April 2019
FOUNDATION
SKILLS IN OUTDOOR
EDUCATION
page 16
WHAT MAKES
AN EDUCATION
HOLISTIC?
page 4
ANNUAL
REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS
page 6
I’ve had a lot of good fortune in life, I’ve made my own
opportunities where I can, and I have a duty, like everyone else,
to give a little something back. I realised very early on that if I
want change, I need to be the one driving that change.”
Richard Kuppusamy '95
Architect and President of Singapore DPA
Read more on page 22
02
REFOCUSING
OUR
SUSTAINABILITY
LENS
Chris Edwards reflects
on our future history
04
GREATER THAN
THE SUM OF THE
PARTS
Graham Silverthorne
explores what makes
an education holistic
06
ANNUAL REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS
2017/2018
academic year
08
AIDA
A showcase High
School production on
East Campus
10
SHEHACKS 1.0
"We’re just High School
kids, what can we do
about it?"
11
UNITING
NATIONS DAY
AT EAST
Building intercultural
understanding
through music
12
INNOVATIVE
SPACES
Dover Campus Primary
Languages Rooms
14
SUPPORTING
THE MIGRANT
WORKER
COMMUNITY
Grade 3 bringing our
values to life
15
CHANGE
MAKERS
Project-based learning
challenges Grade 7
16
FOUNDATION
SKILLS IN
OUTDOOR
EDUCATION
A pathway to learning
18
MEET THE
OUTDOOR
EDUCATION
TEAM
Bringing technical
expertise and passion
to work
20
SPOTLIGHT ON …
SEASAC sports
21
COMMUNITY
FAIR AND FAMILY
FESTIVAL
The flagship events
of our Parents’
Associations
22
ALUMNUS
DRIVING CHANGE
Richard Kuppusamy '95
24
SOLAR FOR
EAST
Lighting up classrooms
and imaginations
COVER IMAGES
Front: The annual
OPUS concert at the
Esplanade Theatre
by Dover Music
Department
Back: Uncaged–East
High School Dance
showcase
April 2019
Dunia is published three times a year by UWC South East Asia. Reproduction in any manner
in English or any other language is prohibited without written consent. Please send feedback
to dunia@uwcsea.edu.sg.
Editors: Courtney Carlson, Sinéad Collins, Nabilah Husna Bte Abdul Rahman and Kate Woodford
Photography: Sabrina Lone and members of the UWCSEA community
Design: Nandita Gupta
UWCSEA Dover is registered by the Committee for Private Education (CPE), part of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)
CPE Registration No. 197000825H | CPE Registration Period 18 July 2017–17 July 2023 | Charity Registration No. 00142
UWCSEA East is registered by the Committee for Private Education (CPE), part of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)
CPE Registration No. 200801795N | CPE Registration Period 10 March 2017–9 March 2023 | Charity Registration No. 002104
Printed on 100% recycled paper with environmentally friendly inks | MCI (P) 175/03/2019 | 064COM-1819
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Visit the newsroom of UWCSEA:
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Refocusing our sustainability lens
OPINION
By Chris Edwards, Head of College
If you were to buy a single volume History of the World, my
guess is the achievements of ancient Mesopotamia would
get more paragraphs than those of the indigenous people of
New Guinea. Given the former’s protean accomplishments in
mathematics, astronomy, literature and so forth, this is hardly
surprising. When it comes to being seriously clever, the ancient
Mesopotamians are rock stars. Only the Egyptians are likely to
get more pages in those early chapters of our history book.
But the lens through which most people have looked at the
past has remained unchanged for centuries. Even when I
was very young, the word “sustainability” was never used at
home or school. There’s a good reason for this: it didn’t exist
until 1972. And so we never looked at the mighty civilisations
through what we would now call “a sustainability lens”.
If we had, we would have learned something interesting.
Intensive agriculture was practised in Mesopotamia, and
while it allowed for the development of the great cities,
armies and bureaucracies we spent time studying, it also
led to deforestation and diminishing yields. Nobody told us
that. Amazingly, scholars now believe that from 2100 BCE
to 1700 BCE, the population was reduced by nearly sixty
percent. In other words, intensive agriculture helped precipitate
catastrophe.
Now the people of New Guinea—who are more likely to appear
in anthropology rather than history books—may not have
created an alphabet, charted the heavens or built in stone, but
they did figure out one thing the super-smart Mesopotamians
seemingly missed: they practised shifting cultivation. This
meant that when a field’s soil was exhausted or even overrun
with weeds, it would be allowed to revert to its natural
vegetation. The farmers of New Guinea would plant in other
fields but might still harvest the fallow field and use its natural
vegetation for medicine, tools or even clothes. They weren’t
the only people to do this of course, but as we start taking
a fresh look at what matters most in our troubled world we
might want to give the people of New Guinea some space in
our history book. Shifting cultivation brings its own problems—
human behavioural patterns mean no system is perfect—but it
represented an awareness, among other things, that the land
demanded respect if a society was to sustain itself.
Let’s move forward a few thousand years and consider
the lens through which people will look at the UWCSEA
community and our efforts not to go the way of the
Mesopotamians. As students around the world march and
go on strike in order to draw attention to climate change,
there are many people asking if our schools should be dealing
more directly with the environmental challenges before
us and whether the lens through which we should teach
everything—or almost everything—should, for example, be
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
But as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
states, delivery of the SDGs requires the partnership of
governments, private sector, civil society and citizens alike
to make sure we leave a better planet for future generations.
And as I look at UWCSEA initiatives, many generated by the
students themselves, I see not only a nascent awareness
of the significance of the SDGs themselves but, crucially,
development of the skills which will be necessary to help
deliver the collaborative response demanded by the UNDP.
