Dunia December 2018

CELEBRATING

SERVICE IN

SINGAPORE

page 4

UWC DAY:

INSPIRING

CHANGE

page 2

UN NIGHT

AND

CULTURAMA

page 12 and 13

December 2018

I like to think the little things I do every single day contribute

to a better world … Just the other day my mum praised me for

volunteering at an organisation in Singapore. ‘It’s normal’,

I replied. The only reason I think it’s normal is because UWCSEA

made it normal.”

UWCSEA alumnus in response to a survey on the Impact of

a UWCSEA Education

Read more about service in Singapore on page 4.

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 and Kate Woodford

Photography: Gilmore Woodley, 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) 050/03/2018 | 053COM-1819

INSPIRING

CHANGE

Chris Edwards, Head

of College, reflects on

the UWC Day

MAKING A

DIFFERENCE

LOCALLY

UWCSEA’s Singapore

Service Programme

SINGAPORE

SERVICE

A student journey

with Apex Harmony

Lodge

SPOTLIGHT ON …

Outdoor Education in

the Infant School

OPENING A

WORLD OF

OPPORTUNITY

Selecting our newest

5-year Cambodian

scholars

SAILING AND

THE FIRST EVER

SPORTING

REGATTA

BETWEEN

UWC’S

Lessons from the

Atlantic College

Lifeboat Programme

UN NIGHT AND

CULTURAMA

Showcasing the 2018

performances

MULTI-

LINGUALISM IN

OUR LEARNING

COMMUNITY

Promoting and valuing

home languages

TAKING

ACTION FOR

SCHOLARSHIPS

Inspired initiatives by

Mikael Morn ’92 and

Charles Ormiston

EAST

CAMPUS 10TH

ANNIVERSARY

Celebrating

milestones in creating

our community

MEET THE

MIDDLE SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL

Peter Coombs

PHYSICIAN-

PHYSICIST WITH

A PASSION FOR

EDUCATION

Interview with

Chris Oh ’91

INNOVATIVE

SPACES

Explore the

features of the East

Campus Design

Technology Labs

ESTABLISHING

THE EVEREST

FUND

University Advisors

come to the aid of

Nepali students

COVER IMAGES

Front: Dover Campus

Grade 5 Local Service

at Saddle Club

Back: East Campus

UWC Day

December 2018

The newsroom of UWCSEA.

Read. Publish. Share. Subscribe.

Visit: https://perspectives.uwcsea.edu.sg

OPINION

By Chris Edwards

Head of College

UWC South East Asia

As a species, our obsession with change is a recent one.

Imagine, on UWC Day, if you stopped uniting peoples, nations

and cultures for just for a moment or two and got into a time

machine instead. Now this particular time machine is one

seriously cool piece of kit. In it, you can travel up to 300,000

years into the future. So, you wave good-bye to your UWC

buddies (who are of course too busy planting trees to notice

you’ve gone), press the button and in a few seconds the dial

reads 302018. With trembling hand, you open the door and to

your amazement you look out and see …

Well I’ve no idea what you’d see but I do know you’d be pretty

disappointed if it looked exactly like the place you’d just left.

Your expectation would be that the human species should

have made some significant—and I mean significant—progress.

Big pointy heads, clothes made out of shiny foil, world peace,

underwater cities, and public execution for any teenager using

the ghastly construction “I’m like” instead of “I said” … Stuff

that matters.

Now meet Mabel. Mabel is an early Neanderthal. 400,000

years ago she’s minding her own business at the entrance to a

cave when suddenly that time machine swoops down and takes

her 300,000 years into the future to meet her descendants.

There’s a whoosh, a shudder and then the machine stops.

Mabel—also with a trembling if ever so slightly hairier hand than

you—pushes open the door. (It’s actually the first door she’s

seen but Mabel’s a fast learner). And she relaxes. Home sweet

home. She doesn’t even know she’s travelled in time. Still no

crops, walls or villages after all those millennia. Actually, still no

houses of any kind. The same old rhino meat for dinner, hacked

off the bone by the same stone tools. Mabel fits right in. If only

she could figure out why everyone’s face had gone all weird.

In fact it’s worse than that. Humans, in some form or other,

have been around for 3 million years, and for almost all of that

time, there was very little intentional change. And even when,

just a few thousand years ago, we planted crops and built

walls around them which soon became the towns and cities

we know today, the forces of conservatism were immense.

From Pharaonic Egypt to Confucius in China, a whole raft of

significant people were advocating for a steady state (both

philosophically and geo-politically). Change was often deemed

a very bad thing indeed.

But now, as a UWC Head, I am told to get out there and sew

multiple fields with change. I’ve even been told to “Be The

Change”. Why? What has changed so much in the recent past

that the word “change” can stand without qualification as

something beneficial? And where’s Mabel when you need her?

