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Harrow School

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Harrow School is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys. The school is located in Harrow on the Hill in the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868.

The school was founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I of England; although the school in some form has existed on the hill since 1243. Today Harrow has an enrolment of approximately 800 pupils spread across eleven houses, all of whom board full-time at a cost of £26,445 per year (approximated US$53,000) as of 2007. The majority of boarding houses were constructed in Victorian times, when the number of boys increased dramatically.

Harrow has many noteable alumni, including seven former British Prime Ministers (most notably Winston Churchill), and the first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In addition, 19 Old Harrovians have been awarded the Victoria Cross.

Harrow is the traditional rival of Eton College and the two schools have a tradition of annual sporting fixtures, some of which have occurred for centuries. Most notable of these is the annual cricket game (dating back to 1805), which is held at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

The School Governors recently introduced Harrow to the international community by opening two new schools, one in Beijing, China, and Harrow International School in Bangkok, Thailand. A twelfth school house is in the early stages of development.

History

Harrow School was founded in February 1572 under the Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I to John Lyon, a local farmer. His new School House was completed in 1615 and the School settled into its gradual growth towards fame. Lyon died in 1592, leaving his assets to two causes, the lesser being the school, and by far the greater benefactor being the maintenance of a road to London, 10 miles away. It was only after the death of his wife in 1608 that the building of the first school building began. It was completed in 1615 and remains to this day, however it is now much larger At its foundation, the primary subject taught was Latin, and the only sport was archery. Although most boys were taught for free, their tuition paid for by Lyon's endowment, there were a number of fee-paying "foreigners" (boys from outside the parish). It was their presence that amplified the need for boarding facilities. By 1700 for every local there were two foreign pupils; this was used as a way to generate funds for the school. By 1876, the situation was so pronounced that John Lyon Lower School was brought under the authority of the governors of the Upper School so that the school remained within its charge of providing education for the boys of the parish. It is now known as The John Lyon School and is a prominent independent school in England, and maintains close links with Harrow.

The 20th century saw the innovation of a central dining hall, the demolition of small houses and further modernisation of the curriculum. Presently there are approximately 800 boys boarding at Harrow. Harrow has recently expanded into the global community, with educational institutions being introduced in Beijing and Bangkok, respectively.

School traditions

Uniform

Weekday dress at Harrow consists of a white shirt, black tie, grey trousers, blue jumper and a bluer (the dark blue uniform jacket), and notably a boater style straw hat with a dark blue band. Sunday dress consists of a black tailcoat, pinstriped trousers, a black waistcoat, black tie and a white shirt. Variations include a grey waistcoat for those in the top sports teams, a hat with black speckles for boys in the top cricket team, and various society ties worn to meetings of the respective societies.

Songs

Songs have been an important part of Harrow life ever since John Farmer, a former head of music, wrote the first song in 1864. The school considers them to be a unifying force as they are sung by the boys in their houses every term. Songs are sung by the whole school to audiences of parents, former pupils of the school, and guests of honour that have, in the past, included members of the royal family and representatives from previous governments. The song Forty years on has become known as the school song, although in reality it is one of many.

Harrow football

Harrow has its own unique style of soccer called Harrow Football.The purpose of the game is to score a 'base', which is achieved by kicking the ball between two vertical posts, a pair of which is at each end of the ground, similar to rugby posts but without a cross-bar. This may be done either from open play or from 'yards' and the kick may be of any height. An important feature is the offside rule whereby a player must be behind the ball before he can play it. Handling is allowed from a kick on the volley: the ball may be caught and a call of "yards" allows the catcher a space of three running yards unmolested and a free kick out of the hands.

The Harrovian

The Harrovian is the school newspaper that is published weekly during term time. Its articles are written anonymously and the school stresses that the opinions expressed in the newspaper do not reflect school policy. The newspaper is published as both an organ of record and forum for comment, debate and the expression of individual opinions in the school. The Harrovian is also published online by the Harrow Association.

Harrow terminology

The following words and phrases are used during everyday life at Harrow. The origins of many of the terms have been lost through the passage of time.

Slang Term Meaning
Beak Teacher
Bill or Call-over A roll call held in each House that boys from the House must attend.
Bluer Dark blue uniform jacket
Copy Awarded for 12 pieces of good work or to the top boy in each subject every term
Dossers Heavy light grey flannel trousers worn by a select few - a Sixth Form Privilege. Originally three notes from three different beaks (teachers) had to be obtained stating that the boy was indeed 'a dosser'.
Double Lines on special paper set as a punishment
Ducker The swimming pool
Eccer Any form of games
Flannels School colours for sport
Greyers The grey school trousers
Lock-up The deadline by which any work or punishments must be handed-in. It is also the time after which pupils may not leave their House without putting their name in the 'signing out' book.
Monitor (School) School prefect
'''Monitor (House) House prefect (called a Sixth Former or 'priv' in some houses)
Philathletic club The school's top athletes
Queue Time of day to see the house master for matters of business or concern
Remove Second year group at Harrow
Send up A very good piece of work
Shepherd A boy in the year above whose task it is to look after and mentor new boys in their first two weeks at the school
Skew Punishment given by a teacher for a poor or incomplete piece of work
Sunday dress Tailcoat and striped trousers worn on Sundays and other special occasions
Tolley up Permission to work after lights out
Torpids House sports team (under 16s)
Tosh A bath or shower
Trials Internal school examinations
Yarder Outdoor recreation area
Yearlings First year teams or groups

Harrow curriculum

During their first year boys take English, French, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Latin or Classical Civilisation, Religious Studies, Art, Music, Design Technology and Information Technology. Greek, German or Spanish is offered to boys with good linguistic ability.

During their second and third years, boys work towards their GCSE examinations. By the end of the third year all boys will have taken English Language, English Literature, French, Mathematics, Religious Studies and a Science. In addition to these core subjects pupils choose, in a wide variety of combinations, four other subjects from History, Geography, Latin, Classical Civilisation, Greek, German, Spanish, Italian, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Music, Art and Design Technology.

In the Sixth Forms all pupils are expected to take AS-level in four main subjects, going on to A-level in at least three. There are many to choose from including English Literature, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek, History, Geography, Economics, Business Studies, Ancient History, Classical Civilisation, Political Studies, Religious Studies, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Design Technology, Physical Education, Music, Music Technology, Art, History of Art, Theatre Studies, Statistics and Photography.

Harrow Campus

Harrow is not built on a campus, it is fully integrated into the surrounding area—there are private houses, and shops on the hill, and the main road through the hill is a normal public highway.

School houses

Harrow School divides its boarders into eleven houses, each of about seventy boys, with one further house, Gayton, used as an overflow. Each house has its own facilities and customs, and each competes in sporting events against the others.
House name
Bradbys
Druries
Elmfield
Gayton
The Grove
The Headmaster's
The Knoll
Moretons
Newlands
The Park
Rendalls
West Acre
Up until the 1950s there existed what were known as 'small houses' where only 5-10 boys stayed at one time while they waited for a space in a 'large house' to become available (hence the use of the term large house in this article). A twelfth house is in the planning stages and is not aimed to increase the population of the school. Instead each of the present eleven houses will reduce its population in each year thus reducing their individual numbers and filling the twelfth house. The opening date is set for September 2011. It has not yet received a name.

House Masters and their families live in the boarding houses and are assisted by House Tutors appointed from the teaching staff. Every House has a residential House Tutor. The House Master oversees the welfare of every boy in his care; for parents he is the main point of contact with the School.

Each House has a resident Matron and sick room. The Matrons are supported by the School's Medical Centre where trained nursing staff offer round the clock care. The Medical Centre is under the direct supervision of the School Doctor who is available on the Hill every day for consultation.

There are no dormitories: a boy shares his room with a boy of the same age for the first three to six terms and thereafter has a room to himself. It is very much his own place, his home for the term, where he keeps his belongings, puts up his pictures, does his work and leads much of his social life. Each House has a Common Room with newspapers, television and video. All have their own gardens and sports facilities.

See also

References

Literature

  • Rimmer, Rambles round Eton and Harrow, (London, 1882)
  • Thornton, Harrow School and its Surroundings, (London, 1885)
  • Harrow School Register, 1801-93, (London, 1894)
  • Minchin, Old Harrow Days, (London, 1898)
  • Williams, Harrow, (London, 1901)
  • Archibald Fox, Harrow, (London, 1911)
  • G. T. Warner, Harrow in Prose and Verse (London, 1913)
  • Christopher Tyermn, 'A History of Harrow School 1324-1991 (Oxford, 2000)

External links



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Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 14:19:14 PDT (GMT -0700)
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