Dulwich Prep London > About Us > Ethos, Aims & Values

Ethos, Aims & Values

Our Ethos & Aims

Dulwich Prep London inspires excellence, and our greatest success is measured by the character of our boys. Our values sow the seeds of possibility in the mind, heart and spirit of each boy and create the right culture and the right conditions to allow these possibilities to flourish and become real.

Our school’s priority is the wellbeing and happiness of the boys. Each boy’s sense of belonging is paramount to his success and the continuing success of the school. Our boys are challenged in their pursuit of excellence, and we support each boy as he finds what he is good at.

We want our boys to leave us having experienced the very best in pastoral care, teaching and learning, having enjoyed the most dynamic and demanding academic and co-curricular programmes, and having made friends for life.

In preparing our boys for today and the future we want to instil a sense of environmental awareness and to empower our boys to become responsible world citizens. These are the key building blocks for the school, but it is our values that act as the cement which bonds everyone and everything together.

Our values create Dulwich Prep London’s special atmosphere.

Our Values

For our boys, their time at school is about more than preparation for exams, it is preparation for life. We believe that an education rooted in teaching character is what sets our boys apart.

The eight values that we uphold were originally identified by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Values, ‘a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre focussing on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing…’ because that is exactly what we want – for our boys to flourish.

Through Love, Courage, Gratitude, Humility, Justice, Service, Self-Discipline and Honesty we teach our boys how to be kind and offer help where it is needed; to play fair and tell the truth no matter who is listening; to join in and play their part whilst letting others be heard; to appreciate the world around them and how valuable their contribution is and always to have a go.

In addition to underpinning social and emotional development, a Values-driven Education creates the environment where our learners flourish.

British Values

We have a duty to actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Our school values help us to do this.

Love, Courage, Gratitude, Humility, Justice, Service, Self-Discipline, Honesty

Love

From the very outset of the journey we teach our children the value of love, in the form of kindness and gentleness.

As the boys move through school they develop a deep understanding of friendship, trust and respect, never forgetting the need for kind and considerate behaviour.

Our extensive co-curricular programme provides our children with numerous and varied opportunities to build lifelong friendships, delight in their shared experiences and care for those around them.

Where there is love there is life.

Mahatma Gandhi

Courage

Courage takes many guises in the life of a young boy growing up. Facing a challenge, overcoming a fear, performing in public or handling disappointment.

Courage is not innate, and we strive to teach our boys the need to be courageous.

Singing a solo in front of 1,000 attentive parents and peers at Speech Day, or climbing to the top of the 95’ mast on one of the 72’ Challenger Yachts...that’s courageous.

By teaching our boys courage, we are giving them the opportunity to try, to fail and then to try again.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Winston Churchill

Gratitude

As parents, ‘thank you’ is one of the first things we teach our children to say, and at Dulwich Prep London we uphold family values.

A sense of respect and an appreciation of everything we have and are able to do provides the boys with a deeper insight into their own lives and the lives of those around them.

Visitors often comment on the open and relaxed relationship between boys and staff. This is built on simple expressions of gratitude: ‘Thank you boys.’ ‘Thank you for the lesson, Sir.’

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Humility

Recognising the contribution of others and being proud of their success are crucial life lessons to learn and ones we try to teach from a young age.

There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.

Henri Frederic Amiel

Justice

‘It isn’t fair...’ Why? By asking our children to think about right and wrong, their sense of justice is heightened.

Our pupils learn to reason with each other, explain, question and discuss moral outcomes and differences of opinion. In the Early Years this is as simple as learning to share and as children progress through school their minds are opened to issues in the wider world.

Justice stems from independent thinking, that’s why we teach philosophy from Year 3. By Year 8 our boys are able to debate on a wide range of subjects.

“Should voting in national elections be made compulsory?”
- Taken from King’s Scholarship Examination at Eton College.

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Service

At every stage, we encourage our boys to look out at the world beyond them – working for the benefit of the younger boys in other sections of the school, finding ways to get involved in our local community and sharing their experience, knowledge and good fortune with others.

What does service look like at the Prep? It’s working for others – whether as a Year 8 pupil listening to a younger pupil read, or serving food to London’s homeless at the Cardinal Hume Centre.

Our boys learn the joy of helping others choosing sixteen charities to support last year.

Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.

Albert Einstein

Self-Discipline

Organisation, self-control, patience, listening. . . self-discipline means something different at every age as the boys move through DPL.

We encourage every boy to recognise that the right choice is not always the easiest and to enjoy the fulfilment that comes with determination and dedication.

We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.

Wonderful opportunities can often lead to difficult choices... jazz band rehearsals, or playing with friends at the fields? By learning self-discipline, our pupils are better able to find their way, first at the Prep, and then in the world.

We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.

Jesse Owens

Honesty

Honesty is a value children understand from a very young age and one we know they will carry with them on their journey through life. It is having the integrity to look others in the eye and the confidence to look inwardly at themselves.

As early as Year 1 our boys are taught to assess their own work and to comment honestly and constructively on the work of their peers.

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

William Shakespeare