While Goal 11—Sustainable Cities and Communities—can
be helped by isolated, individual action, its mighty drivers
will, of course, be those people who can lead, marshal and
collaborate with groups and individuals to effect profound
change. In embryonic form, that is what I see here: through
their often inspiring sustainability work, students of all ages
are understanding and honing skills to deliver on still greater
initiatives.
Another cause for hope at UWCSEA—though we must treat it
with some caution at this stage—came from the exploratory,
UWCSEA-based Harvard University work that led to the
current impact study being conducted across all UWCs. Early
observations (it’s too soon to call them “findings”) revealed
that UWCSEA students saw environmental issues at the apex
of the world’s problems, and while we can argue about why
social justice or whatever didn’t get top spot (it did in at least
one other UWC), it is encouraging to know our young people
are engaged and thinking critically to the extent that they are.
I have just been looking at the some of the work of Dover’s
Eco Rangers (Junior School children) and their Sustainable
Resolutions for 2019. As yet, these young people are unknown
to the wider world, and the scale of their work thus far is
necessarily limited. But sooner than we can imagine, these
students will be running banks, founding NGOs, playing in
orchestras, teaching others, designing buildings. Let us hope,
as the clock ticks, that the ethical choices they make as young
adults inspire those around them to take notice and act. The
signs are good.
Perhaps then, like the people of New Guinea, the current
Eco Rangers and students like them can take their place in a
history book yet to be written. Books where the cities, armies
and bureaucracies take second place to a narrative of respect,
engagement and survival.
2 | Dunia April 2019
April 2019 Dunia | 3
By Graham Silverthorne, Head of UWCSEA East
From my earliest days as a reader, I have loved words. As
today, we bump into people walking down the street, crossing
roads, eating dinners and probably sleeping with their mobile
phones, so once upon a time you might have been at risk from
me walking into you holding an omnipresent book. I really
did fall asleep with a book on my face, I really did read under
the covers with a torch to avoid detection from parents who
would have consigned me to the wordless void of sleep. I can
well remember the agony of saving up for a book, rushing to
buy it on a Saturday morning, consuming it too greedily and
then being distraught that it was finished before the sun rose
on Sunday morning.
Recently, after teasing myself with the idea for at least 10
years, I have purchased a Kindle. I wasn’t entirely sure that
I would use it but frankly, I have hardly been able to put it
down. One of the particularly happy features of my new
device—which is, by the way, waterproof, for those that want
to read underwater or whilst snorkelling – is the dictionary
function. This luxury allows you to simply exert pressure
on any word that needs explanation and there pops up
definition and options for further clarification. For a man who
once made lists of words he didn’t know by reading through
pages of the Oxford English Dictionary (rodomontade,
prestidigitator, archimandrite … I still have them all) this is a
feature beyond imagining.
It was during one of my pursuits of a new word, that I came
across the word ‘hologramatic’. It felt like a word I should
have been able to tackle but it was clearly one that needed
to be added to my list. It isn’t a common word and it is most
frequently associated, in the few references that I was able
to come across, with a Spanish academic called Morin who
created Morin’s Hologramatic Principle in 2003 (to my shame,
I can’t even reference this but I will ask you to take my word
for it). In essence, as I understand the principle from the
translation, it speaks of seeing life – the past and the future
(existence) – as living and connected. To understand and
predict the future, one must see it as the extension of what
has gone before, not as something disconnected from what
precedes it. This thinking appeals to the historian in me; in my
mind, I see the hologram of life, turning slowly, viewable from
all sides, the beginning and the end invisible but the present
clearly located somewhere between the two. As with all
holograms, depending upon where you stand to view it, you
see the whole thing differently from another person, taking
the view from a different angle.
Possibly, this is all axiomatic but it is leading me to a point.
We make assumptions that many of the things that we look
at are viewed by others in the same way that we view them.
It would be hard for us to function without making some of
these assumptions but sometimes there is great benefit from
calling in a piece of the hologram and challenging ourselves
to ‘name it’ because in the differences of our language and in
the use and inflections of the words that we select lie deeper
shared understandings (researching this line of thought gave
me the gift of another word—heteroglossia but that is for
another day).
Earlier this term, a group of senior leaders at UWCSEA sat
in a room with the apparently simple task of defining the
concept of ‘holistic education’. Surely, if any group of learning
leaders should be able to do this with ease, it would be our
group. After all, we do say on our website, that: The learning
Greater than the sum of the parts
4 | Dunia April 2019
programme at UWCSEA consists of five interlinking elements:
academics, activities, outdoor education, personal and social
education and service … The elements combine to provide our
students with a holistic, values-based education that develops
them as individuals and as members of a global society.
However, the exercise turned out not to be easy at all. We
had decided to set ourselves the task because we have started
to discuss our learning programme, those five interlinking
elements, to review what it is that we are doing well and what
we might do even better. The five elements are very much
aligned to our UWC mission but they are unique to UWCSEA
as a way of enshrining the learning goals that deliver the
ambitions of the mission.
As we wrestled with the challenge of finding the right starting
place for a review, it became obvious that we needed to
take things back to first principles – what lay beneath our
construction of the five-element framework? After some
discussion, we agreed that what lay beneath was our shared
belief in holistic education. The most innocent of questions
followed, “but what does that actually mean?”
After spending over an hour together using a Frayer Model1 to
extract characteristics and examples, we had failed absolutely
to come up with any shared definitions. It was engaging but
also surprisingly frustrating. Setting aside the ambition to
define holistic education, we decided, instead, to try and
tackle it from the perspective of an appreciative inquiry2.
