Leadership Opportunities in the Senior School of Dulwich Puxi

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration.

When Dulwich College Puxi opened in 2016, the College quickly identified that leadership opportunities would play a key part in developing a highly successful school. Providing our students with the chance to be leaders and take on important responsibilities has and always will be a major feature of the College. It is a key element of the Dulwich Difference and we hope that all of our students in the Senior School are able to experience an aspect of leadership in their time at Dulwich Puxi.

There are leaders of our countries who try to make the correct decisions for the best of all of us. And there are leaders - such as your child’s teachers - who aim to inspire your child every single day, and ensure they are guided in the right way. In doing so, your child can become the best version of themselves. We want our senior student leaders at Dulwich Puxi to be role models who set the highest of examples to our younger pupils in the school. We want them to be model students who exemplify our College values of Aim high, work hard, be kind and respectful, and make a difference.

Alongside the wide range of excellent opportunities available to our students through the Co-Curricular Activity programme, the Electives programme and the House system our senior students have a number of leadership opportunities available for them to take advantage of. We want our students to leave Dulwich Puxi as confident, inspiring, driven young men and women who will make a difference in the world. Through the leadership opportunities we offer, we hope to be able to achieve this. Below is a flavour of some opportunities currently available to our students:

Head Student

The Head Student at Dulwich College Puxi is a significant role. To be eligible for the role, students in the Senior School should write a letter of application to the Head of College and Deputy Head of Senior School. Students are selected and then invited for a face-to-face interview with the College Leadership Team. Selected students are required to prepare for this interview (as they would for any real life job interview) and during the interview they are asked about their opinions and leadership approach towards various school related matters. The role of Head Student is a major honour - and will have a significant impact when the student is making an application to University, College or early employment. A Dulwich Puxi Head Student is expected to be a role model to all, to go above and beyond, and to always uphold the College values. She/he epitomises the school, and everything it stands for.

House Captain

The House Captain role is a highly significant and important role. To be the captain of your house and to follow in the footsteps of the previous House Captains at Dulwich Puxi is a great honour. To be selected as a House Captain, students should prepare and present a speech to their peers in their House, and then their House members will vote. The student who gains the most votes becomes the House Captain for the academic year ahead. The House Captain has a number of jobs and roles throughout the year. They are expected to lead their House, assist with organising activities, lead on assemblies, House meetings and be the point of call between the staff House Head and the students in the House. To be the House Captain for Earhart, Song, Shackleton or Yung is a prestigious honour.

International Award(Duke of Edinburgh Award)

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is about helping young people to be ready for their world. By completing the award students engage in voluntary service, they take part in physical recreation, discover personal interests and talents and learn about leadership. Young students become reflective, confident and engaged learners. At present all of our Year 10 students are completing the International Award. This will have a significant impact on their university application. The award is highly regarded by the top universities around the world, it was set up by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956 and is delivered to 14-24-year olds in 130 countries across the world inspiring millions of young people.

“Young people growing up in this modern and complicated world have many difficulties to face, and opportunities for personal achievement are often limited. At the same time, parents, teachers, voluntary organisation leaders and employers who recognise their responsibilities towards young people also have their challenges.”

“The Award is intended to help both the young as well as those who are concerned for their welfare. The object is to provide an introduction to worthwhile leisure activities and voluntary service, as a challenge to the individual to discover the satisfaction of achievement, and as a guide those people and organisations who would like to encourage the development of their young fellow citizens.” (Duke of Edinburgh)

Senior Student Council

The Senior Student Council operates each week during a designated lunchtime. The Head Student is the chair of the Student Council and the Council is overseen by a senior school leadership member of staff. The Student Council are the voice of the senior students. Since the College opening the student council have been responsible for developing the Mustangs sporting identity, they have set up bake sales to raise money for charity, contributed to the development of school uniform and sports kits as well as have input into the CCA programme. The value of being a member of the Senior School Council is that your child is the voice of the year group and they hold an important role in being able to share the ideas and views of others. This is a significant role and offers good leadership opportunity and responsibility.

Sports Leaders Award

Next year the PE team will be developing a sports leader’s award. The award will be for senior students and will focus on using sport and physical activity to help young people develop and hone their leadership skills whilst helping themselves and others to stay physical active. Students will learn how to coach, referee and organise activities applying and carrying these skills out with younger groups of students. The introduction of the sports leader’s programme will be an important step in the development of the senior school PE and sports programme and we are thoroughly looking forward to introducing this into the curriculum.

Personal Survival

Following the success of our personal survival programme for our Year 10 students at the beginning of this year we hope to be able to run the same course at the beginning of the 2020/21 school year. This course is a swim training award that students who are over 14 years of age can obtain. It is a highly recognised qualification and involves learning the skills to save a life in the water as well as first aid qualifications.

There are many other leadership opportunities at Dulwich Puxi, such as being captain of the school football team, being the lead performer in a show, taking on the opportunity to organise a house event and leading a student led CCA. The College is constantly looking to expand the leadership opportunities that we can offer as we strive to ensure our students leave Dulwich Puxi as confident, respectful, inspiring and highly motivated students that want to make a difference in the world.

Oliver Leaver
Assistant Head of Enrichment and Director of Sport