But of course Mabel lived in the supposed-paradise of

John Lennon’s song Imagine. Mabel knew no countries, no

possessions, no religion, and maybe even nothing to kill or die

for. Actually her steady state was neither hell nor paradise, but

it was far less complex than ours. Mabel was not the victim

of histories, dogmas, technologies and ideologies as we are.

Her sparsely populated world, later to be ravaged by another

species of the genus Homo, had not devised the cruel and

terrible mechanisms of hate and control that preserve the

power of the few, subject and marginalise the weak, bully and

mock the outliers.

“Inspire Change” is right for UWC Day and right for our times. If

the UWC mission illuminates the country ahead, the seventeen

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—however

flawed and sprawling some might think them—give us the

opportunity to set off with compasses and simple maps to that

aspirational state. On 21st September each year, our students

have the chance to take stock of where they are as individuals

and as a community on that journey. The axioms on which

we have constructed this infuriating, wonderful movement

of ours should be questioned: but if and when the answer

comes back that intentional diversity is a good thing per se,

that sustainable, peaceful existence in a world where social

justice prevails is self-evidently offering a better future than

that promised by posturing nationalists, isolationists and thugs,

then we need to get on with things. And that’s what UWC Day

is in two senses: a time to get on. We can celebrate together,

make new friends and rejoice in our personal growth; yet all

that is merely chimerical if on UWC Day we don’t remind

ourselves that the Mission Statement is entirely about impact.

The map is not the territory any more than the flare which

illuminates the land is the territory.

As a Head I’m not sure that I inspire change. We might

facilitate it by making time, encouraging initiatives,

supporting colleagues and so forth, but do we provide the

inspiration? Frankly, I think it is already bubbling over in the

wells of the movement’s history, in peer on peer encounters,

in the incredible work going on in our schools and through

our alumni right now, and finally in the UN, UWC and other

strategies that ensure we follow true north. In a world of fake

news and limitless relativity, UWC Day is a marker: we stand

for this.

I believe you can fulfil the UWC mission if you are running a

global bank, or a suburban home with three children, or an

Inspiring change

2 | Dunia December 2018

NGO in sub-Saharan Africa, or even if you’re sitting silently

atop a mountain planning your next novel. Your impact may

be scattergun or surgical depending on your circumstances: but

your ethical dispositions will always trump your job title. We

can all of us be change-makers, and UWC Day should galvanise

us all.

I’m not sure what Mabel would have thought if that time

machine had gone forward just a little further and brought her

to us. Neanderthal’s couldn’t write, and interestingly we’re not

even sure if they could “speak” as we understand the word.

I wonder if the aspirational state the UWC mission posits is

actually closer to Mabel’s world than we might think. Anyway,

on this UWC Day, the young people of my school will not be

thinking like that: they’ll be in the present, looking to the future

and seeking to make that proverbial difference. That’s as it

should be.

One day, we’ll all be Mabels. Primitive ghosts of a long distant

past. Let’s hope our foil-suited descendents can look back as

fondly upon us I can upon her. Not because we lived in a state

of innocence: just the opposite in fact. Because we called out

injustice for what it is, and offered opportunities for our young

people and alumni to start putting things right such as no other

schools in the world can do.

Inspire Change? Of course.

We’ve no choice.

Originally published on the UWC international blog to mark UWC Day 2018.

Celebrating UWC Day on East Campus

December 2018 Dunia | 3

FEATURE

At the start of every year, students

are asked to “sign up for Activities

and Service”. There begins a flurry

of decision-making, discussion and

planning. Which activities am I most

passionate about? What are my other

commitments? Will I get into the

netball team? And, inevitably, what

commitment do I have to make to

service? For some students, this takes

precedence over all else. For others, it is

a necessary obligation, like Mathematics

or English. For still others, it is simply

another demand on their already

tightly-scheduled timetables. Regardless,

they all sign up, and they all fulfill their

commitment, as we expect at UWCSEA.

Of those sign-ups, a substantial number

will be to service in Singapore, otherwise

known as ‘Local Service’. Last year,

our community gave over 63,000

volunteer hours to local organisations,

with students doing an average of 1.5

hours of local service each week. So,

while we don’t often do awareness-

raising for our local service partners,

nor do we raise money for them, each

week a stream of students welcome

members of the Singapore community

onto our campuses, or travel to visit

them in their care homes, hospitals,

community centres or residences. Each

week, our students and service leaders

build connections with Singaporeans

that contribute to our collective

understanding of Singapore as a diverse

society. And each week our students

have the opportunity to make a small

but direct difference to someone whose

life experience may be very different

from their own.

