Dear Parents,
It was a great pleasure to welcome our pupils through the gates of Harrow Shanghai this morning as we began a new academic year together.
This is an especially exciting year for our school. We begin with enormous pride in the outstanding A-level results achieved by our graduating pupils, while also celebrating the excellent performance of our IGCSE cohort, many of whom now progress to A-level study here at Harrow Shanghai. These achievements are testament to the ambition, dedication and hard work of our pupils, supported by their teachers and families.
The ambition we share for every pupil, as educators and as parents, is central to all that we do. It is underpinned by our Harrow values, rooted in more than 450 years of tradition. Our responsibility is to prepare young people confidently for the modern world and the challenges they will encounter, while giving them a foundation of values that transcends time.
A crucial part of this work is the relationship between pupils, parents and teachers, and I believe this is one of the great strengths of Harrow Shanghai. Our parental satisfaction survey last year provided reassuring evidence of the strength of our community, with very high levels of parental satisfaction. This is, in no small part, because we recognise the importance of listening carefully to our parents and responding positively to their feedback.
The survey also highlighted several areas where parents would welcome greater clarity around aspects of school life and provision. One issue that was consistently raised, both through the survey and in conversations with families, was the importance of reinforcing English as the medium of communication, both academically and socially, throughout the school.
I would therefore like to update you that this is now a key priority for the leadership and staff of Harrow Shanghai. We will be working positively and consistently to reinforce the use of English across our campus. We see this not simply as a matter of language, but as an important part of ensuring that every pupil is able to participate fully in the academic, social and cultural life of our school. We look forward to working closely with parents in supporting this shared objective and, most importantly, ensuring that it benefits all our young learners.
Another important area of feedback from parents concerned university and careers guidance. Parents understandably want to know more about how we prepare our pupils for the important decisions they will make about higher education and their future careers. This is an area of fundamental importance to our pupils, and I am pleased that the school has responded accordingly.
From the outset of this academic year, we will be giving our university and careers provision a much clearer profile across the school and our wider community. I am particularly delighted to welcome Dr Jack Reilly to Harrow Shanghai, who is leading this important area of pupil development. Dr Reilly is keen to meet as many parents as possible and to explain how our programme will support pupils throughout their Harrow journey.
Our university and careers guidance programme begins with our youngest learners and develops progressively through the school, right through to our Year 13 pupils as they prepare to graduate. Our aim is to ensure that every pupil receives the guidance, knowledge and preparation they need to make ambitious and informed decisions about their future, enabling them to secure places at the universities that are right for them and, ultimately, to be well prepared for the careers and opportunities that lie ahead.
I am particularly pleased that these developments demonstrate the value of the dialogue we have with our parents. We listen, we reflect and, where there is an opportunity to improve the experience and provision for our pupils, we act.
This is particularly significant as we enter our 10th Anniversary year, a wonderful milestone for Harrow Shanghai. We have much to celebrate, and I look forward to welcoming our parents, pupils and wider community to the many events planned throughout the year.
Among the highlights this term will be our 10th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday 12 September, followed by our Discovery Day [Open Day] on Saturday 19 September, when we will welcome prospective families and members of our wider community to experience all that Harrow Shanghai has to offer. Further details of both events will follow shortly.
Once again, it is a real pleasure for my family and me to be joining the Harrow Shanghai community. We are excited about the year ahead and the opportunities it will bring, and I look forward to meeting many of you at the events and occasions we will share throughout the year.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to meet with me on a one-to-one basis. I would be delighted to hear from you and to make time to meet whenever possible. The school can facilitate this through HeadMaster@harrowshanghai.cn.
I wish all our pupils every success, happiness and fulfilment in the year ahead. I know that, working together as a community, we can make this a truly exceptional year for Harrow Shanghai.
Yours sincerely,
Christopher McAllister
Headmaster
Harrow International School Shanghai