What was it that we all valued about holistic education (this
thing that we couldn’t comfortably define)? The resulting
activity consumed a good number of post-it notes. We spent
a little time looking at what we had achieved but there was
no immediate light bulb moment. That arrived much later
when I sat down with the notes at home, look for organising
headings to emerge from the curling sheaf.
Once in a while, something magical happens – the moment
can creep up on you in a concert or an assembly, halfway up
a mountainside with a group of students, working on a local
service, virtually anywhere. They don’t normally, however,
occur late in the evening at home with a pile of post-it notes.
As I began to sort out the notes into common areas, they fell
into alignment as compliantly as if they had been directed by
the Hogwarts Sorting Hat. I think only two of around 60 did
not immediately aggregate to one of five immediately visible
headings. It was a strangely moving moment. As much as
we could not find the words to define the concept of holistic
education, we were able, with great certainty, to say what it is
that we appreciate and value about what a holistic education
gives to young people.
This is a UWCSEA education. Of all of the various descriptors
that we have on our website and other published materials,
these words in their raw form capture something, for me, that
transcends. Students with agency, given credit for what they
choose to do and finding more within themselves in doing
it; students who have the courage to try and the courage to
challenge; students with possibilities in front of them, who
seek out new experiences; students who are connected to and
responsible for their own spirituality, their own heritage, their
world; and students with humility and reverence who seek to
serve others. These are UWCSEA students.
In trying to describe what we value about holistic education,
we found ourselves, instead, describing the young people that
we are immensely privileged to work with.
OPINION
1 http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/frayer-model | 2 Cooperrider, D. L.; Barrett, F.; Srivastva, S. (1995). "Social construction and appreciative inquiry:
A journey in organizational theory". In Hosking, D.; Dachler, P.; Gergen, K. Management and Organization: Relational Alternatives to Individualism. pp. 157–200.
1. Challenge
•
Plus est en vous
•
Transformative
•
Inspiring
•
Radical
•
Courageous
•
Challenges traditional learning
2. Breadth and balance
of opportunity
•
Opens possibilities
•
New experiences
•
New doorways/possible pathways
•
Multifaceted - social, emotional, cognitive
•
Individual development balanced with
collaboration
3. Connection
•
We, my world, world beyond
•
Intentional joining up/transfer
•
Mind, body, spirit/soul, intellect, emotions,
social
•
Systems thinking
•
Looking out and looking in
•
Provides ‘whole’ view
•
Interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary
•
Transfer of self-esteem - contagious
achievement
•
Humanistic
•
Constructivist
•
Experiential
•
Continuity
4. Agency
•
No one success criterion
•
Appropriate challenge
•
Choice
•
Possibility for all students to excel
•
Develops confidence and self esteem
•
Builds character - the dispositions
•
Builds skills
•
Develops ‘self’
5. Value/Mission based
•
Reverence for life/nature
•
Rights and peace building
•
Something bigger than self
•
Empathy for others
•
Values people and the world
Student experience of our holistic education
April 2019 Dunia | 5
Financials
Boarding fees 3%
Other contributions 2%
Tuition fees 74%
Sundries and other fees 11%
Development levy 10%
66%
Salaries and benefits
Depreciation 14%
Maintenance and operations 5%
Educational resources and
other expenses* 15%
Dover Campus
Expenditure
*includes boarding expenses,
central administration,
educational resources and
finance and marketing costs
Boarding fees 4%
Other contributions 2%
Tuition fees 76%
Sundries and other fees 8%
Development levy 10%
East Campus
Income
Depreciation 3%
Maintenance and operations 6%
Educational resources and
other expenses** 22%
East Campus
Expenditure
69%
Salaries and benefits
** includes boarding expenses,
central administration,
educational resources,
finance and marketing costs,
operating lease expenses
and property tax
Community
5,557
Students on both
campuses
342
Boarders
102
Scholars
100
Nationalities
69
Languages
spoken
“In a year where we had our eye firmly fixed on the future, the main
expression of this was the development of the UWCSEA five-year
strategy," reported Anna Lord, Chair of the Board of Governors in her
opening message, “which describes a foundation on which we will build
long term financial sustainability in order to continue to deliver a high
quality, mission-driven education to young people well into the future.”
Included in the report are sections on student achievement in each
element of our learning programme; information about the College
community, including results of the annual parents survey; the
business report incorporating Human Resources, Admissions and
Financial Statements for the College; and a summary of the activity in
College Advancement which include fundraising and alumni functions.
Read the full report on: www.uwcsea.edu.sg/
AnnualReport. To receive a printed copy please contact
June Choy, Communications and Marketing Officer at
junechoyuwc@uwcsea.edu.sg.
FEATURE
Dover Campus
Income
6 | Dunia April 2019
Service programme
$1,229,231
Money raised by students through
the UWCSEA Service programme
53
Service partners in Singapore
63,000
Volunteer hours given to our
Singapore partners
1.5
Average number of hours
volunteered weekly by
students and service leaders
Outdoor Education
849,120
Student hours spent overseas
6,170
Times a student participated
in an overseas trip
31
Countries
visited
Class of 2018 IB Diploma results
572
Students
Average IB Diploma score
36.2
UWCSEA
29.8
Worldwide
Australia 7.5%
Europe 7%
Gap Year 10%
25% UK
Other 1%
Canada 6.5%
National Service 8%
Asia/Middle East
4%
31% USA
Destinations of
Class of 2018
Human Resources
496
Full-time
teaching staff
82
Part-time
teaching staff
496
Administrative and
support staff
Staff recruitment
36
Average number
of applications
per vacancy
201 Posts advertised
This number represents the total number for
teaching, admin and support positions.
