Markham College


Markham College is an international school in Lima, Peru. Founded by British immigrants, Markham promotes a mixture of British and Peruvian education. Markham is an independent, non profit-making, co-educational, bilingual, secular, day school of approximately 2,000 students aged 4–18.
Its students fulfil the Peruvian national curriculum as well as the IGCSE programme from the University of Cambridge. Many students subsequently enrol in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
Markham has a social service policy both through Round Square and the IB CAS element. Each year many hundreds of students help in both national and international service projects.
Students are known as Markhamians, while alumni are identified as Old Markhamians.

History

The school was named after the British historian and explorer Sir Clements Robert Markham.
The first students entered Markham College in March 1946. By 1978, it had grown to about 1,200 students and it was necessary to acquire a second site. The transfer of the Lower School to this site began in 1979. Students enter the school at the age of 4+ and transfer to the Upper School at the age of 11+. Currently, there are around 145 students in each year group. Competition for places is fierce and there are very few available spaces in most year groups.
In 1992, the school became co-educational with girls being admitted in roughly equal numbers to boys. In recent years, it has accepted slightly more girls than boys.
In 2004, the school became part of Round Square, an internationally recognised organisation 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.
Today, more than 2000 pupils attend Markham College from 34 different countries around the world.

The House System

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 and Thomas Edward 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 has three major elements: the Swimming Gala, Markham on Stage, and Sports Day. While these are the three most important competitions, during the year students compete regularly in different disciplines including: football, basketball, rugby, cricket, 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, Business Studies, Computer Studies, Co-ordinated Science, Design and Technology, Drama, First Language English, Food and Nutrition, French, Geography, History, Information Technology, Literature in both English and Spanish, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education and First and Foreign Language Spanish.
At IB Diploma level, Further Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Design Technology, Economics, English A and B, Film Studies, French B, Geography, Global Politics, History, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Psychology, Spanish A and B, Theatre Arts and Visual Arts are currently all being taught at Higher Level. In addition to those, Environmental Systems and Sports, Exercise and Health Science are also available at Standard Level.
No school in this continent and precious few outside it offers the range of subjects that Markham does.
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 or debating. The full list runs to over 150 options.

Examination Results

All students are entered for University of Cambridge ESOL Preliminary English Test in their final year of Primary education and for the examination at the age of 14. Pass rates are close to 100%.
In 2018, 144 S4 students sat 1484 IGCSE examinations, an average of over 10 per student. The average number of IGCSEs gained per student was 9.3 and all students gained at least 5 grades A-C.5 students gained 10 or more A*/A grades.
In 2018, the school entered 80 students for the IB Diploma with a choice of study from 40 different subjects and levels, over largest ever offering. The average point score of 32.9 is over 4 points above the world average at the previous November session. Seven students achieved 40 points or more. Markham has long held the South American record for the best IB results.
All the examination results are transparent and can be found published on Markham's website.

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, beige trousers or skirts, brown belts, white shirts or blouses, and a brown and gold jumper. There is also a separate P.E. uniform.
Sixth form 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 two plays throughout the school year, at least one in Spanish and one in English. Every two years the Drama department performs a musical theatre piece. Recent performances include Romeo and Juliet, Grease, El Casamiento Forzoso and Bugsy Malone. The 2019 programme will include an adaptation of 'Mamma Mia'.

Notable alumni

Markham College alumni are organised through the Old Markhamian Association, and include: