the
HARROVIAN
the newsletter of Harrow International School Bangkok
Year 5 WWII Topic: Evacuation Day
Vol 17 No 12
13th March 2015
From the Head Master
Dear parents. students and friends,
The breadth of activities covered in this edition of The Harrovian is a very visible
reminder of the range of opportunities that our students have available to them,
and it would be easy to overlook that we have been hosting a visit from the boys
of The John Lyon School (JLS) in London. Year after year the relationship
between the Harrow family of schools is growing and it seems that the JLS boys
now see this exchange as one of the highlights of their year. I overheard one of
their boys asking another how easy it would be to transfer from London to
Bangkok, they like us so much! This June a number of our older students will
again be traveling to Harrow on the Hill to attend the now annual Y11 Harrow
Conference, focusing on career pathways and university application. Later this
year two of our senior staff will also spend time on 'The Hill', working with their
colleagues and sharing ideas on how to give the children the best possible
experience. Also in June the Head Master of Harrow London, Mr Jim Hawkins, will
join us again to gather insights on how the School is progressing, allowing him to
best support us from London.
A strength of the Harrow Family is the close bond of professional friendship
between the schools, to the benefit of our students; and all the signs are that it is
growing.
Best wishes,
Mick
THE HARROVIAN
Lower School News
New Pre Prep Leaders
Our new team of Pre Prep Leaders began their roles this week. They will be in post until the end of the academic year. We are
very lucky at Harrow to have so many students with the enthusiasm and drive to pursue a leadership responsibility at such a
young age. Our new team has lots of exciting and purposeful ideas to further develop the Pre Prep. Look out for more lunchtime
clubs, playground improvements and a host of other initiatives in the coming weeks. Please join me in congratulating our young
leaders and wishing them the very best of luck!
Mike Williams, Head of Pre Prep
Lower School Science Week
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
Last week, the Lower School was filled with the sounds of pops, bangs and fizzes as they enjoyed a Science Week packed full of
investigations and fun. The theme of the week was ‘Science is Everywhere’ and it certainly was, as students experienced daily inclass experiments ranging from reacting volcanos to hot air balloons made from tea bags. Every year, from Pre-K to Year 5,
gained new scientific knowledge as time was devoted to exciting investigations based around their themes.
Every lunchtime the playground was taken over by interactive experiments. Children were given the chance to step inside giant
bubbles, set fire to icing sugar, make their own bouncy balls and build airplanes out of straws.
The fun even came home, with many students taking up the ‘Home Science’ challenge by carrying out some experiments, writing
projects and creating YouTube videos to showcase their spectacular results. It was amazing to see such confident explanations
given in an entertaining way, we were even introduced to the next YouTube sensation… Dr Stampy (AKA Sophie 3B). Prizes were
awarded for the most impressive displays of scientific prowess but what a difficult competition to judge, with such a huge range of
fascinating Science on display. A huge thank you to all teachers and students for taking part with such enthusiasm.
Jenny Barbour
THE HARROVIAN
Year 5 Topic: WWII
On Friday 27th February, pupils in Year 5 were whisked back to life in 1939. They were evacuated to the Boarding House for their
safety as part of their introduction to their topic on World War Two. We played games, made gas masks and learned about code
breaking.
Alex Wilkes
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
Upper School News
Year 6 Maths FOBISIA Shanghai
On the 6th and 7th March, four of our brightest Year 6 mathematicians spent two days competing against 30 other teams at the
British International School Puxi, in a very cold Shanghai.
With individual and team rounds being held over the two days, our students had their mathematical brains stretched and fully
challenged. In the end we achieved 14th place, an admirable effort in what is an extremely tough competition. Special mention to
Hill in 6L for an outstanding 15th place out of 124 students in the individual rounds. Hill was joined by Khow Poon 6L, Mye 6T and
Winner 6T who all worked hard and represented Harrow Bangkok fantastically.