7,159
Applications
received
59%
Female
41%
Male
Average number of activities participated in (by student by grade)
2,829 students involved at Dover Campus
K1
K2
G1
G2
G3
G4
G5
G6
G7
G8
G9
G10
FIB
G11
G12
K1
K2
G1
G2
10
G3
G4
G5
G6
G7
G8
G9
G10
FIB
G11
G12
2,408 students involved at East Campus
April 2019 Dunia | 7
AIDA
East High School Drama and Music collaboration
At UWCSEA, we believe that learning happens when we build bridges across departments and curriculum
areas, activities, and within our community. We work together to provide a truly holistic experience and believe
that every student can contribute to the creation of exceptional art.
As a result, every two years, the UWCSEA East Drama and Music Departments create a grand collaborative
arts production, which have consistently reaped outstanding performances. Following months of hard work
and rehearsals, this year's production was staged in January 2019 in four sold-out performances.
“The learning the students take away from it, stays with them … for their entire lives.”
Bronwyn Bye, Head of Drama
"Every story is a love story"
That was what sprung to mind for Lindsey Stirrat, Head of
Arts Faculty, as she recalled her experience helming AIDA
together with co-director Bronwyn Bye, Head of Drama.
Originally an opera set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt,
AIDA was popularly remade by Elton John and Tim Rice
in a modern-day musical adaptation. Like all compelling
love stories, AIDA tells a gripping story, woven with loss,
passion, betrayal and loyalty. It sits against the backdrop
of a raging war between Egypt and Nubia, creating tension
between the protagonists: Aida, an enslaved Ethiopian
princess and her forbidden secret lover, Radames, Captain
of the Egyptian Guard, who has, in turn, captured the heart
of Amneris, daughter of the Egyptian King.
8 | Dunia April 2019
Breathing life into AIDA
What made AIDA spectacular was that it was not just
made up of Drama and Music students; auditions were
open to all High School students. The final production saw
78 students making up two casts of lead actors, and one
orchestra of student musicians. Bringing AIDA's characters
to life, the talented cast, crew and ensemble outdid
themselves, coming out of the months-long journey having
embraced new challenges and explored their capabilities.
The students were involved in far more than simply putting
together an adaptation of a musical. They had a hand in
pruning, shaping and offering their individual perspectives
and cultural knowledge so that the production was as
authentic as it could be.
"Our African scholars really helped with some of the initial
stimulus and design ideas for costumes, offering their
perspectives on some of the artistic decisions and what that
meant in their culture," said Lindsey Stirrat.
Bringing UWCSEA values to the stage
“One of the things that attracted us to (AIDA) is this
idea of a cross-cultural love story. That sits really well
with our UWCSEA mission and love transcending these
constructs that we build around ourselves,” says co-
director Bronwyn Bye.
The turmoil and struggles faced in AIDA may be a far
cry from the lives of our UWCSEA students, but one can
draw plenty of parallels between the values that AIDA
evokes and the ones our College embraces.
AIDA teaches lessons of strength, cross-cultural
alliances and friendship, values that UWCSEA, through
the learning environment it nurtures, encourages in its
student community. Every story is a love story, and the
compelling one that AIDA tells is set to remain with our
community for years to come.
April 2019 Dunia | 9
Looking around their Computer Science classes, High School
students Jaanvi Chopra, Jamie Lin, Disha Mohta, Tanisha
Sethi and Gaurika Sawheny couldn’t help but notice that
the number of female students was incredibly low. Despite
feeling outnumbered, the girls started brainstorming during
their Girls in Tech activity group about what they could do to
change things.
Said Gaurika, “I started Girls in Tech with an aim to inspire
and empower girls like me to follow their passions and not
be afraid. There has always been a negative stereotype
surrounding women and their success in the technology field
and we wanted to make a change. We are taking steps to
dispel these misconceptions and provide a platform which
encourages and enables girls to explore and embrace the
exciting opportunities that the Computer Science field has
to offer.”
Working with the IDEAS Hub Manager Colin Peters, the girls
designed SheHacks—an all-female hackathon for beginners,
designed to inspire, empower and unite girls to pursue
computer science. Jaanvi said, “At first I was really sceptical,
and I thought ‘We’re just High School kids, what can we
do about it?’" But with Colin’s support and their collective
enthusiasm, the project was launched.
Sponsors and mentors from Google, JP Morgan, Amazon,
ThoughtWorks and Visa quickly came aboard, donating
space, food and time. Initially, sign ups from participants
was slow, but when a social media influencer posted about
the event, the team were overwhelmed with registrations.
And after months of planning, despite last-minute legal
and child safeguarding obstacles, and facing criticism from
fellow students about the all-female nature of the event,
the hackathon was held at Google’s Singapore offices 23–24
February with over 90 participants from schools across
Singapore.
The theme of SheHacks was ‘Empowerment’ and unlike other
hackathons, SheHacks was open to female students even
if they had never coded before. Workshops were offered to
introduce attendees to the basics of coding, called ‘101s’, as
well as more advanced sessions, including ‘MIT App Inventor’
and ‘iOS Development’. With the help of an impressive slate
of female mentors from across the tech industry, attendees
learned how to put together a pitch, and had the chance to
present their idea to the crowd by the end of the weekend.