UWCSEA was registered with the

National Council of Social Service

(NCSS) in 1970 at the time the College

was being established under the

guidance of then Prime Minister Lee

Kuan Yew. Shortly after that we began

creating lasting connections. In May

2012 Head of Local Service on Dover

Campus, Cathy Elliott, accepted a special

award from former President Tony Tan in

recognition of the contribution UWCSEA

students had made to the Movement

for Intellectually Disabled in Singapore

(MINDS) over a 40-year partnership.

In contrast to some volunteer activities

in Singapore where, according to NCSS,

64% of volunteers volunteer as a ‘one-

off’ event, our service programme is

predicated on long-term, sustainable and

mutually beneficial partnerships. Our

older students commit to at least one

year of service, and often continue with

the partnership the following year. Staff

service leaders will lead the same service

for years, building close friendships with

the partner organisation and with the

beneficiaries themselves, attending

special celebrations and often becoming

part of their extended family.

These individual relationships are at

the heart of the UWCSEA’s Singapore-

based service programme and they are

what impacts most on our students. As

a Grade 11 student volunteering with

MINDS put it, “I think one of the most

‘false’ words in the English language is

the word ‘disability’. This word implies

that there is a prohibiting factor within

these people—but really, being in this

service has taught me how far that is

from the truth. Each person here an

ability, different to our own, that they

can share. Some are loud, some love to

dance, and some love to just smile and

sway—but connecting with each of them

UWCSEA’s Singapore Service Programme

MAKING A DIFFERENCE LOCALLY

service partners

in Singapore

1.5

average number of hours

volunteered weekly by

students and service leaders

63,000

volunteer hours

given to our

Singapore partners

4 | Dunia December 2018

and learning from them in such a fun

way is, for me, the most valuable part of

our service—and the reason why I, and

so many others, look forward to coming

each week.”

The benefits to our students are many.

As they go through the five stages of

service learning (see pages 6–7 for an

example), students learn about the

complexity of factors contributing to

difficulties for the vulnerable in society.

Using a systems thinking model, they

extend their research and collaborative

skills as they develop and plan activities,

and build empathy and understanding

through interaction with partners.

A cycle of feedback, reflection and

adjustment ensures that the relationship

is reciprocal and that any action taken

is founded on a deep understanding of

the issues, the surrounding environment

and that the needs of all those involved

are carefully considered. So, while our

partners may focus on the impact on

the individuals, we are looking at the

learning for students, and it is significant.

But perhaps the most important

question to answer is about the overall

impact on society of the service our

volunteers provide each week. On Friday,

30 November, Lizzie Bray, Head of

Dover Campus, sat on a panel discussion

at the annual Singapore Volunteer

Management Network meeting,

organised by NCSS. In the room were

over 150 people with responsibility

for managing volunteers in Singapore.

The topic for discussion was the value

of measuring the impact of service

activities. As they worked through

stakeholder management, a theory

of change model, and approaches to

data collection, the intensity of the

commitment in the room was palpable.

The questions to the panel were complex

and difficult “How do we describe our

goals with social intervention in ways

that are measurable in the long run?”,

“What are the interfering factors that

can corrupt impact measurement?”, “Is

this just another box-ticking exercise?”

The answers were as complex as the

questions: this is not an easy area. But

the final comment came from Lizzie:

“The thing we haven’t talked about”,

she said, “is the impact on society of a

group of volunteers who, through their

efforts to make a positive difference,

are pursuing a more meaningful life.”

Quoting Martin Seligman, the father

of positive psychology, she reminded

everyone of the importance of putting

yourself in service of something that is

larger than you are. For us at UWCSEA

this higher purpose is our mission, and

service is at the heart of it.

Singapore’s Minister for Culture,

Community and Youth, Grace Fu,

said in a speech at the Asian Venture

Philanthropy Network conference in June

2018 that to “do well, do good and do

right—we must be relentless, tenacious,

and never give up.” Through the service

programme, UWCSEA students are

doing well, and doing good, in the

pursuit of our mission.

Learn more about the UWCSEA service

curriculum here:

December 2018 Dunia | 5

Apex Harmony Lodge opened in 1998 as the first purpose-built home for people with dementia in Singapore. Students from

East Campus have been working with residents since 2011. Currently, our students work with a trained music therapist to

understand the science behind music therapy and to provide residents with positive experiences in order to stimulate their

memories through music.

A recent study of the impact of music therapy at the Lodge showed positive results of the service. Through the ‘Music with

Reminiscence’ programme students were trained in the Observed Emotions Rating Scale (OERS) and Personal Enhancers (PEs)

and between 2016 and 2018, 33 students applied these skills in their work with 61 residents. The results indicated statistically

significant increases in scores of positive emotions for residents. There was also a significant increase in student understanding

of people living with dementia and the positive impact of music and personal interactions on elderly people.

