Cultivating Lifelong Leadership Skills in DCB Junior School and Beyond

Have you ever wondered how we can help children to develop essential leadership skills?  

At Dulwich College Beijing Junior School, we share our parents’ aspiration to empower our students to become confident and capable leaders. We understand the importance of fostering these skills from a young age. But how can we, as a school, support this journey?  

Leadership is about inspiring and guiding others towards a shared goal. It encompasses qualities like teamwork, communication, empathy, resilience, and much more. At DCB, diverse experiences inside and outside the classroom support students as they cultivate leadership skills.

At DCB, we provide our community with a clear roadmap for students to develop their leadership skills, from Year 1 to Year 13 and beyond graduation. Our Student Leadership Development Roadmap outlines the various leadership groups that students can join, and, importantly, the student leadership capabilities that existing and aspiring student leaders should demonstrate as they grow into confident, effective leaders.

We are proud to announce that a new leadership group called Student Ambassadors will begin in Term 2 of this academic year. These student leaders will lead visits around our campus, speak at important events, and be role models for our current and future students.

Here is a brief overview of our 6 existing Junior School Student Leadership Groups for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Our Junior School Student Leadership Groups

1. Student Council

Students elected to the Student Council represent student interests and concerns. They work on projects that reflect the needs of their classmates, and then collaborate with their peers to help solve the needs of their classmates and make our great school even better. Being part of the Council not only helps our students to develop leadership skills, but it also supports the development of a democratic mindset and approach.

Alexander W: What I love about being in the Student Council is that I am able to make some positive changes in our school that make our school better. This is my 2nd year in the Student Council, so I really like it!

2. House Captains

Our House system fosters a sense of community and belonging within our student body, which is why some of our most exciting events at the school are also House competitions. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the role of House Captain is a much coveted one, with students putting in their names and crafting speeches to vie for the honour of representing their respective Houses.

In addition to representing and leading their Houses and helping develop House Spirit within their groups, our House Captains are important leaders who help their Housemates and in turn our community to develop teamwork, camaraderie, and school pride.

Charlie Z: What I like about being a House Captain is representing my House and looking at all the House Points the students collected during the week. It makes me feel happy!

Kwun Ting L: What I like about being a House Captain is being a role model for my House and collecting points for my House. This gives me the feeling that I am helping my House to win the House Cup. 

3. Junior School Prefects

Junior School Prefects have the opportunity to develop school improvement projects over the course of 1 academic year. Prefects work closely with our Year 12 to Year 13 Community Link Prefects on the following projects:

• Global Citizenship: How might we become positive change agents in our community?
• Wellbeing: How could we develop social & emotional wellbeing in JS?
• Peer teaching: How could JS students share skills they have learned and teach these to younger students in our school?

Amelia T: Being in the Prefects taught me how to compromise, to listen to different ideas and opinions from people of many cultures into one magnificent creation. It has honed my skills in debating, deciding, and discussing proposals made by my peers. Listening carefully during meetings is very important, not only because it shows respect (one of the DCB values), but it makes others feel included. One of the things I learned was that you should treat others how you want to be treated.  

Allison T: Being in Year 6 Prefects helped me to express my opinions better as we get to discuss and share with everyone even if the idea wasn't that good. I also like how everyone is kind and respectful with each other, which gives the members of Prefects more confidence and makes them feel included.

4. Dulwich Dudes Magazine

Led by Year 13 and Year 6 Student Leaders, our Dulwich Dudes Magazine journalists speak to the different members of our community to share their thoughts and opinions about our school’s activities and more. Now in its 3rd year, Dulwich Dudes Magazine has published 5 print magazines, half a dozen videos, and over 50 episodes of our Dulwich Dudes Podcast! As a part of this group, DDM members not only promote events and initiatives around the school, but also develop media literacy and communication competencies that they can use throughout their life.

Kayla Z: I really like writing and I really enjoy the sensation of typing. I like working together to create an issue.

Yuju L: I like being in the Dulwich Dudes Magazine because I like writing articles for our print issues, recording podcasts almost every week and seeing how people, especially my friends, react to what we make. My favourite is designing the print issues.

5. Junior Masters in Technology (JMIT)

Junior Masters in Technology, or JMIT, is led by Senior School Student Leaders. In JMIT, students not only become tech wizards for Junior School, but also impart their knowledge with our community and become Digital Citizenship Champions.

Evan Z: First, I could learn about cyberbullying, passwords and other things. Also, I love to learn these things because they are very useful. JMIT let us learn in fun ways!

6. Model United Nations

Our Model United Nations (MUN) student leadership group learn important information about the UN, how it works, and what it means to be a part of this international organisation. Students learn to listen actively, take part in debates, and hone their persuasive writing and speaking skills as they simulate events and meetings that could take place at the UN.

Elisabeth V: MUN means Model United Nations and this is an opportunity for your learning about the debates of different countries and states.

Student leaders that have been elected or selected to one of our Junior School Student Leadership roles can then be considered for our new EiM Junior School Student Leadership Journey programme.

EiM Junior School Student Leadership Journey

Our EiM Junior School Student Leadership Journey programme gives student leaders from DCB and other EiM schools in Shanghai, Suzhou, Xian, Seoul, Singapore, Bali, and more, to connect with each other during online sessions and in person during our annual conference, collaborate on leadership projects, and develop an action plan to improve a SMART goal of their choice that will have a positive impact on their community.

Elisabeth V: EiM Journey is a very amazing student leadership role. It can help your learning skill about talking and different skill from different schools.

At Dulwich College Beijing, students have a wide range of opportunities to develop their leadership capabilities. As our young people grow into confident, effective leaders, they acquire the skills to become resilient lifelong learners and leaders, and not only Live WorldWise, but also LEAD WorldWise.