Malvern College UK to open 7th overseas school in Tokyo

Malvern College UK is establishing a footprint in Japan, becoming the latest of several leading British schools to announce such a move in recent years, including Harrow International, which opened in Iwate Prefecture in August 2022, and Rugby School, which will welcome pupils in Chiba Prefecture in autumn 2023.

Opening in September, at its campus in Kodaira, Malvern College Tokyo aims to be the first all-through International Baccalaureate (IB) British-branded school in Japan: a key differentiator according to Mike Spencer, founding headmaster.

“We’re quite unique,” he said in his office in Shinjuku. “In the British independent sector it’s more traditional to offer A-Levels but because of our growing international family of schools, we know that the IB is a popular course for universities.”

Malvern College Tokyo will be the Worcestershire-based school’s seventh school overseas and build on the successful launch of its Hong Kong campus and expansion of its Chengdu campus, both in 2019.

“Tokyo has been on the horizon for some time. It is such a natural choice, a world city, and what we’re bringing here is really great for Japan,” said Spencer, pointing to the school’s strong academic reputation, holistic child-centered learning and robust pastoral care, built on the UK school’s 150-year heritage as a boarding school.

Malvern provides children with opportunities to develop “character traits and attributes — like integrity and resilience — that prepare them to live their lives,” he added. Entrepreneurship and its related skills, such as creativity, innovation and financial literacy, are also on offer, as well as social and emotional learning, including “the soft skills children need to turn chances into successful outcomes.”

So far, parents have been keen to snap up the 950 places available for pupils in Years 1–9 (primary and secondary age) for classes starting in September. Applications already submitted include those from overseas-based Japanese families returning to Tokyo, international families living in Tokyo and bicultural families, often with one Japanese and one British parent.

Asked about quotas to ensure diversity of the student body, Spencer said the school is pleased with the diversity of applications so far.

“One of the attributes in our DNA is international-mindedness, and the heart of the IB framework are issues of global, rather than national, significance. What we want is a diverse student,” he said, posing the question of whether a Japanese family who have spent all their life overseas are “more or less international” than two foreign parents whose children have only ever known Tokyo as their home.

And with Japanese and English language support in place for pupils from the outset, Spencer hopes to welcome all kinds of families to the school, including those who wish their children to board; this option will be available in 2–3 years.

“By attracting a diverse student body, students get the chance to share their background, ideas and experiences — it’s not a monocultural environment,” he said.

Indeed, Malvern aims to help its pupils “engage with the world as global citizens,” through not only interacting with each other but also through its Forest and Eco School Programmes, as well as projects related to community and sustainability.

“Learning outside the classroom is really important,” said Spencer, adding that pupils need to feel they are making a real and valuable contribution to the world around them.

With support from Malvern’s bases in the UK and other parts of Asia, Malvern College Tokyo expects to open its early years program in 2024, followed by its Year 10–13 (high school) program in 2027.

For now, though, Spencer’s focus is on the September launch of Malvern College Tokyo, a place where he hopes is a “safe, interactive, vibrant community” where pupils, parents, teachers and all other members of the Malvern family simply “love to be.”

• External Link
• https://www.malverncollegetokyo.jp/

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