The visual below describes the five steps of service learning through the example of Apex Harmony Lodge.

A student journey with Apex Harmony Lodge

Students reflect and

identify their individual

interests and skills they

can offer to service

partners. In this example,

students may have musical

skills, be interested in

working with elderly

patients or have personal

experience of people living

with dementia.

Students research

the systemic

issues that impact

on people living

with dementia

and their families

e.g., issues

of inclusion,

diversity,

inequality and

social integration.

Students visit Apex Harmony Lodge to conduct

interviews with staff, make observations and take

photos of the space and resources available and

then set SMART goals for the year ahead, including

activities that could help achieve the goal.

Students receive training in any skills they need

to be effective, e.g., OERS, mindfulness, body

relaxation, personal enhancers, ways to show

respect. They also learn about any restrictions on

their activity e.g., compliance regulations and any

legal frameworks that govern their interactions.

Set service goals, including

measurable KPIs using

UWCSEA’s framework and

template. They then connect

their efforts to the UN

Sustainable Development Goals.

Students visit the elderly at

least once a week, leading

games and activities with them

and, above all, listening to and

making music with them.

FEATURE

6 | Dunia December 2018

At the end of the year, students review their goals and

KPIs, obtain feedback from the service partner and reflect

on their journey, examining the difference they have made,

identifying questions and considering improvements for

the following year. Reflection often leads to new action.

It is not enough to do

good: you must also

inspire others to do good.

Students demonstrate

and solidify their learning

through sharing their stories

in person and through

multimedia: Blogs, news

stories, learning journals,

assemblies, presentations to

friends and family—all these

raise awareness and inspire

others to believe that they

can make a difference in

their local community.

After six weeks, students pause

and complete a SWOT analysis,

which helps to identify areas of

improvement and any additional

support or training they need.

Students then adjust the

programme and implement any

changes, watching for indicators

of improvement. A second

SWOT analysis is completed

later in the school year.

December 2018 Dunia | 7

Outdoor Education is far more than the expedition programme, and outdoor learning spaces are valued extensions of the classroom

for our youngest students. Regular opportunities are provided intentionally to explore the active, natural, growing, creative and

social spaces of the outdoor environments on both campuses. Students are encouraged to make mindful choices, solve problems

and observe and investigate the natural world around them. They are encouraged to safely challenge their own capabilities, both

independently and in collaboration with others. On-campus activity is extended through a range of field trips that encourage students

to form connections in meaningful contexts within the wider Singapore landscape.

SPOTLIGHT

OUTDOOR EDUCATION

IN THE INFANT SCHOOL

SPOTLIGHT ON …

Saturday: Round 2

All 24 candidates were waiting in silence under a canopy as we arrived at the

selection venue. Most came with a parent or two, some brought younger

siblings, and a couple made the trip on their own. Among them were familiar

faces; two students who made it to this point in the process last year were

back again.

Candidates began the day with a written English assessment followed by a

group challenge. Teams collaborated to make the highest structure possible

using one marshmallow, a short strip of masking tape, and 10 strands of raw

spaghetti. Some students were quiet collaborators, others confident and

chatty. Almost all looked to one another for guidance and approval.

Students then participated in two interviews, one conducted in English and

the other in Khmer. In these conversations we learnt which students enjoy

reading books and writing stories and who loves Taylor Swift and Justin

Bieber. We got to know who is an only child and who has nine siblings. We

learnt that one girl’s father works for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre;

this conversation became real when the very next candidate told us that her

father is an amputee due to a landmine. We always learn more about the

students than we expect.

After the interviews, Chanreaksmey and Sreylin gave a presentation to the

candidates and their families about UWCSEA and Singapore. The session

gave students an opportunity to ask questions about the scholarship,

studying at College, and living in Singapore. Meanwhile, we were deciding

which nine students would be invited back on Sunday.

Sunday: Final Round

In the Final Round, students participated in two more interviews, which

were longer and more personal. It’s not easy for a teenager to sit in

an interview with two adults, with different accents, and converse

in a language other than their mother tongue. Our goal was to get

to know each student as well as possible so that we could make an

informed decision.

We learnt that most everyone wants the scholarship so they can

eventually return home and help improve the lives of their families and

communities. We also learnt that these students are thirsty for what

our school can provide; they want to study science in a laboratory, to

meet new friends from around the world, to participate in a drama

production—and a few who had researched UWCSEA well, got giddy

asking if all Grade 8 students really travel to Chiang Mai to go whitewater

rafting and sleep under the stars.

As a team, we discussed and deliberated until we agreed which two

candidates would be invited to UWCSEA. Making the final decision

is never easy; even more harrowing is watching families huddle in

disappointment when their child’s name is not announced. One might

expect the scholarship recipients to jump for joy and cry tears of delight;

Dararasmey (pictured above left with the author) and Chantrea (pictured

above right), our next 5-year UWCSEA scholars, smiled quietly and then

hugged their families in silence.

