HARROW
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
B A
N G
K O Kk
HARROW RELATIONSHIPS
Harrow School is proud of its association with the Harrow International Schools (HISs) of
which, so far, three have been established, in Bangkok (opened in 1998), Beijing (opened in
2005) and Hong Kong (opening in 2012). The purpose of the international schools
programme is to replicate the legacy and traditions of Harrow School by creating a network
of international schools which aims to create leaders for a better world, through academic
excellence and a well-balanced educational philosophy. In order to achieve this purpose, it is
a stated aim to open schools in countries which have strong ties with Britain and British
culture and traditions and, in particular, with Harrow School.
Before Harrow School grants a licence, the prospective school undergoes a rigorous
assessment of its commercial viability, as well as its core principles and ethos. This
assessment continues, as will be apparent below.
Legal Ties
The legal framework is based on a number of written agreements. The following, though not
in any way a substitute, gives a brief outline.
Each HIS is a separate company, ultimately owned by Asia International Schools Ltd (AIS), of
which there are two shareholders, Mr Daniel Chiu’s family trust (80%) and Mr Ian Taylor
(20%). Mr Chiu has been the Proprietor of Harrow International School Bangkok (HISBK)
almost since its inception and of Beijing (HISBJ) and Hong Kong (HISHK) from the beginning.
Mr Chiu, a successful Hong Kong businessman, initially became interested in HISBK through
family connections with the school when it first started and, since, has developed a passion
for international schooling. It is because of his willingness to invest in the schools and
provide collateral that the capital necessary to support such large projects has been raised.
He has established a subsidiary of AIS, Harrow International Management Services Ltd
(HIMS), for the purpose of overseeing the HISs.
Each HIS operates with the benefit of a licence from Harrow School to use the name
“Harrow” and the Arms (the lion crest). Although they are privately and independently
owned, with their educational, administrative and financial responsibilities wholly separate
from those of Harrow School, each HIS has close functional ties to Harrow School, as well as
to each other.
Each HIS has its own Harrow Agreement, a legally binding agreement that outlines the roles
and responsibilities of it and the other parties, including the Governors of Harrow School
(and the company through which they are represented) and sets out the framework under
which that company receives royalties for the use of Harrow School’s Name and Arms.
These agreements lay the foundations for accountability in the operation of the HISs. The
Harrow Agreement includes governance arrangements outlining the composition, roles and
responsibilities of the HIS’s governing board and the operating guidelines with which that
school must comply. These include the school’s philosophical foundations, curriculum, cocurriculum, pastoral care, quality controls, staffing, and operations such as marketing and
finance. The agreement also recognises the supervisory role of HIMS, which operates under
a separate management services agreement with the HIS.
Each HIS is monitored in terms of the expectations enshrined in the Harrow Agreement in
two ways. Each has its own governing board of ten members, including two representatives
of its owners and two Governors of Harrow School. (Two representatives of the Governors
of Harrow School also serve on the board of directors of HIMS.)
In each school term, the two representatives of the Governors of Harrow School attend
each of the HIS’s local Governors’ meetings and also the HIMS board meeting. While at the
schools, they spend time visiting classes, talking with teachers, students and parents and
reviewing financial performance. Similarly, the Director of Schools/ COO of HIMS visits each
HIS for two days once a month and discusses with the Head matters related to strategy,
finance and policy, as well as visiting classes and meeting with staff and parents.
Functional Ties
The following are examples of the functional ties between Harrow School, The John Lyon
School and the Harrow International Schools.
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Mr Peter Siddons, a former Chairman of the Governors of Harrow School, is now
Chairman of the HIMS board. Since becoming a Governor of Harrow School, he has
visited HISBK 33 times and HISBJ 13 times, almost invariably also attending a local
Governors’ meeting.
Old Harrovians have sat and are sitting on both HISBK and HISBJ governing boards.
Mr Kevin Riley, formerly Head of The John Lyon School, is currently the Head of
HISBK.
Mr Mel Mrowiec, currently Deputy Headmaster of Harrow School, has been
appointed as the founding Head of HISHK.
Mr Matthew Farthing, Head of HISBJ, was formerly Director of Studies and Head of
Senior School at HISBK.
Mr Martin Towse, formerly a senior leader at HISBK, is now Deputy Head of HISBJ.
Mr David Dawes taught mathematics at Harrow School for 16 years before teaching
at both HISBK and HISBJ and he now also aspires to teach at HISHK!
Mr Gordon Montgomery was a physics/mathematics teacher at Harrow School and
moved to HISBK 6 years ago, where he is now Head of Suriyothai House.
Ms Sarah Mackrory taught at HISBK for 3 years before being appointed to a teaching
post at Harrow School.
Mr Francois Stalder and Preethi Stalder had a one year exchange to Harrow School
from HISBK.
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Mr Severin Herbert, Head of Drama at HISBK, spent a year at HISBJ establishing a
drama department there.
