By J.R. Breen
Contributing Writer

The first secular international school in Korea offering a British curriculum through 12th grade is accepting admissions for its primary, or elementary, facility which will open in Seocho-gu Sept. 2.

''We are very pleased to be opening in Seoul,'' said Daryl Orchard, head of Dulwich College Seoul. ''This is an exciting and successful city which is becoming an increasingly important destination for expatriate professionals.''

The opening of the college is a significant milestone for expatriates in the city as it represents the first kindergarten to 12th grade school offering a British education. (The existing British School has no high school facility).

The other foreign schools in the city offer an American curriculum and are predominantly Christian.

Expatriate parents even in the American business community have expressed over the years their concern about the lack of choice.

Dulwich intends to broaden choice, and present what they feel is a currently a unique option for expatriates.

''We bring an alternative education to that currently available for expatriate children in Korea,'' Orchard said. ''We are expanding parental options by offering a British curriculum that is appropriately modified.''

''Our outlook is both international and secular,'' he said. ''We feel this is the only way to truly practice what we preach with regard to respect for other faiths and cultures.''

With 400 years of academic achievement under its belt, U.K.-based Dulwich College consistently ranks in the top 10 boys boarding schools in Britain.

The college's international operation, Dulwich College Management International (DCMI) began in 2003 with Dulwich College Shanghai, which already ranks third in international schools across the world.

In addition, the school operates Dulwich College Beijing and Dulwich College Suzhou.

Following the primary school opening this year, Dulwich intends to open a secondary, or middle and high, school in 2012. Two potential sites have been offered for consideration in Seocho and Gangnam.

Orchard, who hails from Britain, has a 20-year teaching career in international schools in Asia. The last two schools he taught at were the British School Manila and British International School Phuket, the latter where he was the head of primary school education.

Orchard said that there is a big difference when it comes to teaching primary school children as opposed to secondary school.

''Because school takes a lot more of their life, primary school children are always more involved,'' he said. ''In secondary school you become a teenager and there are a lot more things going on in your life.''

At full capacity the primary facility will accommodate 500 pupils. While Korean law limits the portion of students whose parents are Korean passport holders to 30 percent, the limit at Dulwich will be 25 percent, a reflection of the fact that the Seoul metropolitan government provided the land and invited Duliwch as school operator as part of its program to meet the needs of foreign investors.

The school will be teaching Mandarin, not French ― common in British schools ― as a second language to all pupils.

Although there are plans for scholarships, they will not be immediately available in 2010. However, certain types of financial aid will apply, such as a 5-percent discount for families with three or more children attending the school.

Annual fees per student will be 24.8 million won, a rate which will remain the same for three years.

The school's 10,500-sq.-meter plot of land will include an all-weather sports field and has been leased from the city for 50 years.

jrbreen@koreatimes.co.kr