SCHOLARSHIPS OPEN A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY

By Andrea Felker, Middle School EAL teacher, East Campus

Since its inception in 2008, UWCSEA’s

5-year Cambodian Scholarship

Programme has offered 25 students a

UWCSEA education from Grades 8–12.

While life-changing for these young

Cambodians, their presence enriches our

school community in so many ways.

In the most recent selection process,

150 students from across Cambodia

participated in Round 1 assessments in

February 2018. Twenty-four students

were then invited to attend Round 2

in March 2018, with only two being

awarded the UWCSEA scholarship at the

end of an emotional 36 hour weekend

at Northbridge International School in

Phnom Penh.

I was part of the team that selected our

two newest 5-year UWCSEA Cambodian

Scholars. UWCSEA’s Cambodia

Scholarship Coordinator Chris Davies

and Will Walker, both from Dover

Middle School, as well as our Grade 12

Cambodian scholars, Chanreaksmey and

Sreylin, joined Penhleak Chan, UWC Red

Cross Nordic alumna and UWC Cambodia

National Committee member in adding

invaluable perspectives. Philosophically,

we went into the weekend believing

in opportunity for all, and we were

confident that the scholarship would best

suit two students who would probably

not otherwise get a similar opportunity.

Here are some reflections on the process:

COMMUNITY NEWS

They say your life begins at the end of your comfort zone, so thanks to this scholarship I get to experience the

true value of life.”

Khantey, Grade 12 Cambodian scholar, East Campus

December 2018 Dunia | 9

By Ian Tymms, Head of Middle School English, East Campus

It may seem a surprise to know that—to the best of our

knowledge—there has never before been a sporting event

between the United World Colleges. Perhaps the reason

is something about a preference for collaboration rather

than competition; possibly it is just the tyranny of distance.

Regardless, it all changed this summer when four of the

colleges came together for the inaugural UWC Sailing Regatta

hosted in Wales at UWC Atlantic College (UWC AC). And

whilst competition per se may not be deeply embedded in

the educational tradition we inherit from Kurt Hahn, sailing

certainly is.

At each of Kurt Hahn’s schools—Salem, Gordonstoun, and

UWC AC—sailing and water activities have had a special place

with students spending significant amounts of time learning to

build, sail, row, repair and design watercraft. Hahn is reported

to have said when at Gordonstoun that his “best schoolmaster

was the Moray Firth”1 (Moray Firth being the stretch of

water near the school where students went to sail). In the

complex interplay of skills required to keep a boat afloat, Hahn

recognised something essential to his vision of education.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the lifeboat program

at UWC AC. The college is blessed or cursed (depending on

whom you talk to) with a concrete slipway running down into

the Bristol Channel. From early in its history, UWC AC provided

a service through their own lifeboat, which was crewed

and maintained by the students. During the 50 years of its

operation, the UWC AC Lifeboat Station “launched on service

459 times and saved a total of 98 lives.”2 The contribution of

the college to lifesaving goes way beyond the heroic actions of

their lifeboat team, however.

Unhappy with the design of the original rescue craft, students

and staff designed a new kind of lifeboat combining the

stability of an inflatable raft with the speed and agility of a rigid

powerboat hull: the Rigid-hulled Inflatable Lifeboat (RIB) was

born. This design proved so successful that eventually the patent

was sold for a token 1 pound to the RNLI and the RIB is now the

standard craft for inshore rescue work right around the world

with hundreds of thousands of RIBs to be found everywhere from

surf beaches in Australia to leisure craft in the Mediterranean.

The Atlantic College Lifeboat was more than just a skill for

students to learn; in its essential elements it was perhaps the

most perfect distillation of all that Hahn valued in education.

Through the programme, students were challenged to put the

welfare of others before themselves; they were pushed to find

reserves of courage and stamina they may not have known

they had; they were given the opportunity to put their minds

and imaginations to work through the design process; they

were trained to work as a highly skilled team; and they had the

opportunity to do all this in the spirit of adventure and trust

which Hahn so valued.

At first glance, a modern sailing regatta may seem like a

poor cousin to such a noble lineage. Modern sailboats are

lightweight, rigged with lines and sails that seem to defy the

laws of physics and require skills more akin to gymnastics

than the brawn and bravado of many other sports. High

performance boats take considerable time to rig and have to be

nursed down the slipway like delicate fine-tuned race cars.

