“While we do set very high expectations for excellence in exam results, it doesn’t result in excellence in understanding of science or the arts, or in somebody’s passion. It is a definition of a subject or an area. When we talk about excellence, it is about inspiring learning beyond the syllabus or a textbook.”

At every AISL Harrow school, each student typically takes part in “super-curricular” studies, which are learning experiences beyond the national curriculum, and beyond participation in sports teams and interest clubs. “Students are very rarely passionate about a textbook or an exam,” Hussain says. “What they’re passionate about is what that knowledge stands for and what it allows them to do.”

“Since I joined Harrow, I have completed several remote internships at international law firms, grasping valuable insight into the creation and practice of law in real life,” says Michael Zhang, a current year-12 scholarship student at AISL Harrow Beijing. “I also explored criminal, international and constitutional law through courses at Cambridge University, Princeton University and Harvard University, and was inspired to complete my Extended Project [thesis] with an emphasis on punishment and rehabilitation.”

Being private, fee-paying schools, AISL Harrow Schools offer unconventional and holistic forms of learning beyond the core curriculum. For example, at the education group’s newest full-boarding campus at Appi, Hussain witnessed students camping on a mountainside learning about astronomy, and singing around a fire, learning about sound and the way it echoes. “We deliver that syllabus, but we go far beyond. Why should a child’s interest be curtailed because we finished a chapter we needed to know for an exam?”

Holistic success

AISL Harrow Schools is founded on its 450-year-old heritage and values of honour, humility, fellowship and courage – traits that, in a holistic fashion, lead students to success and to become future leaders in all walks of society.

“What we mean by the word ‘holistic’ is that we develop all aspects of that child as an individual,” Hussain says. “Their development is our priority.” Students each own a learning passport, and are assessed for their well-being as well as soft skills including independent learning, critical thinking, creativity, interpersonal abilities, self-discipline and humility.”

Hussain says well-being has always been part of Harrow’s values – long before the Covid-19 pandemic brought it to the fore. “It’s about feeling successful and like you have a place in the world. If children are relaxed, happy, confident and feel nurtured, they will learn anything,” he says, adding that stress usually comes from external pressure and an expectation to perform.

Students access this support through a collective pastoral house system spanning different year groups, staff and student leaders. They get to support one another’s challenges and gain leadership opportunities, as well as the opportunity to build empathy, confidence and connection.

“As a transfer student, I was worried I was in a disadvantaged position when it came to participating in school activities and also having leadership positions. However, that was not the case,” says Tiffany Cheung Lok-ching, who joined Harrow Hong Kong in September as a scholarship student and was appointed a well-being prefect for the coming school year. She says the Harrow value of fellowship – its emphasis on camaraderie and support – has especially benefited her. “I feel like Harrow is truly a family, and we support and genuinely lift each other up and want to see each other thrive.

“Students [also] need to fail and struggle in a way that’s supportive. That’s where you build courage and resilience,” Hussain says. “Because if you’ve got a child who will get an A* on an exam, you can’t stop there; you have to go beyond to the point where they begin to find it hard.”

Broad selection criteria

Successful applicants to the scholarships are students with the talent, aptitude and character to thrive in a Harrow-branded school, but who may not otherwise be able to gain access to the school, Hussain says. The school looks for students passionate about their own learning, who are committed to community service and leadership opportunities – traits that link directly to Harrow’s four core values.

“We’re looking for students who are inspired and passionate; they want to learn more about a subject, not because they have to, but because they’re driven to. It’s how you inspire that quality that makes a big difference between an excellent school and an average school,” Hussain says.