Harrow International School Bangkok


Harrow International School Bangkok is a British international school in Don Mueang District, Bangkok, Thailand.
It was established and gained its license to operate in Thailand in 1998 in association with Harrow School, a boarding school for boys in London, United Kingdom. The school has over 1600 students, both boys and girls, ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years, representing 36 different nationalities. The school is divided into two day schools, upper and lower, and bases its education on the English National Curriculum. Harrow Bangkok specialises in boarding provision for students from Year 5 upwards. The majority of teaching staff are recruited from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The current headmaster, Jonathan Standen, joined the school in 2019.
As of 2019, yearly tuition fees ranged from 448,900 baht for half-day, pre-nursery students to 934,900 baht for Year 12-13 students. Full boarding for newly enrolled students is 499,000 baht per year.

History

Harrow International School was founded in 1998 and first operated as a language school at Riverine Place Condo. The first headmaster was Mr Stuart Morris, who had previously been headmaster of a school in Malaysia. Mr Morris oversaw a period of growth as the school's enrolment rose to over 700 students in 2002.
Dr J Mark Hensman, previously a headmaster in his native New Zealand, took over as headmaster and oversaw the school's relocation to a purpose-built campus at Don Mueang, near Don Mueang Airport, in 2003. The new 35 acre campus included new facilities, sports fields and boarding houses, and allowed the school enrolment to increase to 1,160. During his tenure, the iconic boater and the House system were introduced, strengthening ties to the original Harrow School.
Beginning in 2013, Michael Farley, Head Master between 2012 and 2018, launched a 5 year redevelopment programme called HBuild. Every section of the school was upgraded and expanded with new facilities for academics, sport, music, arts, boarding and a private entrance road to the school.

Affiliations

Harrow Bangkok is operated by a private company, Harrow Asia Limited. Harrow Asia Limited also oversees Harrow International Schools in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
All Harrow International Schools are operated under a license granted by Harrow School in London. Close ties exist within the Harrow family, with teacher and student exchanges, interviews for the international schools being held at Harrow School, and day-to-day co-operation between staff and management across the network. Two governors from Harrow School London are on the board of governors of Harrow International Schools and they regularly visit the schools.
In 2006 Harrow International School gained accreditation from the . Harrow Bangkok is also a member of the Federation of British International Schools in Asia ; South East Asia Student Activities Conference and the International Schools Association of Thailand.

Student body

As of 2019 there are 1664 students, 80 percent Thai and 20 percent British, Chinese and other nationalities. As of 2019 140 students board at the school.

Alumni

is the school's bi-weekly news magazine and is distributed to parents, staff, and governors. Every Harrovian features an editorial written by the Headmaster, together with news and features from the lower and upper schools written by both staff and students. Each edition of the Harrovian has a community section featuring interviews with current students, alumni, parents and staff.

''The Lion''

The Lion is Harrow International School Bangkok's annual yearbook. It is distributed to every member of the school on Speech Day, an event celebrating the preceding school year, acknowledging the students achievements as well as an opportunity to say goodbye to the graduates and leavers. It is held on the final day of every academic year.

Houses

The house system was introduced in 2003 when the school moved to Don Mueang. It is modelled on the Houses of Harrow School. There are six houses at Harrow International School Bangkok:
Each House is led by a teacher called the Head of House. All students from Year 1 to Year 13 are enrolled in Houses and compete in competitions and activities held throughout the year to win House trophies given on Speech Day. In addition the Houses are involved in local community and charity work.