And here lies another problem: modern standards of safety

regularly render the Atlantic College slipway unsuitable for

the launch and retrieval of boats of this type. With regatta

participants flying in from around the world for a three-day

event, our Atlantic College hosts needed a much more reliable

venue to minimise the likelihood of sailing being postponed or

cancelled. An ideal venue was found two hours drive away at

the Pembrokeshire Performance Sailing Academy (PPSA).3

At the PPSA, Sailing Instructor Taff Own and his staff designed

a three-day sailing event that began on the Friday with an

assessment of the sailing skills. One of the many challenges of

matching the different UWCs against each other was that we all

sail different boats. In Singapore, UWCSEA students sail single

handed Laser Radials. The Mahindra UWC of India contingent

sailed the two-handed 420. In Norway at UWC Red Cross Nordic

they don’t sail anything because, as the students explained,

for much of the year they have neither suitable conditions nor

even daylight, but the four participants came with a range of

experience from their lives pre-UWC. The two UWC Maastricht

students both had experience on double handed boats.

Taff matched skills to boats and set a handicap system allowing

for two days of racing on the Cleddau inlet. Challenging tides,

fickle winds and passing tall ships each added to the experience.

Three days and five races later and the 13 participants had built

strong bonds of friendship and a sense of camaraderie and

pleasure in their various achievements.

It was a great regatta, but as students relaxed over dinner

afterwards, it didn’t seem to have quite the power of a lifeboat

rescue. Given all the effort involved in organising the event,

the resources involved in flying students from various parts of

Sailing, lifeboats and the first ever sporting

regatta between United World Colleges

1 http://www.gordonstoun.org.uk/sail-training | 2 Plaque on the wall at Atlantic College replicating a letter from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

recognising the contribution of the college lifeboat station. | 3 https://www.ppsa.co.uk/

FEATURE

10 | Dunia December 2018

the world and the elitist nature of modern dinghy sailing, the

question needs to be asked: does this event really fit with Kurt

Hahn’s values?

Two particular elements make me believe it does.

Firstly, the event was initiated and partly organised by students

from UWC Red Cross Nordic. From the deep dark of the

Norwegian Fjords, Ossian Procope and Asbjorn Lauridsen

gained the support of Tom Partridge, Head of Atlantic

Outdoors at UWC AC, and then contacted each of the other

16 UWCs gauging interest in a sailing regatta. Without the

professional support of Tom and his team and the financial

support of UWC AC and their alumni, the event would not

have been possible. But, critically, without the enthusiasm

and engagement of students in initiating and co-organising

the event, it would not have been nearly so meaningful. The

competition was serious, but it was not the main point: what

mattered most was the collaboration between students as they

came together to enjoy a sport they collectively value.

The second reason I think the event fits powerfully in the

Hahnian context was a surprise to me at the time. On the final

day I was driving one of the students to the airport. I asked him

what he valued the most about the event. His reply was that it

was the four hours sitting in a bus each day travelling to and from

the sailing centre. He explained that he had learned so much

about the other students and the other UWCs during this time.

Digging deeper into this observation I found myself reflecting

on my own experience of the bus trip. I sat in the front talking

to Tom who was driving and we swapped stories about our

schools, our families and our values and visions. UWC AC and

UWCSEA have the same mission, heritage and values although

we appear very different on the surface. Sometimes, daily

realities can distort our view of underlying principles; what I

found in these bus trips was a sense of perspective that helped

me clarify what we have in common as a UWC movement.

Hahn’s view was that if you took students from different

backgrounds and educated them together they would come to

value each other for their common humanity rather than being

separated by their different cultures. He may not have had a

Ford Transit van in mind when he pictured his ideal education

vessel, but the principle seems to hold. When students arrive

for the first time at a UWC, they bring with them all their many

cultural identities. When they leave, they have a new identity

as a member of a bigger human community. Coming together

through the adventure of sailing, our different UWCs had this

commonality reaffirmed and clarified.

UWC AC no longer has a permanent lifeboat crew. The

precariousness of the slipway and the standards of modern

crew accreditation mean that it’s no longer realistic to train

students during the two years they spend at Atlantic College.

Nearby lifeboats can launch faster and achieve rescues more

reliably. The school and its students still play an incredible role

in lifesaving and continue to design and build RIBs through

their support of ‘Atlantic Pacific’.4 Students build RIBs that are

transported around the world for rescue work from Japan to

the Mediterranean. The school’s vision is increasingly global

and systemic.

As students and teachers who have had the privilege of being

involved in the first UWC Sailing Regatta, we now have a

responsibility to explore and explain the meaning of the event.

The enthusiasm is there to run the regatta again next year.

We need to be asking questions like “How do we build on

the relationships that are formed?” “How do we understand

the event in relation to our UWC mission and history?”

“How can we support UWCs where finances are a barrier

to participation?” And a question that I am asking in this

article: “how does the model of the Atlantic College Lifeboat

programme guide us both in core values and in understanding a

changing world?”