By all accounts, the event was a roaring success and the team
looks forward to SheHacks 2.0. As Jaanvi said, “It’s my passion
to show other girls that anything is possible. Even today, there
is a stigma about doing STEM, and I want to tell other girls to
forget that and do what you love. Ignore the comments that
limit you, such as ‘she’s such a nerd’, and do what you want. I
want other girls to find the happiness, excitement and passion
in coding that I have found. I’m so grateful to have had the
opportunity to do this. And I can’t wait to work on even
bigger projects in the future.”
For the student organisers, one of the most exciting outcomes
of the project was the creation of a strong female coding
community at UWCSEA; empowering, motivating and
supporting each other. Keep your eye on this powerful group
of change makers!
SHEHACKS 1.0
"We’re just High School kids, what can we do about it?"
COMMUNITY NEWS
Find out more, visit shehacks.weebly.com
10 | Dunia April 2019
By Janine Larsen, Head of Primary Music, East Campus
Each December, over 1,000 Primary School students come
together to showcase the amazing and diverse learning that
happens in our Music programme. Uniting Nations Day
celebrates our commitment to connecting people through
culture, as students gather for a day of community building and
to share their learning with peers and parents.
In the curricular Music programme, students learn about
the many ways that people and cultures express themselves
through music, from folk songs to traditional instruments
to modern fusion. On Uniting Nations Day each of the 45
Primary classes takes part in one of four musical performances
focused on community: our school community, our local
community, and musical communities around the world. From
K1 to Grade 5, younger and older students are given a unique
opportunity to collaborate. But what the audience sees on the
day is only the tip of a very large iceberg.
From the beginning of the year, students engage with new
musical experiences, whether playing the West African djembe
or the Indonesian angklung. They first view formal and informal
performances, using their observations and wonderings as
catalysts for discussion. Musical learning and cultural context
go hand in hand: students learn about chords and progressions
by studying the Zimbabwean marimba, a relatively new
tradition blending influences from Africa and Europe. In the
Grade 3 curriculum, which focuses on vocal technique and
expressive singing, students discover cross-cultural similarities
in melodic structure as well as subject matter. Phrasing and
expression come naturally through the hope and longing
within African-American spirituals. An intentionally broad and
contextualised repertoire moves them from “knowing songs” to
“understanding music”.
The Infant students learn songs from China, India, Japan,
Malaysia, and the Philippines. Singing in new languages
inevitably elicits a broader discussion about our similarities and
differences. What may begin as giggles (upon hearing a song in
Tagalog for the first time), slowly grows into open-mindedness
UNITING NATIONS DAY
Building intercultural understanding through music
COMMUNITY NEWS
Read the full article on UWCSEA Perspectives:
perspectives.uwcsea.edu.sg
and appreciation for the many cultural backgrounds that
converge at our school every day. The learning goes beyond
rhythm and melody, and into discussion about why people
make music, what people sing about, and how powerful music
can be. Several K2 students take their songs home and practise
with their aunties, who know childhood songs like “Sitsiritsit”.
These personal connections add a new lens to the way the
students relate to the people around them.
Performance is just one aspect of the process of musical learning,
which cultivates qualities and skills central to the UWCSEA
profile. As students adapt their repertoire (Creative) and practise
it (Resilient), they expand their understanding of the music
(Critical Thinker). More practising, rehearsing (Collaborative), and
memorising (Self Manager) follow, with new knowledge, skills
and understanding along the way. Only after weeks or months
are students ready to perform on stage. But still, the process is
not complete. Post-performance, students engage in individual
and group reflection (Self Aware and Collaborative), through
which they synthesise their new knowledge and add to their
working theories of what it means to be a musician.
There is, of course, also the pure joy that comes from making
music as part of a mass choir. Regardless of how nervous or
confident the students are, smiles abound as the stage lights
shine on them and they feel the power of singing and playing
together. Performing for an audience is exhilarating and
students walk away with a sense of pride in their individual
learning and their role in the performance.
In today’s world, our students—and the wider community—
need opportunities like this, which bring us closer to one
another by building shared understanding. They begin to think
about music as something that represents real people, gaining a
deeper understanding and appreciation for common aspects of
humanity across cultures.
April 2019 Dunia | 11
For many families in our multilingual community, the challenge of maintaining fluency and skill
in their child’s mother tongue (home language), while simultaneously wanting them to thrive in
a demanding learning programme delivered largely in English, is a familiar one.
Fortunately, there is a natural synergy between helping families find this balance and the
mission-driven focus created by the strand Education as a Force: Diversity and Inclusion within the
2018–2023 UWCSEA Strategic Plan. The evolution and expansion of our language programmes
on both campuses is one part of fulfilling this aim. On Dover Campus, welcoming and well-
resourced classrooms serve as a hub for Primary EAL and HLP students; read about how this will
be expanded next year, including introducing EAL in the Primary School on East Campus.
English as an
Additional Language
A Primary EAL programme,
piloted on Dover Campus since 2017,
will be introduced on East Campus
in August 2019. Both campuses will
support EAL students from K–12 within
the school day, with specialist teachers
helping develop English literacy skills
for those who speak English as a
second, third or even fourth
language.
Home Language
Programme
Personalised, small-group classes
are offered by qualified teachers after
school or during lunchtimes, with an
aim to develop and support biliteracy
skills for mother tongue speakers.
Launched in August 2018, there
are now 11 languages offered on
Dover and 16 on East, based on
community demand.
Primary School Languages Rooms
INNOVATIVE SPACES
Parent
engagement
Building a strong sense
of community that includes
parents is an integral part of
the success of our programmes.
This is accomplished through
activities such as coffee
mornings and guest
speaker events.
Extended
language resources
We have extended the
language resources available in
our libraries and learning spaces
as well as stocked the specialist
classrooms with language
resources to support our
personalised curriculum.
