Shaping the Future Through Science at Harrow Bangkok

This year, Harrow Bangkok launched its first-ever Science Fair—an exciting event where students tackled real-world problems through the lens of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Alongside this, the school proudly received the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) Gilt from the University of Hertfordshire, recognising excellence in primary science teaching and community outreach. We spoke with Mr Mark Mitchell, Science and Eco Lead in the Lower School, about these two milestones and what they mean for the future of science at Harrow.

Please tell us a bit more about the first Harrow Bangkok Science Fair.

Mr Mitchell - Over the past few years, international schools across Bangkok and the wider community have been looking at developing science outreach across our schools in Asia. One of the most pressing things we wanted to do was celebrate science in a different way—outside of the normal lesson scope. So we came up with the idea of a Science Fair, but we also wanted to make sure we were developing children's understanding of world issues. That’s where the SDG link came into our Science Fair.

We want to raise awareness of all the Sustainable Development Goals and how we could work on solving them, particularly with the next generation of children and their career prospects—showing that if we want to sustain this world, we need to make changes now. Some of the ideas we saw in our Science Fair at Harrow were phenomenal, and there are ideas that could grow in the future with further technologies and advancements.


What type of problems did students try to solve through their projects?

Mr Mitchell - We had many types of problems solved by the students through their projects, and we saw a couple of outstanding ones. One project was about the redesign and repurposing of condominiums, shopping malls and offices to ensure that we have a lot of plant growth that can be harvested and used every day—not only for health, but also to create more oxygen in the world. We also had a wonderful idea based on the use of magnets to clean the ocean floor of plastic pollution.

What advice would you give to students who get inspired and want to participate next year?

Mr Mitchell - I think inspiration is all around. Some of the best ideas started from such a small idea and grew from the question of ‘What if’. What if we did this? What if we added that? And also just having confidence in speaking and believing in what you're talking about. These children really shone through their passion for their project.

What do students learn from participating in a fair—what skills do they develop?

One of the main skills is presentation and public speaking, which is so important today. Public speaking is key to almost every job. But aside from that, students learn from friendly competition, respecting others, listening, trial and error, and thinking outside the box. There’s always that one person who asks a question you’ve been waiting for—something that helps expand your knowledge and your ideas.

For anyone interested in science, I’d say keep trying things out. Join one of our competitions next year. Science is all about trial and error. If something doesn’t work, try again. It’s through making mistakes that we make progress—that’s the whole reason science exists. It’s a fantastic subject to explore more deeply. And if you ever need advice, please come and talk to me.

How about the next stage of the Science Fair?

Mr Mitchell - I think the next stage is going to be absolutely fantastic. We have three very deserving winners here at Harrow who are going on to represent our school. I think they’re ready to take on the challenge, and I hope we see one of our projects go even further.

Can you explain a little bit more about the science accreditation we received from the University of Hertfordshire?

Mr Mitchell - The name of the accreditation is PSQM, which stands for Primary Science Quality Mark. We were awarded PSQM Gilt, and we are one of very few schools across Southeast Asia to receive this prestigious award. When we had the opportunity to apply, we aimed straight for the Gilt level, which recognises schools that are already well-established in science but are also actively taking steps to develop it further.

At Harrow, we were already doing phenomenal work in science—especially in how we integrate it into our units of study and link it to sustainability. We received the award because of our outreach—not just with teachers and TAs, but also with the wider community through our eco programme, including conferences and working with other schools. The complete package we offer in science really raises its profile and helps build science capital through events, activities, and competitions—something that’s still quite rare in Southeast Asia.