History & Traditions_Harrow Beijing

'May the fortune of the House stand.' For any institution to stand the test of time, it must be built on solid foundations. Harrow Beijing stands proudly and comfortably on the shoulders of the past with its parent school, Harrow School London, being established by John Lyon as far back as 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I.

Harrow School London has been home to world leaders, writers and royalty. It has educated such inspirational characters as Winston Churchill, King Hussein of Jordan, Jawaharlal Nehru, John Galsworthy and more recently actor Benedict Cumberbatch and singer-songwriter James Blunt.

If Harrow on the Hill, as it is affectionately known, can be seen as the roots of the Harrow family tree, then its branches are now spreading the Harrow philosophy worldwide through its associated schools of Harrow Bangkok, Harrow Hong Kong, Harrow Beijing, Harrow Shanghai, Harrow Shenzhen and Harrow Haikou.

We are Harrow, we are Harrow Beijing

Harrow Beijing was founded in 2005 at the City Campus which remains the site for our youngest students. The final expansion was to the Hegezhuang Campus which houses the remainder of our students from Year 2 upwards. The School is very much Harrow but also very proud to operate out of China's capital city Beijing.

The School comprises approximately 1,500 students and is very much a co-educational school. Many of our students live locally in Beijing and the majority are aiming to follow an international higher education pathway. One of our great strengths is our ability to embrace a holistic education which we believe prepares our students for the demands of the 21st century. As such there is a very close relationship between our excellent academic and pastoral provision.

Currently, there are approximately 180 teachers of over 10 nationalities. The school is committed to employing the very best teachers and is reflected in initiatives such as the newly created Harrow Academic Academy. This purpose built facility next to Harrow Bangkok will provide state-of-the-art teacher training and the very best pedagogical developments.

Graduates from Harrow Beijing command places in world class universities in countries such as the UK, the US, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and China.

Interesting Traditions

The Harrow Hat

Students at Harrow School London still wear straw hats. In keeping with this tradition, the students at Harrow Beijing wear the straw hats each year in their annual photographs.

Harrow Lion

The Harrow insignia of the Lion and crossed arrows is common to all Harrow schools and forms part of the family crest of John Lyon, the school’s founder in 1572.

Harrow Cubs

Taking inspiration from the Lion in Harrow’s crest, Harrow Beijing has developed a VI system which contains artwork that features six comic characters, positive Pam, kind Katie, teamwork Tom, creative Colin, responsible Ryan and determined Dora. The six characters each represents a leadership attrib...

Harrow Ducker

Harrow Ducker is a traditional running race, which pays tribute to the school’s founder, John Lyon. At Harrow School London, the event takes place along one of John Lyon’s roads, the Harrow Road from Marble Arch in central London to Harrow. Carrying on the tradition, now all Harrow Schools across th...