Jeremy Southgate
THE HARROVIAN
From the Head of Upper School
Before enthusing about the many events that have happened in recent weeks, I want to draw your attention to the academic side
of the Upper School and the amount of effort and commitment from both teachers and students to ensure this summer’s
examinations go well for all. The letters for Year 11, 12 and 13 study leave were sent home this week but the focus was not on
students studying alone at home but on revision classes at lunchtime, intervention workshops after school, lessons carrying on
and teacher availability right up until the examination date itself, and the Songkran Holiday programmes. All of this focuses on
students being as prepared for the exams as possible. I really do believe that Harrow Bangkok teachers are offering so many
opportunities for our students to ask for help when it is needed most that the need for private tuition outside of school is becoming
more redundant and an unnecessary financial burden. Fantastic work is happening in school and students are being encouraged
to access the support when there is a need or any concern. I am so proud and delighted to focus on this initiative and I thank our
teachers for making this change of educational culture a reality at Harrow Bangkok.
I wish to welcome our 12 visiting boys from John Lyon School, who are clearly having a great time both in lessons and seeing the
sights of the city of Bangkok. It was a pleasure spending time with them all last Sunday at the Grand Palace and afterwards at
MBK. Before that, over 200 students, staff and parents took part in the Harrow Road Running Event which saw runners of all
abilities completing a distance of 1.5km, 5km or 9km. My attempt at 5km was well judged as I left the longer race to the serious
runners. We welcomed Sheila Taormina to our Senior School assembly last Monday as she inspired us with her Olympic gold
medal and stories of competing in games between 1996 and 2008. It was clear to me that many performances at the Upper
School Sports Day on Wednesday this week were enhanced by her passionate messages about training hard and believing in
yourself.
We can look forward to two further events which are both fast approaching. The first is the much anticipated Prefects Disco this
Friday; always a following a magical theme, this time ‘ZOOELECTRIC’ and then the vibrant, youthful, 2015 Benefit Bash on Friday
20th March which will pull together over 20 Harrow Bangkok rock bands who will amaze us with their talents and alternative
sounds. My plan is to hold a supervisory role some distance from the speakers, unlike last year where I had ringing in my ears for
over a week! Five weeks to the festival of water but hard work and hard play between now and then – it’s the Harrow way!
Allan Forbes
Critical Lunch
On Monday 2nd March the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculties hosted the first Critical Lunch for ‘high fliers’. Critical
Lunches draw students from Year 9 to Year 13 together for an academic discussion on a chosen subject. The aim is for students
to see the links between their curriculum subjects and bring general knowledge to the discussion. Subject specialist teachers
attend along with students to prompt, add their opinion and stretch students’ thinking. Our first topic was: “The History of the world
leaves out women, and it will continue to do so”. It was a very successful academic discussion with wide parameters, interesting
random facts and lively debate.
Emma Dhesi
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
THE HARROVIAN
Geography Field Trip
On Friday 27th February the Year 11 geographers, plus a small group of Year 12 helpers, travelled to Phetchaburi for a weekend
focused on fieldwork enquiries and techniques. The aim of the weekend was to expose the students to as many different
scenarios that might come up on their Paper 4 in May and equip them with the skills to answer the questions confidently. The
students studied coastal processes and management, beach profiles and material, urban land use patterns, the impact of tourism
on the environment and local people and microclimates. The Year 12 students competently taught their parts of the course and
were an asset to the trip – thank you to Kyrah, Proud Anna, Patrick and Earp. Overall it was an excellent weekend with lots of
enthusiasm and active learning going on.
Kathryn Gavin, Head of Geography
Library News
The Lower School parents were invited to a reading workshop led by Preethi Stalder (Lower School Teacher-Librarian) to
commence the celebrations of World Book Day, 5th March.
Parents play a very important role in influencing their children’s reading habits as the child’s first true teachers. The workshop
highlighted parents’ involvement in the reading journeys of their children - listening to them read and reading to them. Participants
went away with useful tips on reading to children, recommended book lists, interesting websites and links to parent resources for
reading activities.
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
World Book Day Celebrations took on a wild theme at the Lower School Library as the Book House was changed into a jungle
campsite for the week. An interesting feature had Upper School teachers reading to the Lower School pupils on a visit from the
‘explorers’. Jungle roars and elephant trumpets resounded through the wonderful animal-themed books read to the younger
pupils.
