Harrow School opened its doors in Shanghai on Monday, 22nd August 2016, with nearly 200 students, aged 2 to 15 years old. The excitement was palpable as the students waited for the clock to tick around to eight. Harrow was open!
The name ‘Harrow’ has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its learning and teaching. The school in Shanghai is the fourth Harrow in Asia, all inspired and guided by the famous school in north-west London, the alma mater of such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Lord Byron and, more recently, Benedict Cumberbatch, to name only three. The campus in the Waigaoqiao district of Pudong is state-of-the-art, a perfect environment in which Harrow’s students can live, learn and excel.
The Harrow teaching staff were all there to greet the students, and their parents, to Shanghai’s newest school and quickly began showing why they are amongst the best teaching staff assembled at any school in Asia. Their expertise is not just confined to the classroom, as they include top coaches and practitioners in any number of extra-curricular fields, including sports, music, the arts, drama, dancing and debating. They will be the principal figures behind the Harrow ‘Leadership in Action’ programme, which offers a wide range of activities, some at the weekends and in the evenings which will be open to children from all over Shanghai. For further details please contact lia@harrowshanghai.cn.
Founding Head Master, Mr David Cook said: “Today, Monday 22 nd August 2016, is a day that none of us at Harrow will ever forget. We all remember our new parents visiting the campus over the last few weeks and months, to learn more about our plans and expectations for the school. Now those ambitions have become a reality and our founding students, parents and staff are all showing a determination and teamwork to make the school the very best environment for our students to thrive in.” Mr Cook added, “Learning is at the heart of all we do. We recognise that everyone is different, with different learning styles, and different gifts and talents. We seek to recognise these in our planning of lessons and extra-curricular activities. We want our students to leave Harrow with the best possible academic qualifications, a love of learning and leadership skills, all of which will remain with them for life”.
Great times lie ahead for Harrow School in Shanghai, and indeed for the wider educational community in the city. Besides trying to nurture a life-long learning in both its students and teachers, Harrow is also fully committed to supporting the needs of the local community. “In the course of the last year”, Mr Cook explained, “we have established very strong links with the local educational authorities and we see it as part of our mission in Shanghai for Harrow to play a full role in their efforts to develop both international and national education in the city”.
