The purpose of the Prep School (Secondary School) at Harrow Shanghai is to further their learning to become well-rounded, innovative thinkers and problem solvers.
The Prep School Vision
Harrow Shanghai Prep School (Secondary School) strives to connect the Pre-Prep school with the Senior school. Our purpose is to take a Pre-Prep graduate, who has been given the fundamentals of academic learning, who has been nurtured in socialisation and who has been given a love of learning and to further that learning to become well-rounded, innovative thinkers and problem solvers with the intellect, ethics, and confidence to succeed in the Senior School.
Harrow Values
At the heart of everything we do at Harrow Shanghai, indeed in all the Harrow community of schools, is the belief that effective schools are built on strong relationships between people. This is the true meaning of community and how it relates to a school, certainly one with the heritage and pedigree of Harrow.
Some aspects of life at Harrow: the uniform, the school language, the singing of the school song, or the boaters, might perhaps seem a little eccentric. But they all help to develop within our students a strong esprit de corps, as well as an overwhelming sense of belonging to the Harrow family of schools, or, put more simply, something far bigger than each of them.
This is both humbling and inspiring – giving our students invaluable experiences as they mature and prepare themselves to make their mark in the outside world. It is also another way of acknowledging each other, a key characteristic of all the Harrow schools.
Through partnership, service and teamwork, we want our students to become outward-looking and compassionate, to understand the privilege of coming to a school like Harrow, and to develop the desire to be a tolerant, respectful and supportive influence, or a leader, beyond the school gates.
We also believe in a healthy sense of competition, which brings out the best in all our students, whether it is in tests, examinations, house matches or, for many the highest accolade, representing the school. We all like to win, but everybody at Harrow recognises that we cannot all win all of the time, and an important aspect of our education is to learn that there is a right way to lose, just as there is a right way to win.
The Prep School Curriculum
The Prep School curriculum is closely allied to the British National Curriculum. However, as an international school based in Shanghai, we extend these guidelines when needed to create the all-round education that makes our school unique.
In the Prep School there is an incremental use of specialist teachers. We feel that contact with several teachers during the day is a strength of the School, and it is good preparation for the Senior School where the children have a different teacher for almost every subject. However, we ensure that children maintain contact with their class teacher/tutor as this is essential to children of this age.
A range of both formal and informal assessments focussing on key mathematical and literacy skills are undertaken throughout the year. The information obtained is used to focus on and track individual progress and the development of each child.