Learn more
April 2019 Dunia | 13
April 2019 Dunia | 13
By Clare Willis, Class Teacher Primary School,
Dover Campus
Christmas is a time of giving and last December our
community had the opportunity to spread some festive cheer
to Singapore’s unsung heroes: the migrant workers.
Through the social initiative ‘It’s Raining Raincoats’, founded
by UWCSEA Dover parent Dipa Swaminathan, we were
encouraged to donate Christmas gifts to some of the
700,000 workers who call Singapore home. Dipa established
‘It’s Raining Raincoats’ in 2015 after meeting workers
sheltering under a small piece of plastic at the roadside
during a torrential downpour. They had not been provided
with wet-weather gear and were soaked through. Stories of
poor treatment, squalid living conditions, unpaid salaries and
attempted suicide unravelled, and lawyer Dipa felt compelled
to take action. It became clear that the migrant workers
needed support. They needed a voice.
As the name suggests, the organisation began by encouraging
people to donate raincoats to the workers. It then spread
to other ventures, such as the Starbucks food delivery, with
volunteers collecting leftover food from around 50 cafés
and donating it to workers in the city. There have also been
collective lunches and special migrant worker fun days. Here
at the College, an annual cricket match between our team
and the migrant workers sees the workers usually victorious!
The organisation is all about small acts of kindness that help
to make the workers feel valued and appreciated, and part of
our community.
Our UWCSEA values encourage students to be compassionate,
to be of service to others, to take an interest in people of all
cultures and backgrounds and to help shape a better world.
Our learning programme actively creates opportunities for
our students to develop these qualities and skills which are
enshrined in the UWCSEA learner profile. The Christmas gift
initiative offered a great way to focus on these values at a
local level. Over a period of four weeks, we collected 600 gifts
from the UWCSEA Dover community. They were beautifully
gift-wrapped and many bore appreciative messages for the
workers. A group of Grade 3 students then helped to gather
and sort the gifts and delivered them to the workers at a work
site in West Coast Vale.
Interacting with the migrant workers was a really important
and special part of the process: here was an opportunity to
engage in direct, face-to-face service in our city. The workers
are unassuming and often shy. Some of them don’t speak
much, if any, English and their contact with expats is limited.
The students were hesitant at the start, as one explained,
“I was nervous because they looked so serious. But when I
smiled at them they smiled right back and it felt nice.”
It was wonderful to see the students’ confidence blossom
as they started to engage and chat more assuredly with the
workers. Some told the students about their own children
back home and everyone wished each other a happy
Christmas. One of them shared later, “He shook my hand; I
think he was really happy that we came.”
The experience was best summed up by one of the students
when I asked them what they had learned: “It was only a
small thing that we did, but I think it made a big difference.”
What better lesson is there?
Supporting the
migrant worker community
COMMUNITY NEWS
14 | Dunia April 2019
The world is full of problems that need solving—
and our Grade 7 Change Makers Project challenged
students to come up with creative and original
solutions to problems relating to crisis relief,
environmental stewardship, and inequality.
A project-based learning initiative, the Change
Makers project was crafted around the Service
curriculum. “We took the opportunity to cultivate
our students’ capacity for project-based learning,
developing the 21st-century skills that they will
need to be successful beyond their time here at the
College,” says Liam Isaac, Design and Technology
teacher and Change Makers project coordinator.
A four-day ‘off timetable’ event, students embarked
on a journey to work collaboratively with some 17
partner organisations - from the Singapore Zoo to
Mercy Relief. By incorporating elements of systems
and design thinking into problem-solving for real-life
challenges faced by our service partners, students
were encouraged to push the envelope and apply
their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to a
real social issue. It wasn't just about coming up with
solutions out of context, either; students had to also
keep their selected organisation’s mission, capacity
and limitations in mind.
It doesn’t just stop at ideas for our young change
makers. UWCSEA Dover will next pilot a mentoring
programme that allows students to develop their
concepts. Said Liam, “It is my hope that one day, in the
not too distant future, we will see ideas generated by
our Grade 7 students being used in a very real context
to make our world a little bit better than it is now.”
Redesigning urban farming
One Change Maker group embarked on a project
that presented a pop-up café for Blue Dragon, whose
commitment to feed malnourished children with
nutritious meals is hampered by an unsustainable
food bill.
“We came up with an idea where they could start a
garden, and produce from that garden would go to
a restaurant which they can privately set up on their
own land. The profits from that would then go back
into funding their food bills. It helps reduce their
cost,” said student Reuben.
Tackling global problems, closer to home
Another Change Maker group came up with the
ingenious idea of do-it-yourself laundry detergent, to
reduce the amount of toxic waste released into our
environment.
“It’s baking soda, a little bit of soap, and if you want it
to smell nice, essential oil. Things that you can find in
a supermarket, and household ingredients. It’s quite
affordable,” said student Mia.
take on global sustainability challenges
April 2019 Dunia | 15
Change Makers at UWCSEA come in all shapes, sizes and grades, but they have one big thing in common:
they all bring bright ideas, relentless drive and admirable dedication to their selected mission to tackle
real-world problems. We wish our Grade 7 Change Makers the very best with their brilliant innovations!
KINDERGARTEN 1
GRADE 2
CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING
GRADE 5
Camp craft
By developing camp craft skills, individuals can interact with the natural
environment to meet their needs.
Outdoor experiences on campus
Regular opportunities are intentionally provided
for students to explore the natural, growing,
creative and social spaces of the outdoor
environments on both campuses. Students are
regularly given opportunities to observe and
investigate the natural world around them while
safely challenging their own capabilities, both
independently and in collaboration with others.
