Dulwich College Puxi Leads on Wellbeing at IB Global Conference

From 26 to 29 March 2022, Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi took the lead on wellbeing at the IB Global Conference, hosted in Singapore, under the banner of ‘Embracing Innovation, Inspiring Action’.  Jessica Ivey, Senior School Wellbeing Curriculum Coordinator, KS3 Mentor and Drama Teacher, and Francine Hearn, Assistant Head of High School, took to the virtual stage to talk about how Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi is leading the way on student wellbeing, and provided an opportunity for reflection on the state of wellbeing in schools in the 21st century.

Ms. Hearn highlighted the urgency of prioritising wellbeing, especially in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, arguing:

• Research demonstrates that wellbeing has become increasingly important, particularly in a post-COVID world
• Global depression is the leading cause of mental health conditions, and this begins in adolescence
• Conclusive evidence in several systematic reviews have emerged highlighting the negative impact COVID-19 has had on adolescents
• Teachers are the most influential and powerful factor in an education environment, impacting on more than academic success

She went on to articulate the journey that Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi has taken to generate a sense of urgency around wellbeing, and to implement a world-class wellbeing programme that is effective in supporting our students.

Ms. Ivey entered the conference with the following aims;

• Allow conference participants to reflect on how wellbeing is being implicitly and explicitly defined and taught in schools delivering the IB Diploma Programme
• Provide an environment for conference participants to learn and apply tools and ideas from other schools to improve their understanding of student needs
• Share ideas on how educators can integrate wellbeing lessons more fully into the IB Diploma Programme CAS

The Dulwich College International family of schools is a values-based organisation with the aim of having every student that leaves our College equipped to Live Worldwise. This means that whilst in our care, we provide them with the skills and motivation to make a positive difference in the world. Using this as a foundation, we created our three pillars of wellbeing:

• Service Learning: Recognising our privilege and using it to help others in the local and global community.
• Life Skills: Preparing ourselves for the next stage of our lives with knowledge and practical application.
• Mental Health and Resilience: Our ability to recognise and identify positive and negative signals of mental health in ourselves and others and learning strategies on how to cope with challenges that may lie ahead.

Planning a successful wellbeing curriculum involves three areas: being proactive, being reactive and being reflective. Proactive in recognising trends in year groups, such as exam stress in Year 11, and planning for what they may need. Reactive in preparing flexible time in the curriculum for addressing problems and concerns that may arise. And reflective in using student and teacher feedback from past sessions to see what can be kept and improved.

Ms. Ivey took the opportunity to outline one of the world-leading technologies Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi have employed to improve student wellbeing, AS STEER:

STEER Tracking measures how each student self-regulates four factors: Self-Disclosure, Trust of Self, Trust of Others and Seeking Change. STEER Tracking provides us with data that we use to support each student based on individual insights and develop personalised strategies for that young person. We run AS STEER assessments for our students three times a year to track how our interventions are working, and analyse patterns within our cohorts.

We are grateful to Ms. Ivey and Ms. Hearn for taking the lead on wellbeing, and sharing the excellent work that Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi has done in establishing a culture of wellbeing, aligning with our core pillar, Students Come First.