Year 9 students entertained and thrilled the younger K1 pupils by reading, narrating stories and sounding out rhyming words. A
lovely, bookish interaction between the Upper School and Lower School buddies.
As we strive to provide a better service for the Harrow
community, the librarians have been in discussions with
the Heads of School as to how we can better manage
the thorny issue of overdue books, especially those that
are long-term overdue. To kick-start our new approach
(details of which will be emailed to all parents within the
coming week), we are running an Overdue Amnesty
until 20th March. Any student returning a book that is
overdue will be awarded one House Point.
Competition Time
To extend the fun beyond World Book Day, the Library staff have launched two competitions. Lower School and Prep School
students are invited to design bookmarks. The winning designs will be professionally printed and available for all patrons to use
from Term 3. Entry forms and further details are available from the LS and US Library.
The Library team has also launched a whole school photographic competition: Reading in Unusual places. Staff, students and
parents are invited to take photographs of themselves reading in unusual places or in unusual ways. Be creative! Be imaginative!
Please remember though: books are replaceable and you are not – so take care and be safe!
Photographs should be .jpg format and between 1-3MB in file size. Entries can be emailed to Library staff:
[email protected] for LS entries and [email protected] for US entries. The deadline for entries for both
competitions is Friday 20th March with winners announced on Monday 30 th March.
Alison Jeffery (Upper School Librarian) and Preethi Stalder (Lower School Librarian)
THE HARROVIAN
Military Service
As part of our final year of Military training, we spent five challenging days based at the famous hill of Khao Chon Kai during our
half term break. This training tested our field and military practices, and our ability to use the skills developed in the previous three
years training in a real life military context. The team has finely tuned their weaponry skills, ability to survive in war-zones and
within the wild. All of the scenarios put our stamina to the test and also provided us with valuable skills, meaningful experiences
and lifelong memories. There is no doubt that many of us will look back upon these times with fondness and feelings of great pride
both in others and ourselves! We truly exceeded our expectations and excelled during five very challenging but highly rewardi ng
days. Finally, we would like to thank Khun Kru Khanitha and Khun Kru Em for all the support and care they have continuously
given us over the last three years.
Pruek (Deputy Head Boy)
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
Boarding News
Our boarders have been delighted to play host to UK exchange students from John Lyon School on Wednesday and Friday of last
week. They were all excellent ambassadors for Harrow International school, taking part and leading in lots of good natured
competition on the flood-lit fields and indoors – resulting in an exceptional night of narrow victory by Harrow Bangkok boarders, in
the ‘minute to win it’ challenge.
Juliet (Y12) and Michaela (Y13) ate a hearty breakfast alongside their First and Second Place trophies having stormed ahead in
the 9km Harrow International Road Racing Championship – big congratulations too to Freddie (Y7) and Tommy (Y12) who also
took part. We were also very proud to have many of our students representing Harrow Bangkok in the recent BISAC tournament.
On behalf of the whole Boarding community, we would like to extend a huge thank you to Friends of Harrow for purchasing 10
brand new mountain bikes for the boarders to use. Not only will this encourage an active and healthy lifestyle, but all boarders will
be supported to achieve a cycling proficiency certification. This will involve not only being able to ride safely, but also how to
perform basic cycle maintenance – a great skill for life!
Tim McDonald, Director of Boarding
THE HARROVIAN
House Chess Competition
This year’s Senior School House Chess Tournament took place on 23rd – 27th February and was supported by Khun Jirapak
Pitirotjirathon from Jirapak Chess Academy, who I would like to thank for providing equipment, arbiters and general support which
helped make the event so successful.
Each House team consisted of eight students made up of six boys and two girls, chosen from Years 9 to 13. In total, 72 matches
were played over a five-day period. Sonakul and Keller competed in the final, with Keller beating the defending champions
Sonakul 6–2 to become the 2015 House chess champions. In third place was Byron. The House teams were led by managers,
namely April (K11), David A. (So12), Pete (C12), Nine (B11), Tan (N13) and Tan (S11), who took their responsibilities seriously
and whose excellent organisational skills contributed to the smooth-running of the competition.