All our K1 classrooms have direct access to
outdoor learning spaces and students naturally
move between indoor and outdoor learning
each day. This also means exploring the campus
gardens and other natural spaces as part of their
school day, in support of their learning in the
academic curriculum as well as the personal and
social education programme.
On-campus activity is then extended through a
range of field trips that encourage students to
form connections in meaningful contexts within
the wider Singapore landscape.
Links to UWCSEA Qualities and Skills
Creative
Self Manager
Overnight camp at Singapore Zoo
Students are presented with exciting learning
opportunities and fun and appropriate group
challenges. This includes activities such as
pitching tents, exploration around the zoo
through team challenges and undertaking
observational tasks linked to the curriculum.
With the support of teaching staff and their
peers, students develop their confidence as they
are guided through a programme designed to
develop resilience, self-awareness and self-
management skills.
With the support of their peers and teachers,
students are able to acquire these new skills in a
novel context, away from home and family.
Links to UWCSEA Qualities and Skills
Critical Thinker
Resilient
Self Manager
Five-day adventure camp in Gopeng, Malaysia
This adventure takes place in the Kampar
district, surrounded by majestic limestone
hills with the Titiwangsa Mountains clearly
visible in the distance. The expedition provides
students with a chance to extend their learning
opportunities far beyond the classroom as
they take on experiential challenges that build
resilience, collaboration and leadership. It
provides an avenue for them to explore the
natural environment in a safe setting, learn from
mistakes and develop perseverance.
The camp is focused around adventure, enriched
with team-building and team-bonding activities
throughout. Our experienced partner provides
facilitators at the Nomad Adventure Earth Camp
who help guide our Grade 5 students through
experiences ranging from tackling grade 1 rapids
in a raft through to making the leap of faith at
the Mountain School.
Links to UWCSEA Qualities and Skills
Collaborative
Resilient
Self Aware
FEATURE
Understanding the foundation skills in the Outdoor
Our Outdoor Education expeditions may be considered
a jolly holiday by some, while others regard them as a
gruelling challenge. However, all the experiences offered in
the programme are carefully constructed around standards
(significant concepts) that apply K–12.
Outdoor Education Standards
1. Personal identity
2. Healthy relationships
3. Connectedness to nature
4. Expedition skills
Standard 4–Expedition Skills: Individuals and
groups can engage in outdoor contexts by
developing and applying a set of practical skills.
Developing these practical skills is not the end goal. However,
it is the successful development of these expedition skills that
create the building blocks that allow us to access the situations
and activities where the learning around self, relationships to
others and a connectedness to nature can take place.
16 | Dunia April 2019
GRADE 7
CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING
GRADE 9
GRADE 11
Camp Craft
While setting up a campsite, individuals
can make choices to co-exist safely
with the natural environment.
Camp craft
By developing camp craft skills, individuals can adapt to complex outdoor
situations by making choices with resources to meet individual and group needs.
CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING
Five-day sea kayaking trip to Pulau Sibu,
Malaysia
Students participate in foundational sea kayaking
training in Singapore with UWCSEA’s Outdoor
Education instructors, equipping them for their
upcoming expedition. On the trip, the first day
is spent reviewing expectations and familiarising
themselves with equipment, including a review of
the 1 Star kayak skills learned in Singapore. They
also start developing the 2 Star skills that will be
refined on their two-night kayaking journey. The
next three days are spent paddling to a different
campsite each morning, arriving before lunch
in order to set up camp. Students are guided
through a mix of free time, group activities and
exploration before they prepare dinner and enjoy
an evening activity and reflection time. On the
final morning, they paddle back to the start point
to clean and pack the equipment away before a
debrief on the final evening.
Links to UWCSEA Qualities and Skills
Critical Thinker
Commitment
to Care
Self Manager
Resilient
Students join at least one of over 20
expeditions during a school holiday
The trips provides tremendous opportunities
for students to develop across all aspects of our
learner profile. Given a vast array of options,
students have an opportunity to specialise or
explore further to find their passion. Students
consider their previous experiences, their
interests and their strengths before nominating
three or four preferred trips. They are then
allocated to one of their nominated trips, and we
ask them to honour their choices, by committing
to their allocated trip and to fully participate in
trip preparation. This includes training on one or
two weekends in the month prior to departure.
For the first time, students do not travel with
their mentor group and mentor, but with other
Grade 9 students from both campuses, an
Outdoor Education trip leader and other staff
from across the College.
Links to UWCSEA Qualities and Skills
Collaborative
Commitment
to Care
Self Aware
Self Manager
Project Week—independently planned trips
by small groups of students
Project Week is an integral part of Grade 11 and
a unique opportunity for students to learn more
about themselves, different cultures and their
ability to work effectively with others outside the
classroom. Travelling in small groups of 4 or 5 to a
destination of their choice in Southeast Asia (such
as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand or Indonesia), most
trips include a mixture of service-based activities
combined with an adventurous component, such
as a hiking, sailing, diving, surfing, and/or a creative
activity such as a cooking school. Guided through a
carefully planned process by a Project Week team
that includes our Outdoor Education staff, students
must demonstrate skills such as first aid, risk
assessment, itinerary planning and budgeting. We
believe the learning objectives are best achieved by
doing an independent, responsible, ethical and low-
cost project, which challenges their resourcefulness
and initiative thus demanding greater self-reliance.
