Dulwich Week Without Walls

As we support each student to ‘Graduate Worldwise,’ with a set of skills and attitudes that will lead to success at university and in life, it is crucial that students learn in the world beyond the confines of the classroom.  Whilst holistic learning takes place every day, in every lesson at Dulwich, this ‘whole child’ approach takes on an entirely new dimension in our ‘week without walls’.  During this week, students are given the opportunity to learn new skills in new environments, with a particular emphasis on strengthening their interpersonal and problem-solving skills.

Through these experiences, students are able to strengthen their relationships with each other and with their teachers, and build their confidence and self-esteem, which then has a positive impact on their learning back in the classroom, as well as improving their sense of belonging and wellbeing.  As a result of the ‘week without walls’, there has been a definite increase in energy in the school this week, with students having a noticeably more positive attitude towards themselves and each other as they approach their milestone assessments.

Field Trip to Battery Company and Steel Factory

The students in year 12 had an engaging, exciting and educational field trip on Monday 4th November to Suzhou Steel Factory in SND and Innovent Biologics Co. Ltd, SIP. The teacher chaperones who accompanied them were Mrs. Rama Chintapalli, Mr. Simon Huang and Mr. Xiao Jin. 

 Many of the students had an interest in Industrial Chemistry, so we took the students to the Suzhou Steel Factory. The tour began with a presentation which gave an introduction about the steel factory followed by a tour of their exhibition hall. After that we were taken for a tour around the factory to see the different units. The first one was Extraction of Iron from its ore, second one was Electric furnace bought from Germany and the third one was the steel manufacturing unit (making steel from iron). The students had a wonderful opportunity to take a look at and ask questions about the operations of the steel mill.  As we walked along, the security supervisor of the factory explained what was being done in each area. Students appreciated the heavy machinery used for various purposes in different units of the factory. Nearly all of the students had studied about blast furnaces in their IGCSE Chemistry class and had a working knowledge of that process, but students were amazed by the scope of the operation. Unfortunately, as the Production unit was closed for this week, the students didn’t get the opportunity of seeing the working of these heavy machinery.

he same students were taken to the Innovent Biologics Co Ltd., Suzhou. Innovent Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company. It develops, manufactures and distributes monoclonal antibody injection, protein drugs and other related products. Mr. Nelson Xu, the Alliance Manager and Ms Amanda Guo from the Innovent Business Development Department hosted our group of students. Mr. Nelson Xu took us through a tour of the Lobby. He gave the students a detailed description of the biopharmaceutical production facility and the process of manufacture of the drugs. Followed by this, Ms Amanda Guo hosted us through a tour of the Manufacturing Facility where the students were able to view the technological and analytical apparatus, utility systems, online monitoring systems and other equipment and facilities. 

It was very impressive to see our students asking many questions relating to chemistry, biology, physics, business strategies and the working of the various machines. This was truly a productive trip – fun as well as educational!

Cold Spring Harbour (CSH) DNA Centre

On Monday, 4th November 2019, twenty students signed up to travel to the Cold Spring Harbour (CSH) DNA centre in Suzhou. This was an excellent opportunity afforded to our biologists to perform genetics experiments which they cannot carry out in school. 

In the morning, students were introduced to two very important inventions in genetics, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and electrophoresis. Students were then given a chance to use their skills of collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking to answer a question we posed to them. “What is the most important discovery in the field of Biology?”. 

Working in smaller groups, students came up with their ideas and finally all twenty students presented their work to us. Students did very well in this task and made a strong presentation with lots of positive contributions. Mr. Gates and I (Mr. Deshpande), we were very impressed with what the students were able to produce in such a short amount of time. 

After lunch, students went to the DNA centre. In the DNA centre, students had a chance to test their own DNA, using their cheek cells. Students performed PCR and electrophoresis to find if they had the allele (version of a gene) which allowed them to taste bitter chemical called PTC. 

Students used equipment such as graduated pipettes, thermocycler, Eppendorf tubes and also learnt how to actually collect and process DNA. Students engaged very well with Dr. John Olson who taught them how to perform this experiment. On the side of this article, you can see the electrophoresis results for the students. In summary, students really enjoyed this trip and were glad for the opportunity to extend the learning beyond the classroom during our week without walls.

Hangzhou and Qian Dao Hu Trip

For this years ‘Week Without Walls’ our Year 10 and Year 11 students had the opportunity to be at one with nature in the amazing surroundings of Hangzhou and Qian Dao Hu (Thousand Island Lakes).  Whereas previous trips have focused on challenging students mentally and physically, this year students were encouraged to forge new and deeper relationships with their peers as well as with their Form Tutors. Students and teachers were able to actively engage in numerous team-building activities including kayaking, rock climbing, cycling, camping, hiking, raft building and scavenger hunts. The feedback from both students and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive, with many citing kayaking and raft building as their stand out activities.  Since the trip, teachers have already observed positive changes in their tutor groups and way that students are engaging with one another. Tutors have commented that the trip provided a deeper understanding of their tutees after spending time with them in a relaxing and fun environment.

“The best thing I will say it is the time we spend with our leader and friends”

“I had a great time with my teammates”

“I really enjoyed the kayaking. It was great for two people to enjoy the view on the lake”

Aficion Chocolate Factory

On 4th and 5th November, Economics department organized a field trip to Aficion chocolate factory in a town-like setting located in Jiaxing city. Over 130 students signed up for the trip and they watched the whole chocolate-making process and learnt about the history of chocolate as well as chocolate culture. Occupying an area of 28.7 hectares, the site was the first industrial tourism project in China. Sales, both in retail outlets and among visitors to the factory, hit 150 million yuan ($22 million) in 2017, just after two years of its operation. The business was set up by a young Chinese entrepreneur, Mr. Mo, who graduated from Boston University. Through this visit, the students also appreciate how government support can play such an important role in helping private enterprises to grow. They could also see how the project has created many job and business opportunities in the city.

When students returned from the overnight trips they were very tired, but full of inspiration and energy.  A group of Year 11 students explained how they had solved problems, overcome difficulties and understood themselves better as a result of their experience.  They were excited to tell me how they enjoyed the combination of challenge, teamwork, nature, and relaxation that the trips provided.  They particularly enjoyed the kayaking activity – “We had to work together in a new way when there were two of us in a boat.”  

In previous years, the school has linked our ‘Week without Walls’ to the International Award.  This year, we decided to separate these two programmes.  This enabled us to offer a far wider range of carefully chosen activities and experiences in our ‘Week without Walls’ programme in order that all students could benefit.  The International Award continues as a CCA programme, with exciting and challenging expeditions planned for participants in the spring.  We warmly welcome parent and student feedback on this new arrangement and our updated Week Without Walls activities -  comments can be made via the Parent Liaison team.