Meet 2020 Student Heads

At Dulwich International High School Suzhou, the Student Council is a student leadership organization, which is mainly responsible for advancing the school's internal changes. It organizes student activities and promotes autonomous management by student groups. The new heads of our student council are ambitious and confident in implementing their plans. They are: head boy Jeffrey W, head girl Olivia Y., deputy head boy Steven C. and deputy head girl Petty L. We interviewed them about why they ran for the heads of the student council, their plans going forward and their experience at Dulwich.

Why Did You Run for Head of Student Council?

Jeffrey said he wanted to make some changes to the school, especially in terms of physical and mental health of students. He hopes that by becoming the chairman of the student union, he can make students happier and enhance communication between students and teachers;

Petty felt that joining the Student Union was an honour when she was in the lower grades. Wearing a blue tie made her proud. After entering the upper grades, she hopes to help other students by becoming the chairman of the Student Union and giving herself a mission to communicate more effectively with teachers and students of the school.

Olivia wants to give back to the school and make it a better place by improving the physical and mental health of our students.

Steven said that when he first came to our school, he met the presiding student chairperson. The Senior student Nicole was fluent in English and expressed herself naturally and Steven longs to emulate this. After entering the 11th grade, he has a lot of suggestions for student activities. If you become the chairperson of the student union your ideas can become reality!

What is the Application Process for a Head of Student Council?

• Submit application
• Deliver a short presentation in front of the teachers and students. The student council will vote for 8 candidates.
• After interviews with the leaders of the previous student council and school leadership, The Head is Selected.

How Did You Stand Out from the Others?

Jeffrey is charismatic and was very confident in the interview, and he expressed his ideas and plans effectively in his presentation.

Petty is perceived as thoughtful by her classmates; she had a good plan and was able to express it clearly. She put forward the idea of improving the morning meetings.

Olivia has excellent grades (she won the best grades in economics in the country). Her application was very logical and contained the outline of her idea of improving students' physical and mental health, by enhancing teacher-student relationships.

Steven has excellent grades (he won the best grades in the country in mathematics.). He was a student ambassador and took part in the Model United Nations. The school leaders had a good impression of him. In addition, during the interview, he put forward some ideas of his own, such as encouraging students to speak English during all internal communications in the student union. The second is to add Dulwich decorations to the Dulwich campus and dormitories.

What are Your Plans as Student Heads?

During the epidemic, the Student Union organized a wellbeing challenge, with a new theme each week, encouraging students and teachers to submit photos related to the theme with a winner selected every week. (please see: 德威学生会发起每日健康挑战 | Daily Wellbeing Challenges). The participation of students and teachers was very high, with dozens of submissions every day. Such activities not only enhance the relationship between teachers and students but also helped students and teachers to deal with negative emotions.

The chairpersons of the student union generally meet once a week to discuss new plans and perform tasks assigned by the teacher. At the beginning of this semester, the Student Union promoted a plan to improve the morning meeting. During the morning meeting, a series of innovative activities were held. September 4th was the first activity. They held a fun learning English activity in the school auditorium, played a game of drawing and guessing in the library, and played a game of “Werewolf” in the gym. They will continue to advance the improvement plan to help students build a closer relationship with their teachers by increasing one-on-one communication opportunities. Making the students' morning meeting more fulfilling will prepare them better for the day ahead.

The internal structure of the Student Union currently consists of three departments:

• The Liaison department
• The Activity department
• The Physical and Mental Health department.

On the 4th of September, the Student Union held a team-building activity. They made a mini-game to introduce these departments. The idea was to help members of the Student Union understand the functions of each department, as well as enhancing the friendships and relationship between members.

Attending The Dulwich Student Leadership Conference

In January 2020, they participated in the Dulwich Group’s student leadership meeting. They had to communicate with other student leaders in the Dulwich Group whose first language was English. (please see: 2020学生领导力会议在上海举行 | Student Leadership Conference 2020) This proved to be very helpful in improving their English ability. In addition, they also discovered ways to improve their own leadership, by using team building activities, different ways of voting, and developing public speaking skills.

What’s it Like Studying at Dulwich?

The common feeling of the four students is that the teachers in the school are very responsible. For example, during the epidemic, when they were studying online, although the teachers were in different time zones, they were able to respond to students' questions in a timely manner. The school’s facilities are very good, equipped with a fresh air system so that students can breathe fresh air even when the air quality is bad outside. The school provides many opportunities for students. For example, in the Global Citizenship Project, Mr Gates provides many opportunities to cultivate students' leadership skills and insights. The Farmbot project proposed a construction plan for the eco-park this year, which will be rebuilt and upgraded in the next three years.  Due to the epidemic, the annual sales volume of the yearbooks produced by the students is higher than that of previous years.

How Did the School Management Support You?

They feel that Teachers have given their full support to the action plan. Mr Garnhum, the deputy director of student life, is always ensuring they get the help they need. They feel that if their requirements are reasonable, the teachers will try their best to satisfy them. In this way, the school really puts the concept of the student first into action.

Why Did you Choose Dulwich?

Jeffrey: From a public school in Shanghai, I chose Dulwich because I found that Dulwich’s teachers are very friendly, with a high proportion of foreign teachers and very advanced facilities.

Petty: I am from Hangzhou. I came to Dulwich because of recommendations from junior high school students. I liked Dulwich’s environment and atmosphere when I came to the exam and felt that I was more motivated to study here.

Olivia: From a public school in Suzhou, after learning about international schools, she thinks Dulwich was her best choice.

Steven: From a public school in Suzhou. The reason for choosing to come to Dulwich is the school's cutting-edge facilities and abundant activities. Compared with the previous school, Dulwich gives students more free time and provides a variety of co-curricular activities.

They all said that they would like to have more free time when they started. Learning is not a passive thing, but something that needs to be done with initiative. Active learning allows students to focus their thoughts and derive a sense of accomplishment. If they can arrange their study and leisure time reasonably, they can live more easily. Dulwich’s teachers are also friends and mentors, allowing them to maintain a positive attitude towards study and live happily.

Advice for Younger Students

Develop good behaviour, especially after entering the student union, each member is a role model for other students

Olivia's favourite sentence is "Don't change for the sake of change". Change must be constructive.

Make full use of the opportunities and teacher resources provided by the school. Whether you are participating in an activity or launching an activity yourself, everyone should be brave enough to try. You can ask teachers from all over the world about academic or university suggestions and subject knowledge and let High-quality teachers help you broaden your horizons.