Markham College

Markham College
Colegio Markham
Motto	Studiis et rebus honestis (Latin: "For honourable studies and pursuits")
Established	1946
Type	Private coeducational
Affiliation	Round Square, ADCA (Asociación de Colegios Privados de Asociaciones Culturales), LAHC (Latin American Heads Conference), G20 Schools Group
Headmaster	David Dowdles
Faculty	A majority of the faculty have university degrees in their fields.
Students	1,900 approx.
Grades	Pre-Kindergarten Kindergarten Primary 1-6, Secondary 1-4, Lower/Upper 6th
Location	Apartado 18-1048, Lima, Perú
Colours	Brown and Gold
Mascot	Lion
Yearbook	The Markhamian
Newspaper	Markham Wings (English), Ecos (Spanish)
School Captain	Lucia Salem
Alumni Association	Old Markhamian Association
Primary language	English
Website	www.markham.edu.pe
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Markham College is a school in Lima, Peru. Founded by British expatriates, Markham promotes a mixture of British and Peruvian education supported by a strictly enforced set of traditions. Its students fulfill the Peruvian national curriculum, as well as the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) program from the University of Cambridge. Many students subsequently enrol in the IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma Program, in which the school excels, with 20% of the 2007 and 2009 graduating class earning scores of 40 points or higher out of a possible 45. The school was named after Sir Clements R. Markham (1838 - 1916). Students are known as Markhamians, while alumni are identified as Old Markhamians.

Beginning in 2001, Markham has implemented the use of laptop computers as an educational tool for students in S2 (the 8th grade) and beyond. While highly controversial at its inception, it has grown to become a very successful program whose results are reflected in the ever increasing performance of Markham students in their international examinations. Generally there are a high level of technological facilities available and Smartboards and data projectors are regularly in use in most classrooms.

The college is currently starting a multimillion dollar development programme which includes a new state of the art science block, modern sports facilities and an Arts complex for Music, Drama and the Visual Arts.

In 2004 the school became part of Round Square, an internationally recognized organization of schools which follows the IDEALS of Kurt Hahn, and Markhamian delegations have attended Round Square conferences both regionally and globally ever since. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group.

Markham has a very active Social Service policy both through Round-Square and the IB CAS element. Each year many hundreds of our students go to help in both national and international service projects.

Outdoor Education is built into the curriculum. In each of their years at secondary school, all students go into the Peruvian hinterland, to Lunahuana, Huaraz, or Amazonia to experience white water rafting, abseiling, hiking, & camping.

The first students entered Markham College in March 1946. By 1978, it had grown to about 1200 students and it was necessary to acquire a second site. The transfer of the Lower School to this site began in 1979. There are now about 2,000 students in total. Students enter the school at the age of 4+ and transfer to the Upper School at the age of 11+. All the school buildings are purpose-built and surrounded by playing fields and attractive gardens. The schools are equipped to first-world standards with a full range of general purpose classrooms, specialist teaching rooms and laboratories. In 1992, the school became co-educational with girls being admitted, in roughly equal numbers to boys, with each new intake.

The House System

In the second year of primary school (P2) students are nominally divided into four "houses" which compete in sports, academics and other activities. They are called Rowcroft, Guise, Miller and Cochrane, and named after Lord Cochrane, Vice Admiral Guise, General William Miller (all military figures) and Charles Thomas Rowcroft, the first British diplomat in Peru. Their colours are red, blue, green and yellow, respectively. Houses compete in a series of events, among them a swimming competition and an athletics event, to obtain the Founder's shield.

The House competition is mainly focused on the athletics. Houses have two important sets of competitions: the Swimming Gala and Sports Day. Although these are the two most important competitions, during the 2nd and 4th bimesters students compete in sports weekly. The Interhouse competitions include: football, basketball, rugby, hockey, volleyball, softball and minisports. Minisports consists of many small disciplines such as archery, shooting, climbing, surfing, table tennis, tennis, badminton, chess, croquet and others.

Languages

Classes are mostly taught in English, with a small number of courses taught in Spanish. The study of French is compulsory from P6 to S1, becoming optional from S2 onwards.

Subjects offered

At IGCSE level, for courses at secondary three and four, Markham offers classes in Additional Mathematics, Art & Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computer Studies, Co-ordinated Science, Design and Technology, Drama, English at both First and Second Language levels, Food and Nutrition, French, Geography, History, Information Technology, Literature in both English and Spanish, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Physics and First and Foreign Language Spanish.

At IB Diploma level, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Design Technology, Economics, English A1 and A2, French B, Geography, History, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Psychology, Spanish A1 and B and Visual Arts are currently all being taught at both Higher and Standard Level. Environmental Systems and Film Studies will become available at Standard Level in 2011.

Apart from the academic curriculum, the school offers a variety of extra-curricular activities. These include several art courses, drama, music, sports such as football, hockey, cricket and rugby, and many other activities such as Model United Nations (M.U.N.) or debate. The full list runs to over 150 options.

EXAMINATION RESULTS.

In 2009 Markham students sat an average of 10.2 courses at IGCSE and passed 9.7 of them with Grades A-C. Just under 40% of the results were Grades A*-A. This despite the fact, that with the obvious exceptions of French and Spanish, all courses are taught in English and the overwhelming majority have Spanish as their First Language.

In the last ten years, Markham has entered 520 students for the IB Bi-lingual Diploma and 515 have passed with an average score of 33.5. Sixty of them have achieved scores of 40 points or more.

All students are entered for PET (Preliminary English Test) in their last year of Primary education and for FCE (First Certificate of English) at the age of 15. Pass rates are close to 100%.

Uniform

Tradition plays an important part in Markham College, and is represented by the uniforms that the students wear. In the summer months, a white polo shirt with beige shorts or skirts and sneakers is the norm. In winter, students adopt a more formal style of dress which consists of brown shoes, grey trousers or skirts, brown belts, white shirts or blouses, and a brown and gold jumper. There is also a separate P.E. uniform. UB students are required to wear a formal suit or a blazer in the winter. The use of a tie is not compulsory although it is required during formal activities and events.

Drama at Markham College

Markham College stages at least three plays throughout the school year, in Spanish, English and French. Recently, some of the most popular ones have been: The Mikado; The Gondoliers; Iolanthe; The Pirates of Penzance and Little Shop of Horrors in English; Don Juan Tenorio; Los Figurantes and La Tras-Escena in Spanish.

Notable alumni

Markham College alumni are organized through the Old Markhamian Association (OMA), and include:

• Jeffrey Lostaunau, South American Junior Muay Thai champion
• Roberto Torres, South American Table Tennis champion
• Alfredo Tomassini, late midfielder of Alianza Lima
• Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, former Prime Minister of Peru & 2011 Presidential candidate
• Richard Webb, former Banco Central de Reserva (Central Reserve Bank) president
• Javier Heraud, poet and guerrilla fighter
• Jaime Bayly, peruvian writer, journalist and television personality
• George Forsyth, goalkeeper for Alianza Lima

In popular culture

• In a number of Jaime Bayly's novels, including Yo amo a mi mami and No se lo digas a nadie, the main characters (based on Jaime Bayly's experience in the school) attend Markham College.
• Julius, the main character in Alfredo Bryce Echenique's novel A world for Julius, enrolls in Markham College after his mother decides to switch him to a British-style school.

External links

• Markham College
• (Spanish) Old Markhamian Association