Early discussions are happening in many of these areas. The

initial enthusiasm of Ossian, Asbjorn and Tom to bring UWC

students together sailing has turned into something powerful;

it will be fascinating to see how it grows next year.

Congratulations to the UWCSEA students who participated in

this inaugural regatta:

Aevar Arnason (1st), Elliot Cocks (1st), Chase Baldwin (2nd),

Nikhil Shah and Stefan Pereira.

4 http://www.atlanticpacific.org.uk/

Photo provided by: Ian Tymms

December 2018 Dunia | 11

By Tanya Dholakia,

Varenya Gupta, Ethan Jong,

Tanisha Naqvi, High School,

Dover Campus

Beyond the glamour of the

costumes and thumping music

of the dance performances, there

is much to find in UN Night

that supports the UWC mission.

Sustainability, raising awareness

of important global causes, and

students collaborating across

the College, all make the night a

fundamental part of UWCSEA. UN

Night 2018 involved not only 27

dances showcasing the culture of

countries across the world but also

29 stalls raising awareness and

funds for Global Concerns.

UN NIGHT

Dover Campus

12 | Dunia December 2018

By Sachi Sawant, Grade 11,

East Campus HS Journalism Team

CultuRama celebrates a variety of

cultures through performance and

pushes more than 300 students

outside their comfort zone; giving

them the opportunity to learn

different dance styles as well

embracing their own traditions,

bringing the UWC mission to

life. This year 14 countries were

represented and there was a

performance by the Blue Dragon

GC, where UWCSEA students

collaborated with the children

from Blue Dragon who had flown

in from Vietnam to perform a

magnificent piece showcasing their

country’s rich heritage.

COMMUNITY NEWS

CULTURAMA

East Campus

December 2018 Dunia | 13

Multilingualism

in our learning community

By Margaret Chhoa-Howard

Primary EAL Coordinator

Dover Campus

For many people, speaking more

than one language can be a foreign

concept. That is certainly not the case

at UWCSEA where the diversity of

languages and cultures is regarded

as a rich resource. At UWCSEA 72

languages are spoken by students from

around 90 different nationalities. A

microcosm of even greater diversity

exists in our residential community;

the 324-boarding students on our two

campuses speak 40 languages between

them, with 33 different first languages.

The development of bilingualism

and home languages is recognised

and promoted. All bring a richness of

language diversity and culture which

makes up our community.

To support our multilingual students,

a range of home languages are offered

across both campuses. In addition

to our English as an Additional

Language (EAL) programmes. These

aim to support students to develop

and maintain home language skills.

In May 2018, 146 students gained a

bilingual diploma in 37 languages,

including English. By promoting home

languages, we want our students to

feel valued, that what they bring to

our learning community is valued and

to demonstrate that our community

appreciates, celebrates and promotes

language and cultural diversity. Above

all we want to avoid students gaining

English at the cost of losing their home

language which is central to their family

communication, identity, relationships

and culture. It is part of their story.

Parents are encouraged and frequently

reminded, to expose their children to

the home language continually, even if

the children reply in English.

In his book The Future of English (1997)

David Graddol argues that in the next

50 years or so it will be those with both

English and their home language who

will benefit most and who will be most

involved in world affairs. Those with

only English might be less fortunate.

UWCSEA promotes additive

bilingualism is promoted, where

acquiring English, while actively

encouraging the maintenance of home

languages, is key. To use the analogy

of a bicycle (Developing bilingual skills

Source: Baker (200:13) adapted from

Cummins (1996), one wheel can get you

places, as can a big wheel and a little

wheel. When both wheels, however,

are fully inflated and nicely balanced,

you will go farther. Balanced wheels, ie,

balanced languages, are what students

should aim for. This might be home

language plus English or, where English

is the home language, English plus

possibly the host country language.

There is a growing movement to

promoting bilingualism as scientific

One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages opens every door along the way.”

Frank Smith in To Think: In Language, Learning and Education

research shows evidence that it can

have immense benefits on psychological

and cognitive development (Dr Leher

Singh, NUS).

Dr Leher Singh visited Dover Campus

last academic year, discussing how

a child’s proficiency in his/her first

language is a significant predictor of

how he/she will perform in the second

language and the ability to become

bilingual. The riches of Language

1 will transfer to Language 2. The

bilingual world is a more complex

world than the monolingual world as

the bilingual brain has to deal with

dual languages and systems, multiple

dialects and cultures. As it does this,

the bilingual brain develops into a

more complex machine. Bilingualism

sharpens the brain’s executive system

and encourages focus, self regulation

and verbal reasoning. Bilingual children

show evidence of being able to take in

another’s perspective earlier, a greater

ability to think out of the box, increased

creativity and improved problem

solving. As children develop both

languages in tandem, their vocabulary

may initially be more limited than in

monolingual children but evidence

shows that they can catch up later.