Links to UWCSEA Qualities and Skills
Communicator
Commitment
to Care
Principled
Self Manager
Education curriculum
Expedition Skills Strands
1. Travel
2. Navigation
3. Camp craft
4. Personal and group safety
This example illustrates how carefully constructed, age-
appropriate activities develop the essential practical skills
identified in the ‘camp craft’ strand of the Expedition
Skills standard.
Read the full article on UWCSEA Perspectives:
perspectives.uwcsea.edu.sg
Read about Standard 3: Connectedness to
Nature on UWCSEA Perspectives—Flourishing
People-in-Place: perspectives.uwcsea.edu.
sg/points-of-view/flourishing-people-place
April 2019 Dunia | 17
At UWCSEA, a diverse group of highly qualified outdoor
education specialists harness their deep passion for the
outdoors to support students both overseas and in Singapore.
While our K–12 outdoor education curriculum is most visible
through the expedition programme, a broad range of outdoor
experiences are intentionally embedded across all elements
of our learning programme. Our team work closely with their
teaching faculty peers and a group of hand-picked external
providers to deliver the unique curriculum.
A rare model in international schools, UWCSEA’s full-time team
develop and deliver a bespoke curriculum. Staff are able to
provide a level of care and commitment to students that is truly
unique because they are able to nurture long-term, continuous
relationships that build trust over time. This, in turn, means that
they are able to bring students in their care far further and more
successfully on the 'challenge of choice' journey because they are
building on a previous relationship each time they ask students
to undertake a personally challenging activity.
Chris Newman
Head of Outdoor
Education, East Campus,
joined 2011
An adventurous spirit led
me to become qualified to
work with young and older
students for the purpose of
personal challenge, team
building, skill acquisition
and fun! From being a
pool lifeguard and activity
instructor at Calshot
Activities Centre in the UK,
I began travelling the world
and held posts on the Isle
of Wight, Barbados, Bintan,
Indonesia and in Nha Trang,
Vietnam before landing in
Singapore. I transitioned to
UWCSEA after running the
after-school dinghy sailing
and windsurfing activities
through Mana Mana for
three years.
Our focus is on progression
and personal development
for our students, based on
the qualities and skills of
the learner profile. The level
of challenge we present in
order to develop confidence
and self-awareness in such a
wide range of activities and
situations is not something I
have seen elsewhere.
Emma Bartlett
Dover Campus, joined 2016
I arrived at UWCSEA after
working in schools in both
urban and regional Victoria,
Australia. I have a Degree in
Outdoor Education and a
Masters in Education from La
Trobe University, and worked
with NOLS in the USA as a
backcountry ski instructor.
The size of our outdoor
education team means
that students receive a
personalised programme
that focuses on their
personal, social and skill
development while also
linking to their academic
programme. A key strength
is that having an in-house
team of specialists gives
our students the chance
to develop personal
relationships with us, which
is helpful in building rapport
and trust when challenging
students in the unfamiliar
environments and activities
they encounter. Because we
see the students regularly,
we are able to monitor
their development and can
focus on providing a level
of differentiation that is
suitable for each individual.
Amy Tillotson
East Campus, joined 2018
I come from an
expeditionary background,
leading trips of up to
30 days in remote and
sometimes unforgiving
wilderness. Before coming
to UWCSEA I led courses
for NOLS in regions such
as Alaska, Mexico and the
Rocky Mountains. I've also
worked with the Sierra
Club, Park Districts and in
universities. My forte is in
distance trekking and sea
kayaking, which allows
me to explore diversity in
ecosystems around the
world. Journeying fuels
my creativity, curiosity,
and sense of place. I have
qualifications with British
Canoeing, NOLS, Wilderness
Medicine Institute and
Cambridge University.
Before UWCSEA I worked
part-time as a sea kayaking
instructor, which gave me
insight into the school's
curriculum and community.
The core values, along
with the mission and its
impact on students, make
me proud to be part of the
UWCSEA team.
Dan Melbourne
Dover Campus, joined 2015
I studied Outdoor Education
at university, a choice
inspired by completing my
Duke of Edinburgh Gold
Award. I then worked at a
White Water Kayak Centre,
where I completed my
Mountain Leader Summer
Award, Single Pitch Climbing
Award, UKCC Level 1 and 2
Paddlesport Coach and Level
3 White Water Kayak Coach
award as well as a host of
safety and rescue courses.
In 2013 I started freelancing
for UWCSEA as a Grade 7
sea kayak instructor before
accepting a full-time position.
The opportunity to work
with the same students for
multiple years and watch
how they develop and grow
is what sets UWCSEA apart.
It is the only place I have
worked that has a curriculum
structured with deliberate
outdoor experiences from
K1 to Grade 11. Bespoke
expeditions are created for
UWCSEA, and while we work
with external providers our
trips are deliberately planned
to help develop the qualities
and skills of our learner
profile.
Jack Copland
East Campus, joined 2018
I've worked in outdoor
education since 2007,
starting in the Scottish
Hebrides, and then in
Oman, the UAE and Hong
Kong before moving to the
Northwest Outward Bound
School in Washington and
Oregon, USA. I qualified
in Rock Climbing and
Mountaineering through
the British Mountaineering
Council and the American
Mountain Guides
Association, and hold
British Canoe Union (BCU)
Sea Kayaking skills training
certificates and Wilderness
First Responder first aid
certification.
Working with students over
their entire school career,
in multiple capacities and
environments is unique. It's
not just the expeditions, but
the continued opportunities
within their everyday school
life that give them insight into
who they are. To me, the best
stories are not about reaching
summits or kayaking white
water, they are about courage
and leadership in moments
that require it most.
FEATURE
Meet the Outdoor Education team
18 | Dunia April 2019