News

FROM THE HEAD MASTER

Undeterred by the continuing constraints of life with Covid, boys and staff displayed an extraordinary energy and vibrancy during 2020–21, and I was thrilled at the sheer appetite across every area of the School for endeavour, for service, for excellence and for personal challenge.

The enormous amount of activity undertaken and the range and depth of achievement over the year was inspiring. I hope you enjoy reading about the many society meetings, lectures, concerts and exhibitions that took place – online and in real life. Along with the importance of continuing to learn, maintaining our sense of community was vital, and the eclectic happenings in our virtual world, I believe, are testament to our success in remaining “together” during a period when we were often apart.

We never lose sight of those whose lives have been made more difficult by the continuing pandemic and, during the course of the year, we re-doubled our efforts to support those in our local community who needed extra help. Shaftesbury Enterprise and your generosity made a significant difference to so many young people across the borough and more widely; the impact of that generosity is detailed in the pages of this magazine.

I am proud of your sons’ response to learning in what became an alien world. We have always been a strong community on the Hill but, in a world where togetherness suddenly became a challenge, we all realised just how fortunate we are to be Harrovians and part of the Harrow Family.

Alastair Land

The Harrow Development Trust (HDT) works with Old Harrovians, parents and friends of Harrow School to raise funds for the development of the School’s facilities and for scholarships and bursaries. This icon, which features throughout this issue, indicates an activity that the Harrow Development Trust and its benefactors have supported in some way.

HARROW 450: BUILDING BEGINS

In February 2021, the Head Master, Alastair Land, turned over the first spade of earth for the Harrow 450 estate development project. It was a significant moment that had been seven years in the planning.

The vision of physical transformation of the eastern side of the School estate was largely that of Head Master Jim Hawkins (2011–18). He proposed a plan in which the academic and other major School buildings would be situated around a green space reminiscent of an Oxbridge quad that would become the heart of the School.

The plan was, in part, a response to the necessity of replacing the gradually failing Sports Centre building and a desire to create modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation for Biology and Chemistry, whose Victorian buildings were not designed with today’s teaching requirements or health and safety standards in mind. It was also a way of moving boys off the increasingly busy High Street.

After much consultation, the first plans proposed also included a larger Ryan Theatre foyer, a new Drama Studio, improved rackets and fives courts, a new concert hall, a new Admissions centre and a one-way system for the roads around the Hill. The lengthy and complex planning process, and restrictions on building on the Hill, meant that a number of these projects had eventually to be set aside, and it was not until 2020 that permission was finally granted by the High Court for the construction of a new Sports Centre and science building.

In the meantime, however, professional surveys had revealed that the Shepherd Churchill Hall was in need of significant repair and improvement. When the building was constructed in the 1970s, boys were served at their tables by dining hall staff rather than in the self-service cafeteria style that currently operates. The kitchens were also designed for this different type of service, and for almost 100 fewer boys. The power supplies to the building were also revealed to be woefully inadequate, and the turfed flat roof outside the Shepherd Churchill Room had intractable problems with rainwater ingress.

The significant defects of the Shepherd Churchill Hall meant that it became the top priority in the building plan. In view of this, the construction logistics plan was revised, so that work would start at the Shepherd Churchill Hall, physically at the highest point of the planned projects, leaving the Sports Centre, at the lowest point, until last.

To enable these major projects, a new access road for plant and machinery had first to be built, and it was for this that the first turf was turned in the spring of 2021. By September 2021, the new access road from the Watford Road near Northwick Park Hospital to the back of the Shepherd Churchill had been constructed, and the first steps towards creating the foundations for the science building had begun.

Creation of the new road and preparing the site for the new buildings involved extensive excavation work. Although this necessitated the felling of several trees, the School has committed to replacing every tree removed with three new ones. Trees of particular interest, and those given by donors, will be replaced with another of the same species or, where this is not possible, with one of the most suitable similar type. The School will also be creating a new pinetum in the field below Lyon’s, which will feature native trees and specimens from other parts of the world.

Alongside these major projects, several others that were among the original suggestions have already been undertaken; the School now has a Drama Studio and refurbished rackets and fives courts, and a new Centre for Teaching, Learning, AI and Cognitive Studies is also taking shape in Old Schools.

The Shepherd Churchill Hall and science building projects are due to be completed in 2023, and the Sports Centre by 2025 – 12 years after the plans were first conceived. – Nick Shryane, Bursar

New science building Ground was broken for the start of the 450 building project

Socially distanced Speech Day Prizes

FOUNDER’S DAY AND SPEECH DAY

As the Covid pandemic continued to restrict large gatherings, some of the principal fixtures in the School calendar underwent something of a transformation. Founder’s Day moved entirely online. For the 2021 celebrations, members of The Guild created a montage of photographs of Founder’s Day Harrow football matches from the past, recorded music and drama excerpts, and created an exciting online art exhibition, all topped off with a medley of Harrow Songs.

