Dulwich Houses

The house system is a traditional feature of schools in England. In Dulwich College London, the house system was originally introduced in 1919. Almost 100 years later, DHSZ continues to carry on this fine tradition. All staff and students are placed into one of our four Houses when they join. The system is similar to the four houses of Hogwarts of Harry Potter fame!

The house system provides opportunities for students to grow and learn, in terms of personality, morality, creativity, knowledge and skills. The system promotes the values of fair play, teamwork, citizenship, mutual responsibility, as well as self-discipline, initiative, perseverance and resilience. It provides opportunities to take on responsibilities and brings everyone in the school together. In boarding, most of the students live on a house floor, which develops social solidarity; allowing students to feel a sense of belonging to something within their community. The house system is an integral part of life at DHSZ.

Our Houses, are named after three men who were contemporaries of Edward Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College. Edmund Spenser (our blue house), who is best known for writing The Faerie Queene poem, was actually a neighbor of Sir Walter Raleigh and it is implied that it was Raleigh (our red House) who persuaded Spenser to present this poem to Queen Elizabeth. Raleigh, was a writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville (our green House). Grenville was also a soldier and an explorer. These three men are all interconnected either by land or by blood and it’s that family element that we echo in our house system. Our final House (purple) is Fan House. Fan Zhongyan was widely respected as a great Confucian scholar.  

Throughout the year, there are many exciting house events that are enjoyed by staff and students. We don’t expect all students to participate in everything, but as there are events in numerous sports, drama, science, singing, art and computing we expect that every student enters at least one activity per year. A couple of years ago, a student had feedback in his university acceptance letter that indicated that they had been impressed by his house loyalty and participation in events. 

Co-Curricular Activity Programme has always been one of the highlights of Dulwich International High School Suzhou. The Co-Curricular Activity programme this year has over 80 teachers led CCAs, consisting of five mains areas. Participation in house activities contributes to excellence in academic, social, sporting areas. Here is what it means to a few of our staff and students.