Markham College

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Markham College Colegio Markham

Motto: Studiis et rebus honestis (Latin: "For honourable studies and pursuits")
Established	1946
Type	Private coeducational
Headmaster	Trevor McKinlay
Students	1,900 approx.
Grades	Pre-Kindergarten, Primary 1-6, Secondary 1-4, Lower/Upper 6th
Location	Apartado 18-1048 Lima, Peru
Campus	Urban
Colours	Brown, yellow
Mascot	Lion
Yearbook	Markhamian
Newsletter	The Markham Messenger
Alumni Association	Old Markhamian Association
Primary language	English
Website	www.markham.edu.pe

Markham College is a school in Lima, Peru. It was founded by British expatriates in the country and has since then excelled as one of Peru's best educational institutions. 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 of them subsequently enroll in the IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma Program. The school was named after Sir Clements R. Markham (1838 - 1916).

Beginning in 2001, Markham has implemented the use of laptop computers as an educational tool for students in the 8th grade and beyond. While highly controversial at its inception, it has grown to become a very successful program whose results are reflected on the ever increasing performance of Markham students on international examinations. In 2004 the school became part of Round Square, an internationally recognized organization of schools which follows the IDEALS of Kurt Hahn.

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 1,800 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. Girls wishing to study for the International Baccalaureate are also admitted to the Upper School from age 14+

1 The House System
2 Markham College Alumni
3 Drama at Markham College
4 External links

[edit] The House System

In the first year of elementary school (P1) students are nominally divided into four "houses" which compete in sports, academics and other activities. They are called Cochrane, Guise, Miller and Rowcroft, 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 to obtain the Founder's shield. For the last 11 years the winner of the House competition has been Cochrane.

The House competition has the main focus on the athletics. Houses have two important sets of competitions claled collectively: Swimming Gala and Sports Day. Although this are the two most important competitions, on the 2nd and 4th bimester students compete in a sport each week. Having interhouse competitions on disciplines such as: football, basketball, rugby, hockey, volleyball, softball and minisports. Minisports consists of many small disciplines such as archery, shooting, climbing, surfing, table tennis, tennis, badmington, chess, croquet and others.

[edit] Markham College Alumni

Markham College alumni are organized through the Old Markhamian Association (OMA). Notable alumni include:

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, economist and former Prime Minister of Peru
Alfredo Tomassini, late midfielder of Alianza Lima
Richard Webb, former Banco Central de Reserva (Central Reserve Bank) president
Abelardo Sánchez León, writer
Ronny Alhalel, artist
Carlos Runcie Tanaka, artist
Javier Heraud, poet
Alonso Alegría, playwright and director

Alumni and students formed the "Old Markhamians Rugby Football Club" in 1995, which participates in the Peruvian rugby league. The school hosts matches in the league and has hosted Rugby World Cup qualifying matches.

[edit] Drama at Markham College

Markham College has staged various plays throughout its history, in Spanish, English and French. Recently, some of the most popular ones have been: The Mikado; The Gondoliers; Iolanthe; The Pirates of Penzance, Little Shop of Horrors in English; and Don Juan Tenorio; Los Figurantes and La Tras-Escena in Spanish.

The most recent school musical production, performed the nights of the 5-7 July 2006, was The Pirates of Penzance, directed by Michael V. Bacon and Cecilia Ramírez. Students from S2 to Upper Sixth (UB) took part in it. The student cast included: the outsdanding performance of Diego Ontaneda as the Pirate King, Harold Day as Frederic, Julia Duggan as Mabel, Jorge Del Pino as Major-General Stanley; Nicolás Rivera as the Sergeant of Police; Natalia Cisneros as Ruth; and Joaquín de Aubeyzon as Samuel.

Notable performances in previous years included that of Max Moya as the Duke of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers and as the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe, that of Sebastian Calderon as Dracula in 1996's The Dracula Spectacula.

In 2006 the school also showed a play in Spanish, called "La Tras-Escena" (The Backstage). It represents the hardships of various kinds of people living under a dictatorial Colombian government, and how it affects the show of a well-known play by the National Theatre Company. It was directed by Sandro Calderón, a professional actor, and was one of the most successful Spanish plays in the last few years.