Before the Station Comes: Our Year 13 Graduation

"So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough."

These were the words by our Head of College David Ingram that were left lingering in the air as the Class of 2026 sat together one last time in the Alleyn Theatre, not as students rushing between lessons, but as a cohort on the cusp of something bigger and on to something unknown.

In many ways, graduation belongs to everyone: to the students who carry years of memories with them, stitched in their classrooms and hallways; to the parents, steady figures who stood quietly supporting and cheering their children on; to the teachers, janitors, campus administrators, dining hall staff, who have watched this group grow in real time, quiet observers to their stories unfolding as they find their voice.

This was a cohort shaped by different journeys. Some have called Dulwich home since DUCKS, while others joined along the way.