Markham College

Markham College is a school in Lima, Peru. Founded by British expatriates, Markham promotes a mixture of British and Peruvian education supported by a set of traditional relationships between staff and students. Markham is an independent, non profit-making, co-educational, bi-lingual, secular, day school of some 2,000 students aged 4-18. 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 Programme. The school was named after Sir Clements R. Markham (1838–1916). Students are known as Markhamians, while alumni are identified as Old Markhamians.

Approximately 40% of our staff of over 250 teachers are recruited internationally. Currently, average class sizes vary from 21.8 in P6, (The first year of Secondary) to 11.5 in the last year of IB.

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 is a high level of technological facilities available and Smartboards and data projectors are the norm 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 its 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 around 155 students in each year group. Competition for places is severe and currently (2012) there are very few spaces in most year groups. 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. In the last few years, it have accepted, marginally, more girls than boys.