wide leadership programmes, National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) and coaching sessions. This sustained investment in leadership secures the school's long-term teaching excellence and educational innovation.

Much of this work happens beyond public view: in staff rooms, during professional learning days and in the thoughtful conversations that continue after lessons have ended.

It is part of what keeps teaching purposeful, responsive and grounded in care. Its impact is visible in the experience of your child has each day, where they Grow in Dulwich, Thrive in Life.