How Kindness Shapes Confident, Caring Students | 友善力量：培养自信有爱心的学生
Is school about more than lessons and knowledge? At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, we believe it is. Children spend a significant part of their day at the College, so we want it to be a place where they grow not only in what they know but in how they treat others.
Kindness sits at the heart of everything we do. Be Kind and Respectful Together is one of our core values, shaping students as compassionate and thoughtful global citizens.
Everyday Kindness
Creating a Culture of Care
Kindness shows itself in everyday actions. In Senior School, the Kindness Wall invites students to write notes of appreciation, encouragement and gratitude to their peers. Seeing a note on the wall can lift spirits for the rest of the week and reinforces the power of peer support.
In Junior School, Compliment Cubes encourage students to notice and celebrate acts of kindness around them. Finding a note in their cube is often the highlight of a student's day. Simple gestures — holding the door, leaving a note, sharing a smile — teach that we are part of a community and that each action matters.
World Kindness Day
Learning to Be Kind in Every Space
At DUCKS and Junior School, World Kindness Day offered playful and meaningful ways to explore kindness. The day began with an assembly emphasising the importance of care in all interactions.
Activities included:
Letter-Writing to Future Selves: Students wrote promises of kindness to their future selves, to be returned at the end of the school year.
Planting Activity: Students linked kindness to caring for the environment, learning that nurturing growth in nature mirrors the care we show to others.
Kindness is not about better grades or 'being productive.' It is about noticing others, listening, helping without being asked, and celebrating someone else's success. These qualities — character, compassion and heart — matter far more than any test score.
Kindness Beyond Campus
Community Partnership and Service
Kindness extends beyond the school walls. Dulwich Puxi students put lessons into action in the wider community.
Heart to Heart (H2H) Partnership: Proposed by student Bella T-B last year, this initiative began this year with students sorting vital medical supplies. Year 6 students contributed 'Heart & Hands' Artwork for the charity exhibition and auction, supporting 7 children in need of life-saving heart surgery. At the Winter Fair, students ran stalls to raise awareness, combining creativity, care and initiative.
Guosong Nursing Home Visits: Students performed for seniors, with individual and group pieces by the school string quartet, creating moments of connection across generations.
The Impact of Kindness
Kindness is central to developing global citizenship, alongside learning in academics, arts and sports. At Dulwich Puxi, we embed it into everyday teaching and interactions, not just special events.
Kindness requires courage, especially when it is easier to look the other way. Teaching children to act with integrity and empathy builds strength that carries into all areas of life. Through these initiatives, students see how even small actions can make a difference. When children lead with kindness, they are already shaping a better world.
Discover Dulwich Puxi: Join us at our Open Days to see how kindness is lived every day.
