2022-2023 Pioneering Spirit Grants announced
What do an English library, an eco-friendly water bottle, and movement tracking hardware have in common? These are just some of the projects from our students and educators that will be funded by Education in Motion (EiM), our parent organisation, in the coming academic year as part of this year’s cohort of Pioneering Spirit Grant (PSG) initiatives.
At Dulwich, we nurture a culture where students and educators can pioneer new ideas and practices. At the heart of the PSG programme is the aim to foster a culture of innovation and sustainability in education, promoting research and innovative practices that pioneer new ideas and approaches to teaching and learning. By recognising and supporting student entrepreneurship and technology-enabled innovation, we aim to fulfill our purpose of empowering individuals to "Live Worldwise".
We are thrilled that seed funding has been provided for the following projects.
2022-23 Selected Student Projects
Xiao Zhen Library
Dulwich College Beijing (DCB)
Team: Brian Z., Steven W., Aishling Z., and Angelina Z.
Description: An English Library, created and run by DCB volunteers, provides an English learning environment to kids in the community through in-library reading activities led by volunteers as well as book lending, self-reading, and online reading services monitored by library staff.
Wheat Straw Planet
Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong (DCSPD)
Team: Yashvi K., Vanessa N.
Description: In a metropolitan city like Shanghai, access to plastic is extremely widespread. Plastic water bottle usage is evident throughout our school. A survey we did revealed that 86% of the students had used a plastic bottle this year and 97% had seen others using one. To combat this, we decided we wanted to create affordable, eco-friendly water bottles. This way, we could provide the best product, reach a large audience, and make it extremely accessible for the student body.
Lip Balm
Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong (DCSPD)
Team: Hana C., Jade M., Zoey M., Seoyeon A., Charlotte W., Nicha T.
Description: Following research among members of our community on the natural and most effective ingredients to take care of their lips daily, we created inclusive, gender-neutral lip balms to promote self-care and self-love in the community. They will be 100% eco-friendly, biodegradable, and aesthetically pleasing.
2022-23 Selected Educator Projects
SE21 Experiences
Dulwich College (Singapore)
Educator: Liam Benjamin
Description: Instructions and coding materials are readily available for students in the EYFS. Either in the form of literal instructions such as "put, ‘go, or 'listen'. More recently, with the introduction of Bee-Bots and Code-a-pillars, there is much wider scope for patterns and instructions to emerge in the lower end of the school. As we progress through Years 1 and 2, I have seen the power of organisational thinking and the outcomes that it can create.
Flowband
Dulwich College (Singapore)
Educator: Will Patz
Description: The Flowband is next-generation hardware technology combined with digital software to develop physical motor skills, holistic health, and a lifelong understanding of movement. It is a movement tracker that can measure the activity time, intensity, and step count of students in their physical education lessons and beyond.
AI CS Course
Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi (DCSPX)
Educator: Tom Lee
Description: The course is project-based in its entirety and starts in year 9, finishing at the end of term 2 in year 11. Students learn the fundamentals of Python programming, based on Harvard’s CS50 with Python. Those who take the course in years 10 and 11 will finish the second half of the aforementioned course before moving onto Harvard’s Fundamentals of TinyML, Applications of TinyML, and Deploying TinyML. Students will then form small teams to brainstorm a year 11 project, upon which their PSG application will be based.
As one family of schools, we at Dulwich are uniquely positioned to harness the power of collaboration and innovation to create positive change in the world of education. Our mentors (Yuki Cheng, Francis Ho, d’Arcy Lunn, Liang Yo Lin, Mark Haskins, Viv Robinson, Michael Barry, Grace Hu, Michelle Stroman, Ivah Aprilia) served as subject matter experts in their respective fields and worked closely with our students and staff to help them refine their ideas and bring them to life. We also had the privilege of including an industry SME in the PSG mentorship programme this year - Mr. Kevin Stroman from Nike, who brought his expertise in supply chain to support one of our student groups.
Congratulations to all Pioneering Spirit Grant winners! We can't wait to see the results of their pioneering spirit in action.