Graduating students from Harrow School and The John Lyon School have gone to
HISBK and HISBJ as GAP students. Former students of Harrow School have also
worked at HISBJ as graduate interns.
Travel Awards – each year 2 teaching staff at HISBK receive travel awards to travel to
Harrow School for a week to become more acquainted with the school.
Regular visits – periodically a teacher from Harrow School visits the Harrow
International Schools. For example, visitors have included the Head Master, the
Director of Studies, the House Master of the Grove, and the Director of Sport and PE.
Many students from the HISs have attended Harrow School’s summer holiday
programme.
Year 6 exchange – for 2 years now Year 6 students from HISBK and HISBJ have visited
each other.
Geography and biology trips – 6th Form students from HISBJ have visited HISBK on
biology and geography fieldtrips.
MIS – the Directors of ICT at Harrow School, HISBK and HISBJ collaborated to decide
which new Management Information System to adopt for the international schools.
They are currently going through the same process for the purpose of deciding which
VLE to introduce.
Regular meetings – the Heads of HISBK and HISBJ meet with the Director of Schools
individually once a month and as a group once a term; the Leadership Groups are
now meeting annually, as are the Marketing and ICT teams.
Heads from the five schools meet for dinner once a year.
Mr Daniel Chiu and the Director of Schools attend a Harrow Foundation board
meeting each year.
The Harrow Family – Common Strands
The Harrow International Schools of Bangkok and Beijing are part of the Harrow Family of
Schools also comprising Harrow School and The John Lyon School, London.
The strands that they hold in common are:
 Spirit of Harrow
The spirit of Harrow, as epitomized by its most famous sons, such as Winston
Churchill, is to do your best and never give up. It is this determination that each
school seeks to emulate and nurture in it students.
 Academic excellence
All four schools seek to achieve the best academic standards for all students,
appropriate to each student’s potential. The goal is to provide all students with the
best opportunities to gain access to tertiary education based on teaching to the
National Curriculum of England including GCSEs (and IGCSE), A‐levels and
value‐added tests such as those provided by the University of Durham. The schools
believe that A‐levels provide more flexibility and choice and, study the selected
subjects to a greater depth, than other curricula available at this level. Teachers are
highly qualified and experienced and are committed to holistic schooling.
 Broad‐based learning experience
All schools offer extensive after‐school and weekend co‐curricular programmes that
aim to provide opportunities for participation and excellence in a wide range of
pursuits from games, music, drama, and art to outdoor education, community
service and hobbies. The objectives of these pursuits are to provide students with
access to a wide range of pursuits designed to become lifetime passions; expose
students to the benefits of both fair play and team loyalty; place students on the
edge of their comfort zones so that they develop resilience and loyalty to peers; and
maximize opportunities for interaction with their teachers outside the classroom.
Through these pursuits, students are given a range of opportunities to develop
leadership skills such as School Monitors/Prefects, House Captains, and team
captains.
 Teacher‐pupil relationships
The foundation of each school’s programme is the commitment, dedication and
expertise of the teaching staff. There is a range of contexts in which these
relationships are nurtured – Houses, boarding, extra‐curricular activities, the
classroom, and the tutor‐tutee relationship. The goal is to provide support, direction
and role‐modeling in all aspects of a pupil’s development.
 Traditional framework
The schools aim to bring the best of Harrow traditions together with the best of
current practice. Students are expected to interact with teachers and peers with
courtesy and respect.
 Intercultural relations
Harrow School is renowned for its famous non‐British Old Harrovians (e.g. ‘Pundit’
Nehru, and King Hussein of Jordan). 23 princes of the royal household of Thailand
have attended Harrow School since late in the 19th century. Today there is a wide
range of nationalities, cultures and religious traditions represented within and across
the student bodies of all four schools.
 Values
Grounded in its Church of England origins, Harrow School in London has
demonstrated a willingness to lead the way in terms of building bridges with other
religious traditions such as the introduction of a Roman Catholic chaplaincy into the
school. The other Harrow schools have entered the ecumenical spirit of this
approach, for example at Bangkok, holding a Christmas Carol Service and the
celebration of Loy Kratong demonstrate the ecumenical approach to building
understanding between religious traditions. An overarching theme is the Golden
Rule – to treat others as you want to be treated.
 Community service
The very origins of Harrow School, as personified by the John Lyon Trust, have their
roots in service towards those who, for some reason, have limited opportunity to
access educational opportunities. The founding of John Lyon School demonstrates
this. Seeking opportunities to serve local and distant communities lies at the heart of
the school’s charter and it is contingent upon each school, for each generation, to be
guardians of this time‐honoured legacy.
 Facilities
All schools seek to provide the best quality of facilities and educational resources
available. These are needed to support their extensive curricula and extra‐curricular
programmes. Relationships between the four schools are continuously growing, for
example, by means of teacher exchanges and GAP student placements.