Harrow school - lifestyle

[nokissymum]

Ds in in yr 5, we are very keen for him to go to harrow, however whenever we mention it people say " hmmmmm.....but there's a whole load of baggage with that!"

Infact I've heard it so much now we are sick of it. I am assuming they are referring to the cost of extracurricular activities, equipments and such.

I would be very keen to hear from if there MNERS here with dc at Harrow who could give us some more insight into the lifestyle that everyone is talking about. Thank you.

[happygardening]

I've just looked 93%+ got A-B at A level so I don't think it is still a school for Tim nice but dim!

[RillaBlythe]

Loved fhe cricket joke. What other school stereotypes are there

[SerenityNOT]

I know a few Harrow boys who are ok, some very sporty, some academic...if you want to send your son there go for it - why not? Don't have regrets about not trying like a friend of mine who wanted to apply for a place at Eton and simply didn't send the forms in. Such a shame - her OH was left rather displeased!

[2MuchT]

I was interested to see in the league table for the London Bborough of Harrow, that Harrow School itself came below a boy's day school which is pretty much next door to it and which has never had a great reputation - a teacher friend told me she left recently and had found it to be 'rough' with some of the children carrying knives - but apparently, academically speaking, better than Harrow!

[FelicitywasSarca]

Harrow has not been 'weak' academically for some time now but reputations that are forged over hundreds of years are hard to shift...

In years gone by the boys were stinking rich, but dim. Good at rugby, rudeness and making very upper class fools of themselves after university.

Very little of this still holds true now. The only similarities are that a decent proportion will still be obscenely wealthy and there are still many macho, bizarre traditions- which are either endearing or hell on earth depending on your POV.

If you like the school you see now, send your son OP. Better that than sending your son to a school which has a great reputation from years gone by that is no longer sustained.

[Bonsoir]

My maternal grandfather and his brother went to Harrow - my grandfather was there from 1919-24, I think. They came from a professional family (their father was a Croydon GP) and went on to Cambridge, as did the vast majority of their contemporaries. My impression from my grandfather was that Harrow was not Eton at that time - Eton was for the stinking rich and for the aristocracy (and not always for the super bright - my cousins went there in the 1970s and they are not clever), Harrow was for the London professional hardworking sorts.

[oxfordboy]

Harrow produced 50/150 with more than 10 A's at iGCSE. It got 22 into oxbridge, 2 into Harvard and many more into other very good universities. It has 89% A/A at iGCSE and 58% A*. It also withdrew from the league tables in 2012 so I don't know where you're getting your data from but Harrow is most certainly not academically average.

[MotherofAchilles]

Are there any mums with boys at Harrow?

We are looking at sending our son (provided all entrance exams are attained) and wanted some inside information about the school and it’s pastoral care. Thank you
M

[OhCrumbsWhereNow]

I have a friend with a son there in Y9 - not from a boarding or public school attending kind of background. Kid is absolutely loving it and very, very happy. Was talking to parent the other day about pastoral issues with a different boarding school and they were saying how good their housemaster was on that front.

If you have any specific info you are after, send me a DM and I'll ask for you.