A Warm Welcome to More of Our High-Profile New Teachers!

We are truly delighted with the calibre, teaching quality, and commitment to our students demonstrated by the teachers who have joined Dulwich International High School Suzhou this year.  We are fortunate that our strong reputation internationally means that we are able to attract an exceptional standard of teacher to our school.  We then carefully onboard them, providing a strong programme of support, so that they are well-equipped to fully support our students.

     Teacher recruitment

As is the nature of international schools, each year a proportion of our faculty will, for a number of reasons, move away from Suzhou.  We are fortunate that the percentage of teachers moving on is far lower at DHSZ than at most other international schools in China and that the impact of COVID-19 on our recruitment has been minimal. 

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With up to 29 qualified applications for each position this year, our leadership team invest a lot of time in order to appoint teachers who we believe will expertly support each and every student at our school in achieving their potential.  The thorough selection process includes multiple interviews and reviews to carefully assesses educational background, experience, attitude, teaching skills and personal characteristics.  We personally speak with both principals and colleagues from schools where the prospective teachers have worked, along with their current school, in order to support our hiring decisions and ensure that we really have the best possible teachers in our school.

Our minimum standards for teachers include a post-graduate teaching certification and a number of years of teaching experience in highly regarded schools.  We carry out a comprehensive background review, including police and previous employer checks, to support our safeguarding aims.

Beyond this, we are looking for a number of characteristics, including a proven track record of excellent student learning and exam results, a passion for student success, and a willingness to understand and support each and every student.  Our teachers must be willing to contribute beyond the classroom, being active both in our Co-curricular programme and as members of the school community.

     Teacher induction and development

On arrival in our school back in July, the teachers followed a carefully designed induction programme to help them understand our school and students.  The highlight of the induction was a meeting with student leaders and representatives, enabling the teachers who have joined us to understand how they can support our students to fulfil their potential, developing in their English skills, academics, and overall qualities so that they are ready to thrive both in our school and at university.

The leadership team have since been busy observing the teachers in action, and are very pleased with the quality of teaching and learning that is taking place.  Through our professional learning programme, all teachers continue their work and research to strive to provide an even better learning experience for our students.

Below we’ll introduce some more of our new teachers’ background.

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