Speech Day, too, had to be adapted to Covid conditions. Although it took place at the end of June, rather than on the traditional Saturday before May half-term, and without any parents in attendance, Prizes were presented to winners in Speech Room, Bill took place in Bill Yard as usual, and boys were able to visit the Speech Day art exhibitions. The Pipe Band and Byron Consort gave performances outside the War Memorial Building and several tennis and cricket matches took place.

Speech Day Bill

Fully supported by HDT’s Harrow 450 Campaign.

CHURCHILL SCHOLARS

In September 2020, Harrow welcomed the first recipients of a new bursary initiative, Churchill Places. The aim of this new bursary scheme is to find boys who, in their own way, demonstrate the characteristics of personal courage, wide-ranging thinking and a global outlook, and who may one day change the world for the better. Over the next five years, the Harrow Development Trust aims to raise £10 million to expand the number of Churchill Places awarded every year. These places will be offered to boys joining Harrow either in the Sixth Form or in Year 9, identifying some candidates when they are in Year 6 and seeing them through two years of prep school before coming to Harrow.

VALETE

CHARLES FARRAR-BELL

Charles Farrar-Bell (CJFB) (Moretons 19721) was for 29 years a distinguished member of the Mathematics Department. Son of OH Michael FarrarBell (19252), he was the fourth generation of his family in Moretons. Sons Henry (20023) and Johnny (20043), duly followed. His forebears designed much of the stained glass around the School.

On leaving Harrow, Charles read Engineering Science at Worcester College, Oxford, and then obtained a PGCE. He taught at Bradfield College for 11 years, before returning to the Hill in 1992.

Aside from teaching Maths, he was House Master of The Knoll, Master-inCharge of Cross Country, a cornerstone of athletics, and a touchstone for many as one of the convenors of Flambards. A pioneer and advocate for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, his Gold Award expeditions to the Cairngorms will be remembered with fondness. He and his wife, Sarah, have now set up home in north Norfolk.

Charles Farrar-Bell

CHRIS MANN

Chris Mann (CDLM) became a beak at Harrow in 2002, having started his career as a teacher of Biology at Epsom College. During his years at Harrow, he offered invaluable advice to generations of Harrovians seeking a career in medicine. He was also a long-serving Long Ducker organiser, Assistant House Master in The Head Master’s, a prominent rugby coach, Master-in-Charge of many international expeditions, an athletics and cross-country instructor, and Organisation Master, responsible for arranging invigilation timetables and cover for lessons. Most recently, Harrow football prospered under his care, with three XIs being fielded on a typical weekend. His annual Harrow football tours will be remembered by many a grateful Upper Sixth Former.

MARTIN ROBERTS

Martin Roberts (MR) grew up in Derby and studied at the University of Hull. He was a Post-Doc at the University of Nottingham and at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was Head of Physics and Head of Science at Uppingham before joining the Physics Department at Harrow in 2001. He extended the Engineering Education Scheme at Harrow to include many more boys per year, and oversaw at least 40 projects: most of them developed to undergraduate level and all of them achieving CREST Gold Awards. Along with Matt Glossop, he introduced an advanced Physics course, giving boys a taste of university study and exposing them to exciting but challenging topics such as quantum mechanics in a far more rigorous way than in A level Physics. He oversaw the Da Vinci Society, the School’s engineering society, and brought many distinguished speakers to the School. Outside the Physics Department, MR was for many years Master-in-Charge of Marmots climbing club. He was also a talented bass player and jazz pianist and was a regular fixture with the Big Band and the Orchestra.

Chris Mann

EXAMINATION RESULTS AND UNIVERSITY DESTINATIONS

In 2021, for the third consecutive year, the percentage of grade 9s at GCSE was over 40% of entries, with the percentage of grades at 9–8 being well over threequarters of entries. Thirty-six boys achieved ten or more grade 9s, with 57 boys acquiring nine or more grade 9s.

At A level, over two-thirds of boys achieved A*–A. Seven boys obtained five or more A* grades and 44 boys were awarded three or more A* grades.

Harrovians obtained places at six of the world’s top ten universities. Twenty-seven boys have taken up places at North American universities including Harvard, Yale, Brown, UChicago and NYU, and Harrovians have been offered places at five Ivy League schools.

Nearly a third of Harrovians have places at one of the QS world top 20 universities including UCL, Imperial and the University of Pennsylvania, with over 65% taking places at one of the QS world top 100 universities such as Durham, LSE and St Andrews, and Northwestern, UC Berkeley and NYU in the US.