From the Founding Head Master

Transcription

1 From the Founding Head Master Friday, 21st October Dear Parents, I have just been to the Pre-Prep Assembly celebrating, amongst many things, Maths Week, the individual leadership awards and seemingly all forms of music. I was really impressed by the all-school singing of Let It Shine Together, while Music of the Week was provided by the Italian opera composer Guiseppe Verdi. The theme of the assembly was a comment made by the 20th century s outstanding physicist, Albert Einstein: "the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination". There could not be a better approach to our key value of Leadership for a Better World. Well done, the Pre-Prep School! This is one of the big weekends of the academic year at Harrow Shanghai. Tomorrow is The Shanghai String Festival, where we welcome Mrs Sarah Kerr-Dineen, Head of Oundle School in the UK, and her outstanding team of musicians to Harrow Shanghai, together with a distinguished associate professor from The Royal College of Music. Over the weekend we will be holding a series of music workshops, a masterclass, a celebratory barbecue on Saturday evening and a joint concert at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre on Sunday. If that wasn t enough, we will be welcoming Mr Edward Gould and Mr Kevin Gilbert, our two Harrow UK governors, who arrive on Sunday afternoon, prior to their visit to the school on Monday and Tuesday. One of the undoubted highlights of their visit will be the Friends of Harrow lunch on Tuesday. The numbers are already very impressive, but I do hope as many of you as possible will be attending to give Mr Gould and Mr Gilbert the typically ebullient Harrow Shanghai greeting! Ebullience was much to the fore last Saturday, when the Harrow Shanghai staff football team made their debut appearance in the BritCham 7-a-sides championship. All of the team admitted to a degree of trepidation at what we were taking on, given our limited numbers (two students were pressed into action) and total lack of practice time. But Harrovians are never daunted and we emerged with a very respectable record of one win, two draws and two defeats, both by the narrow margin of 1:0. One of these, against my former school, Wellington, was probably the match of the round. Fiercely competitive, we had the best of it until a decidedly dubious penalty was awarded against us in the final minutes. I have included a picture of the team below, so you

2 can see our teachers in a new light. It would only be fair to mention one of our parents, Richard Gillespie, who in our hour of need went home and got his boots, a round trip of forty minutes, to turn out for us in the last two matches. Such is the Harrow spirit! Best wishes, David Cook

3 Sports Fixtures U11s and U13s SSSA Badminton Tournament, Harrow Shanghai, Saturday 29th October 2016 U9s Football, Wellington, October 2016 Shanghai Family Day Postponed Saturday 29th The 13th annual Family Day has been postponed due to the bad weather predicted this weekend. This event will now take place on 29th and 30th October from 10am to 4pm. The free tickets given to all Harrow students will still be valid. We look forward to seeing you there! The Shanghai String Festival Harrow Shanghai will host rehearsals for the inaugural Shanghai String Festival tomorrow, Saturday, 22nd October, followed by a festival barbecue at the Harrow School campus at 5pm on Saturday afternoon. The Shanghai String Festival is being held in association with The Royal College of Music and Oundle School in the UK. During the barbecue there will be some music performances and a talk on the value of British Public School education from Mr David Cook, Head of Harrow School Shanghai and Mrs Sarah Kerr-Dineen, Head of Oundle School. Thank you to all those parents who have supported this event. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. On Sunday, 23rd October, there will be a String Festival Concert in the performance hall of the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, 425 Dingxiang Road, starting at 2pm. The event has proved very popular and there are only a few tickets left. If you would like to come, please performingarts@harrowshanghai.cn Inaugural Friends of Harrow Lunch Friends of Harrow will be holding the inaugural Friends of Harrow lunch on Tuesday, 25th October. Thank you to all those parents who have registered to attend. Harrow Shanghai Head Master, Mr David Cook, will also attend with two of the Harrow UK governors, Mr Edward Gould and Mr Kevin Gilbert, along with Mr Simon Boddy, a key figure in the Harrow International central office in Hong Kong. If you would still like to attend and have not yet registered, please contact Lilly Li on

4 *200 or The details of the lunch are as follows: Venue: El Willy, a Spanish restaurant located on the Bund Address: South Bund 22, 5/F, 22 Zhongshan East 2nd Road (near Xinyong'an Road) Date: Tuesday, 25th October Time: 11.30am - 3pm Cost: 250RMB (to include a set lunch and two glasses of red/white wine or soft drinks) Examinations Update We received some fantastic news this week from Cambridge International Examinations. Harrow Shanghai is officially now a fully authorised examination centre which will have a huge impact on our operations in the Senior School. For a start, our Year 10 students can be assured that they will be able to sit their IGCSE exams (some of which will be taken next summer!) and progress into the Sixth Form which opens next year. Authorisation is not something that is automatically granted, even to a school with our name and reputation. Cambridge follow quite a rigorous set of quality control checks in order to ensure that their name and reputation are not in danger of being compromised not that we would ever dream of doing such a thing! We are still waiting to be branded an Edexcel centre as well which will allow some flexibility in the courses offered in the future. The timing of this recognition from Cambridge has also coincided with the onset of formal planning for the delivery of A-levels in Busy but exciting times ahead academically. Graeme Littler - Director of Studies Halloween On Friday, 28th October, The Student Council will be opening a spooky Tuck Shop and hosting an array of Halloween games and activities for students to play during break time and lunchtime. All proceeds will go to our school charities. Our charities will be voted for by the student body and changed every year. The Pre-Prep and Early Years also have a fun-filled afternoon of Halloween activities in their classrooms. Children in Pre-Prep and Early Years are also encouraged to bring in a costume to change into in the afternoon.

5 Postcards From Another Planet Our Postcards from Another Planet competition came to a close last week and the results are in. For the Senior and Prep School the winners are Steven Tong and Brightly Shen. A special mention also goes to Emma Cook. In the Pre- Prep the winners are Charlie Horsnell and Audrey Lau. In Early Years, the winners are Wendy Bee and Elvin He and Aaron Ren. A special mention must also go to Mr Bywater who created a postcard written in Klingon! Details of the winning entries will be posted in the Shanghai Harrovian..Harrow Open Day The next Open Day is on Thursday, 27th October at 10am in the Lecture Theatre. If you have any friends who are interested in Harrow, please do let them know. Scan the QR Code to follow on WeChat!