The New Director of Dulwich International High School Suzhou: Sarah Tielman

Nine years ago, Dulwich International High School was founded in Suzhou. Since then, our school has gradually become the leader in international education in Suzhou and enables our students to follow their dreams of truly international education.

Five years ago, our school expanded in scale and relocated to SIP, where it became the dream school of many children. Dulwich International High School Suzhou welcomes its third foreign director, Sarah Tielman. Our school is about to enter its first decade. How will Sarah lead teachers and students? What changes will she make at Dulwich International High School Suzhou?

Sarah Tielman - Director of Dulwich International High School Suzhou

• A Bachelor of Arts (majored in Asian Studies) from the University of Western Australia.
• A Graduate Diploma in Education, a Post Graduate Diploma in Asian Studies and a Master of Arts from Murdoch University, Australia

Before she came to Dulwich International High School Suzhou, Sarah has had nearly 20 years of experience as a teacher, school leader and teaching consultant. She served as the principal of an international school in Indonesia and a large private school in Australia. She is a true expert in the field of international education.

Sarah is passionate about education. She is also organized and shared a lot of her own ideas.

International Education ≠ Overseas Education

Not long after joining Dulwich International High School Suzhou, Sarah used "lucky" to describe her initial experience with Dulwich students. She felt lucky because every student she met here had a great enthusiasm for both life and learning. They were eager to receive a first-class international education. They were highly motivated and had outstanding thinking skills.

Sarah was impressed by the way student council members conducted themselves in the regular meetings they had with teachers. They always put forward reasonable, constructive and feasible suggestions to improve the study and quality of life of students. Using this approach, they were able to create a bridge between students and faculty in order to carry out actionable improvements.

Sarah believes that the purpose of education is to cultivate comprehensive abilities. In her opinion, international education is not equal to overseas education and is different from Western courses. Education cannot be quantified by just one system of academic courses; it must also encompass moral and aesthetic education and must pay great attention to the physical and mental development of students.

International education is not "exclusive from local education". Sarah has a background in Asian Studies, said that Chinese culture is very extensive and profound. International students in China need to understand their own culture. Every graduate going abroad should have his/her own individuality and strong foundations. International education must respect the uniqueness of every student and guide them to think about their life direction and interests. This applies equally to the international curriculum, international culture, international rules and international values. Therefore, our school needs to bring internationally recognized teaching content and standards to our students, so that they can experience a different form of education, understand the world, look at the world with a broader vision, and connect with it.

Our deep connection with Dulwich College International provides our students with a wealth of International exchange opportunities that allow them to connect with the world. Since its establishment, Dulwich College and its educational partner, Dulwich College International, have provided education to more than 10000 students worldwide.

On the 400th Anniversary celebrations of Dulwich College, Dulwich held the Dulwich Olympiad: A grand gathering covering the whole school family on sports, drama, music and art.

45 students from Dulwich International High School Suzhou travelled to London to participate in this grand event. It included an outstanding sports competition, a fascinating drama performance as well as music and arts.

The world should be colourful. It is not just one colour

Sarah said that as an international high school, it is necessary for students to get the best academic results they can in order to get into the best universities. One of the reasons why Dulwich International High School Suzhou can maintain its competitiveness in the international education market in Suzhou is its excellent academic achievements.

What is more valuable is that Dulwich International High School Suzhou is dedicated to real inquiry-based education, which guides students to carry out inquiry-based learning, giving them full moral and aesthetic care, which promotes their all-round development. Sarah said that she firmly believes that children's comprehensive competitiveness needs to be cultivated in both academic courses and extracurricular activities, which complement each other.

By paying close attention to the provision of high-value academic courses, Dulwich has focused on the development of music, arts, sports and other courses. There are many challenging activities, such as the International Award, the Dulwich Shakespeare Festival, the World Scholar’s Cup, and the Dulwich Climate Conference.

Sarah believes that rich Co-Curricular activities are a channel to find more possibilities for students. Through them, they can cultivate their interests, develop a spirit of innovation, self-learning ability and team cooperation skills. The complexity of the world requires many life skills to fully appreciate. If a person has developed a continuous interest in learning and has the ability to learn continuously, he or she will be able to make progress at University, work and life, because in any era, these are the skills you need to succeed.

Therefore, Sarah said, "Dulwich’s biggest advantage is to give students more choices. We hope our student can shine in any school in the world.”

Teaching by example: Committed to cultivating "global citizens"

Throughout the interview, Sarah referred to "global vision" and "world-mind", which is consistent with our school’s vision of "cultivating global citizens with the motivation and ability to make positive changes in the world" and in line with Dulwich International High School Suzhou’s value of “grow in Dulwich, thrive in life”.

Sarah said that both Dulwich International High School Suzhou and the entire Dulwich College International group attach great importance to a project called global citizenship. This project aims to encourage students to understand that everyone on earth is closely related. That everyone can make a positive impact on the world through their own choice.

At Dulwich International High School Suzhou, the concept of global citizenship permeates our daily life. Take, for example, the implementation of the environmental protection concept – At our school, you hardly ever see drinking water in disposable plastic bottles.

Over time, students can gradually be affected and know that although they are in China, they are also citizens of the world. They need to pay attention to environmental pollution, poverty, global warming, education for all, world peace and equality.

Up to now, the global citizen project of Dulwich International High School Suzhou has developed seven detailed service projects, including Art Without Walls, Embracing Suzhou Culture, Lungs and Love, Dulwich Medical Program, Grasp, Ripple and Talk2U.

Due to their participation in the charity project “Embracing Suzhou Culture”, students from our school spent time as tour guides and assistants at Suzhou Museum. Three students were selected as representatives of Dulwich International High School Suzhou and met with the mayor and his wife. At the end of the visit, in order to express their appreciation for them, the mayor and his wife presented three Dulwich students with an Enamel Badge engraved with the crown of York City, which was a beautiful souvenir of this unforgettable day.

Stand firmly and fight steadily and sprint for the tenth year

This year, under the cloud of a global epidemic, international schools all over the world are facing many challenges. Sarah admitted such pressures did exist at our school. Many international examinations were suspended and teachers and students were forced to separate in the first half of the year. Fortunately, Dulwich International High School Suzhou has prepared well.

Sarah said that during the most serious stage of the epidemic, Dulwich International High School Suzhou delivered first-class online teaching. Due to our school’s professional IT systems, all courses were carried out well. At the same time, the school regularly arranged online teaching training for teachers to ensure our students' had the best online class experience possible.

This year, in order to help with the stress of our students and pay attention to their physical and mental health, we have also added personnel in the social and emotional consultation department.

Dulwich International High School Suzhou benefits from the support resources of the entire Dulwich College International group. This year, we were able to provide students with an online international exchange and learning opportunities programme. When collaborating with our Sister School at Dulwich College Suzhou, our students enjoyed a campus sports meeting. This went some way to make up for our students' regret that they could not go abroad to experience an exchange first-hand.

The 9th Year is a challenging time in the operation of Dulwich International High School Suzhou. Sarah said that the whole school team is making solid preparations for the 10th year of the school. Next year, she will create a new strategy for students' academic courses and extracurricular activities, and actively cooperate with more top universities around the world. She is also very much looking forward to her future at Dulwich International High School Suzhou and her life in Suzhou!