All the students who took part enjoyed the experience, which was extremely competitive, and should be both commended and
congratulated, not only for their participation, but also for the very creditable way in which they represented their respective
Houses.
Jess Grimshaw
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
The Harrow International Road Racing Championships 2015
Despite the early Sunday morning start, this year saw a bigger than ever turnout for the road run and, with races over 1.5, 5 and 9
kilometres, provided a fantastic and fun event for all members of our community as well as those from other international schools
across the city.
THE HARROVIAN
The Harrow Bangkok Staff Football XI
The Harrow Bangkok staff 11 a-side football team have been very active this term, continuing their unbeaten run in games against
other schools for the whole year. Following a creditable 1-1 draw at home against a very strong ISB side, the return fixture saw the
Lions put in a devastating performance, crushing the opposition 8-0. In between those games, a hat trick from Ed Richards
secured a 3-1 victory away at Shrewsbury (see photos attached), which was a very enjoyable run out after school on a Friday
evening by the Chao Phraya River.
The success of the season so far is down purely to the sheer number of keen, willing and very able footballers at the school this
year, which makes the job of organising the team very simple - long may it continue. Further games are scheduled in the coming
weeks against NIST, St. Andrews and a touring side of accountants from Singapore.
Nigel Phelps
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
Sports Review
Start of the U11 Boys 800 metre race at ISB
Last weekend saw a fantastic spectacle of Track and Field at ISB with Friday evening's moonlight session, followed
by the U11-15 Meet on Saturday. Around 100 Harrow Bangkok athletes attended the event, and hours of coaching,
planning and paperwork came together for what was a very successful two days of athletics.
The night Meet was our first ever appearance and we immediately had an impact with some superb 100 - 200m
sprints. Patty B12 jumped a new BISAC record in the triple jump of 9.57m,Tangmo threw for silver; we won a host of
medals, too many to mention.
The highlight of the night for me was our two teams of four x 100m boys’ sprinters. With the expert coaching of these
athletes by DQ our sprint coach, these eight boys stole the show with position 1 and 2 on the night. The mood was
electric as our exhibition sprinters of Atta, Fong, Porsche and Kaito beat the A sprinters by a photo finish.
Saturday saw our U13 girls crowned champions of Bangkok; this will be superb preparation for Brunei. With the U11s
in 3rd and the U15s in 3rd, it was a tremendous effort from all who attended.
May I just say a huge thank you to all of our athletes and coaches for the great sportsmanship and effort in both
Meets, it was really outstanding and the future of this sport looks very strong at Harrow Bangkok.
Chris Rock, Director of Sport
THE HARROVIAN
Upper School Sport Day
@harrowbangkok Let the
games begin !!
London exchange students had
great fun at
#ShakespearesGlobe
Harrow @FOBISIA1 Golf team
training before http://
Competition.Coach Trevor Godwin in positive mood for quality
golf.
Harrow students inspired
@UniofOxford and at #Windsor
Castle the same time as HRH
#QueenElizabeth
Oxford University @UniofOxford
François Stalder @francoisstalder
Harrow ICT @HarrowKKICT
Carl Turland @CarlTurland
Languages-HarrowBKK @mflharrowbkk
Gemma McSweeney @GemmaTIC1
HarrowBKKLibrary @HarrowBKKLibrar
Mr Dellow @mrdellow
Annaig Sadou @BSTMmeSadou
China in the News @ChinaInTheNews
Chengdu Expat @ChengduExpat
MY Yangon Magazine @MYYangon
FCSuphanburi English@fcsuphanburi
Follow us on Twitter, keep up with
recent news and media.
@HarrowBangkok
HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL BANGKOK
Harrow Bangkok Librarians are
#wildaboutbooks and proud of it!
@HarrowBKKLibrar
Delphine Derniaux from the
French embassy giving our Yr
10 students their DELF Level 1
certificates @HarrowBangkok
Olympic Gold Medallist at Harrow Bangkok. Our lucky PE students will be listening to
@sheilataormina today.
Well done to all who participated
in the Harrow International Road
Racing Championships yesterday. It was a great day.http://