HARROW INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Background of Harrow International School Bangkok

Located near Don Muang Airport in northern Bangkok, Harrow International School Bangkok is one of the largest international schools in Thailand, with students and staffs from all around the globe. The combination of worldwide cultures, races and religions displays our uniqueness as a school but within these differences lies one common factor: we all take pride in being a Harrovian. Aside from educational facilities, Harrow Bangkok also provides its students with a range of sporting facilities including a sports hall, which acts as a court for many different sports; a large grass field, which is used for football, rugby, athletics, and many other sports; and tennis courts that were refurbished after the 2011 floods. However, the one thing that makes Harrow an inimitable school would have to be the Harrow Lake. We are one of the only schools to accommodate such a large body of water. This allows us to offer pupils the opportunity to participate in water activities such as kayaking, wake-boarding, and sailing.

From its beginning in 1998, Harrow has grown and molded around its student body to become one of the best international schools in Bangkok, and Thailand, for that matter. Every year, new students arrive and old students leave; however, once you become a Harrovian, you never cease to be a member of the family.

Harrow History

Our School was founded in 1998 by Mr Stuart Morris, formerly Headmaster of Papplewick Preparatory School in Ascot and then Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar in Malaysia. Thailand was thought to be an appropriate location for the first Harrow International School owing to the strong links between Harrow-on-the-Hill School in London and Thailand’s royal family, with 23 princes of the royal household having been educated at Harrow from the late Nineteenth Century to the late Twentieth Century including His Majesty the King’s father, Prince Mahidol. Under Mr Morris’ leadership the school was established in rented premises in downtown Bangkok and grew to 800 students in four years.

Mr Morris was succeeded by Dr Mark Hensman, formerly Head Master of Napier Boys’ High School, New Zealand. He was Head Master of Harrow Bangkok for seven years, during which time the School moved site to its current 35-acre purpose-built green site in Don Muang. In this phase of development a wide reaching 'House system' was introduced, boarding provision was developed, our extra-curricular activities were expanded as the Harrow 'Leadership in Action' Programme and a discrete Preparatory School (Years 6-8) was put in place. The School continued to thrive, growing to 1,200 students.

Dr Hensman left his post as Headmaster of Harrow Bangkok to become the Director of Schools for Harrow International and oversee the founding of new Harrow International schools in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was succeeded by Mr Kevin Riley, formerly Headmaster of the John Lyon School, the Harrow Foundation’s day school at Harrow-on-the-Hill, London.

Harrow International School embodies the values and traditions established by Harrow School in the United Kingdom. Harrow School or colloquially known as Harrow-on-the-Hill, was founded in 1572, after John Lyon was given a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I. Harrow School Harrow has also had numerous of notable alumnus such as, Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Byron, and, Jawaharlal Nehru.

We are now embarking on an extensive site re-development programme that will see the commissioning of new facilities and expansion and upgrade of many others. This will include an enlarged library and Early Years Centre, more boarding houses and improved creative arts and sports facilities.

Our Headmaster - Mr. Farley

The Headmaster of Harrow International School Bangkok, British-born Michael Farley has spent 20 years specialising in innovative curriculum and assessment methodology, educational facility Development and crisis preparedness in UK, the Middle East, Japan and Southern Europe – he is in his eighteenth year of headship. A graduate in Psychology from Nottingham University, he worked as a programme developer and teacher trainer before focusing to school leadership. He and his wife, primary school teacher Catherine, have two daughters, Mollie and Phoebe.