There may be intrusion errors. This

might be seen in phoneme learning

when phonemes are represented in the

mother tongue in a different way. This

is a normal part of the bilingual journey

along with mixing languages.

Dr Singh further outlined how there

can be a positive transfer between

languages when commonalities are

shared. Knowledge of one language

can help understanding in another.

Bilingualism has positive social

benefits including a positive impact on

friendship choices. Bilingual children

are more open to people that are not

just like them; they are more likely to

trust people based on behaviour rather

than race, making them less vulnerable

to social biases and more able to

have a complex understanding of the

behaviours of others.

She also mentioned how bilingualism

is also a ‘preservative’ for the brain.

The brain maintains a greater cognitive

‘reserve’ making the ageing brain

more resilient.

Raising a bilingual, and in many cases

biliterate, child requires commitment

from all stakeholders: child, family

and school. Becoming bilingual is hard

work and rests precariously on bilingual

motivation. Buy in is vital so that the

child intrinsically sees the advantages

and benefits. Goals need to be set. In

younger children it might be that they

can converse with family members

during holiday visits. Older children

might have the goal of a Bilingual

IB Diploma.

As UWCSEA develops our EAL

programme in the Dover Campus

Primary School, we aim to follow best

practices. Our goal is two well inflated

tyres shaped for success and efficiency.

We might encounter a few punctures

and roadblocks along the way, but

armed with determination to ride the

journey with our students and parents,

we know that we will get there and our

students will be better for it.

FEATURE

Home Language Programme at UWCSEA

The programme is offered for students who want to maintain a language spoken at home but who do not study this language as part of the academic

curriculum during the school day. By providing personalised lessons our aim is to support biliteracy rather than simply bilingualism.

Classes are delivered by a qualified teacher in small groups after school, supporting students to develop their home language skills. In K1 to Grade 1 the focus

is on maintaining or expanding a students exposure to their home language in an environment other than home. A particular focus on developing the literacy

skills of reading and writing is introduced from Grade 2. For older students, the programme is intended to assist them maintain a level of proficiency that may

allow them to move into classes offered in the academic curriculum in Middle or High School, including the option of School Supported Self Taught Language

courses from Grade 9. Although the intent of the programme is the same, there are slight differences by campus, including the languages on offer. Classes are

offered subject to demand from our community; at the time of writing the home languages programme at UWCSEA offers:

Dover Campus

• Bahasa Indonesian

• Danish

• Dutch

• French

• German

• Hebrew

• Hindi

• Italian

• Japanese

• Portuguese

• Spanish

East Campus

• Bahasa Indonesian

• Bengali

• Cantonese

• Dutch

• French

• German

• Hindi

• Italian

• Japanese

• Korean

• Malay

• Russian

• Spanish

• Tamil

• Thai

• Urdu

December 2018 Dunia | 15

In 2018, two members of the UWCSEA community took fundraising into their own hands; exciting initiatives to enrich the

UWCSEA experience: Mikael Mörn ’92 undertook a Three Peak Challenge and Charles (Charlie) Ormiston cycled on a Cross

America Tour. Both endeavours required incredible physical feats—Mikael summited three treacherous mountain peaks and

Charlie pushed himself to the limit cycling across America. Mikael rallied the support of the alumni community and Charlie’s

initiative mobilised support from parents, many of whom he knew through his work as Chair of UWCSEA Board of Governors

(2010–2017) and as a parent of a UWCSEA graduate.

Thank you to both Mikael and Charlie for undertaking these extraordinary feats in support of the UWCSEA Scholarship

Programme. Their challenges raised substantial funds and served as catalysts to bring our community together in a way that is

connected to the UWC mission.

Taking action for scholarships

THREE PEAK CHALLENGE

Mikael Mörn ’92 and member of the UWCSEA Foundation

Leadership Council, climbed not one but three of the world’s

most remote mountain peaks, Mount Ararat (Turkey), Mount

Damavand (Iran) and Mount Elbrus (Russia), generating funds

for a new UWCSEA scholarship opportunity. From atop a

mountain peak, Mikael encouraged the alumni community to

get involved and help make a difference. And they rose to the

challenge! UWCSEA community will open its’ doors to a new

scholar in August 2019. The goal is to offer this scholarship to

a young person who has come from difficult circumstances,

potentially as an Internally Displaced Person, and give them

the opportunity of a life-changing UWC education.

I do not know a group of more positive and

passionate leaders of tomorrow than UWCSEA

graduates—within that cohort, the grit and

determination of scholars, who have often risen

from incredibly challenging circumstances, makes

them changemakers to watch!”