It’s fair to say that 2023 was an exciting year for Harrow Hong Kong. The school celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and also opened the doors in January to its newly developed, state-of-the-art centre for STEAM learning. With an ever-increasing emphasis on a STEAM education in Hong Kong and in the workplace, the Harrow team say it has invested in the key new campus highlight to create greater opportunities for pupils to broaden their horizons and experiences across Science and Technology education, alongside Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics. We take an inside look at Harrow International School’s new Leonardo da Vinci STEAM Centre.
About the centre
The new facility has been designed and built to be used by the whole school, from Early Years through to those preparing for GCSEs and A Levels in the Upper School, with activities incorporated into Harrow’s extracurricular programme (known as Harrow Horizons) as well as the academic curriculum. It includes multifunctional spaces, a green screen recording area and a presentation area with 160-inch TV wall. There are also collaborative breakout and maker spaces.
Together, these facilities support the teaching and development of skills in everything from robotics, animation, CAD/CAM and graphic design, to photography, film and media. It’s a fittingly wide range of disciplines for a centre named after someone who stood out so brilliantly not only as an artist and architect, but as an engineer, scientist and more.
Why STEAM learning matters
The team at Harrow Hong Kong says that it’s essential that STEAM activities are incorporated into education. For one thing, they equip young people with the skills they need to undertake the jobs of the future. Many of these jobs don’t even exist today.
STEAM develops technology education and innovation, and prepares individuals to meet the changes and challenges of a fast-paced and rapidly-developing world. The main focus of a STEAM education in Hong Kong, says the school, is not the learning of new content, but carrying out activities that involve real-world applications, and which require critical thinking and problem-solving. These are essential skills for a learner today.
Harrow Hong Kong’s Head Ann Haydon says; “We’re a school that has always had an eye on preparing pupils for 21st-century living and working. We also bring together the traditional and the modern. Bringing together Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths offers us the chance to champion cross-curricular learning, on the basis that no scholar or discipline can exist in isolation.”
“Taking subjects out of silos allows for richer and more varied thinking and will enhance our pupils’ curiosity, creativity and collaboration,” adds Ann.
Graduates studying STEAM
Harrow Hong Kong’s recent A Level results are testament to the emphasis on educational excellence in STEAM. University acceptances included entry to Oxbridge and Ivy League schools for STEAM-related subjects, and for Medicine at prestigious UK universities as well as at Hong Kong University.
Matthew Chin, Harrow Hong Kong’s first AISL Scholar and STEAM Prefect, secured a clean sweep of four A* grades. He will be furthering his passion for Mathematics at Harvard.
Harrow is at 38 Tsing Ying Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories.
2824 9099 | harrowschool.hk
This article first appeared in the Summer 2023 issue of Expat Living magazine. Subscribe now so you never miss an issue.
For more about technology education in schools and STEAM learning, see our Schools section
