360° TOUR Prep Houses
Pupils in Year 6, 7 & 8 are assigned to a Prep House. There are seven in total: four boys’ and three girls’ houses.
Boys’ Prep Houses
BANKS
DARWIN
LYON
SHACKLETON
Mr Nick Weinberg
House Master of Banks, Teacher of History
Mr. Weinberg has been the House Master of Banks House since the beginning of the 2020/21 academic year, having previously taught at Harrow Hong Kong in 2019.
Mr. Weinberg studied History and Politics at theUniversity of Warwick and originally trained and worked as a journalist, before moving into teaching. He obtained his PGCE from the Institute of Education and began his career teaching History in London. In 2016, he moved to Hong Kong and subsequently taught in a number of international schools, holding both pastoral and academic responsibilities.
Mr. Weinberg is the husband of Letitia Weinberg, who is Head of Geography and the former Assistant House Mistress for Fry House. Mr and Mrs Weinberg are parents to Jack and Imogen, the youngest members of the Banks family. Mr and Mrs Weinberg really enjoy getting to know not just the pupils, but their families too, who they count as part of the extended Banks community. They aim to create a positive, secure and fun environment in which every pupil feels safe.
Outside of school, Mr. Weinberg enjoys most sports, especially football and is a keen supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.
Mr. Tom Cameron
House Master of Darwin, Teacher of History
Mr. Cameron was born and raised in South Africa and spent his formative years at boarding school in Kwa-Zulu Natal. He studied at the University of Pretoria and taught in private and independent schools in South Africa, the U.K., and Hong Kong, where he taught at the French International Schoolfor 15 years.
Mr. Cameron, his wife Melanie, and young son James returned to South Africa in 2016 and took a position at St Andrew’s Preparatory School. He held the position of Senior Prep Boys Housemaster, Head of Sports, teacher of Social Studies, and Master in Charge of Rugby.
In 2021 Mr. Cameron and his family returned to Hong Kong to work at Harrow International School. He has held the position of Prep Teacher of Humanities and Senior Assistant Housemaster (Sun House) since August 2021. His wife Melanie has been employed as Prep Matron at Harrow Hong Kong since April 2021.
He is an avid sportsman who played professional rugby in South Africa and joined the Hong Kong Football Club in 2000. He represented Hong Kong in the National 15’s and 7’s rugby. He also completed the Maclehose Trail walker, Lantau Moon Trekker, and Standard Chartered HK marathon. He is a keen cricketer while still enjoying playing golf and cycling regularly.
He is committed to providing excellent, comprehensive pastoral care, motivation, and support to all students in his care. He is international-minded and adept at creating an atmosphere conducive to learning and socialising with peers while ensuring the safeguarding of all boarders in their “home away from home.”
Mrs Kirsty Wilson
House Mistress of Lyon, Teacher of Physical Education
Born and raised in Scotland, Mrs Wilson went on to complete University in Auckland, New Zealand. She developed her passion for Health and Physical Education in a school rich in culture and community spirit on Auckland’s North Shore before travelling through Europe and Asia and finishing in Hong Kong.
Mrs Wilson joined Harrow Hong Kong in August 2015 as a Physical Education teacher where she is heavily involved in the Swimming team.
In recent years Health and Wellbeing have become a focal point for Mrs Wilson, where she has put the Wellbeing of the pupils at the forefront. Having previously been Assistant House Mistress and House Mistress of Wu House, Mrs Wilson is very much looking forward to setting up Lyon as the first boys’ Prep Day House in August 2023.
With three young children life is busy but she has a love for health, fitness, cooking and travel.
Mr William Bussey
House Master of Shackleton, Teacher of Physics
Mr Bussey was raised in a small town in middle England, Loughborough. Being brought up in a university town it was only inevitable that his passions would mirror the specialisms of the town’s university, Sport and Engineering. Therefore, after completing his A-levels he decided to depart his hometown to study a BSc in Physics at Lancaster University, where his keen interest in the sciences flourished further, as did his affection for playing rugby.
Having loved his degree and wanting to share his appetite for Physics with the next generation he made the move to the University of Nottingham to complete his PGCE in Secondary Science Education. On completion of his course, Mr Bussey took up his first teaching position in Hackney, London, where he quickly raised through the ranks to become Head of Physics at the school, as well as coaching the school’s rugby team. After a number of years in these roles, and wanting to further his teaching capability, he made the decision to move to one of the highest academically performing schools in the world, Harrow International School Hong Kong.
During the last five years at Harrow Mr Bussey has fostered his passion for Pastoral Care. He began his first year working in Shackleton House as a Tutor before stepping into Banks House for two years, as Assistant House Master; his latest two years have been spent as the Assistant House Master of Sun House. During his time at the school, he has had the pleasure to be mentored by three great Housemasters, and applies the knowledge passed from them to the care he now provides in Shackleton House.
Girls’ Prep Houses
FRY
NIGHTINGALE
PARKS
Mrs Holly de Vies
House Mistress of Fry, Teacher of Biology
Born in Leicester, in the English Midlands, Mrs De Vies (formerly Miss Perridge) spent the majority of her life living in the Leicestershire countryside, residing in both Loughborough and Long Whatton.
Having always had a passion for travel, she opted to study at Aston University, Birmingham which provided the opportunity for an international placement year. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biology and English and spent a year working as a teaching assistant at The British International School of Kuala Lumpur. In Malaysia she met her husband, Theo, who was also working as a teaching assistant and here they were inspired to pursue careers in teaching.
With a Biology specialism, she completed her Science PGCE at Loughborough University and spent four years as a Biology Teacher at Loughborough High School, England. In her final two years there, she took a leadership role as Hastings House Mistress. Mr and Mrs De Vies joined the Harrow community in 2016 as a Year 5 Teacher and Teacher of Biology respectively. In April 2019 Mr and Mrs De Vies were married in Koh Samui, Thailand. They have a rescue dog called Josie and two children: Rory, born in March 2022 and Wren, born February 2024. From 2018-2024, Mr and Mrs De Vies were proud house parents in Nightingale and they enjoyed raising their young family within the boarding house.
Mrs De Vies is excited to become the house parent of Fry and is looking forward building a strong and supportive Day House community.
In her free time, Mrs De Vies enjoys spending time with her family. They can often be found splashing and swimming in the local pool and building sand castles on one of Hong Kong’s many beaches.
Ms Connie Hu
House Mistress of Nightingale, Teacher of Chinese
Ms. Hu has served as the Acting House Mistress of Nightingale on two occasions: during the 2020/21 and 2023-24 academic years. Before joining Harrow in 2020, she dedicated many years to teaching English as a Second Language and Chinese Language in the UK and Hong Kong. Her experience includes being a resident/boarding tutor at Marlborough College, where she established and taught Chinese A Level.
She also held positions such as Head of Chinese at Kennedy School and Head of Second Language at King George V School, where she worked as a Senior School Tutor. Additionally, she served as a Chinese Secondee at the ESF Centre in Hong Kong.
Ms. Hu became a certified Leadership Coach through Culture At Work in the UK a few years ago and is passionate about continuous professional growth. She aims to utilize her coaching skills to guide and support Nightingale girls in their personal and academic development, fostering a coaching culture that helps every girl reach her potential and enjoy their time in prep school.
Ms. Hu’s educational journey began with studies in English Literature at Yancheng Teachers College, followed by a Master’s degree in Modern Chinese from Nanjing Normal University. She is a registered teacher with the Hong Kong Education Bureau. In her spare time, she contributes actively to education as a Chinese A-level examiner for the Cambridge Examination Board and as a Bilingual TOK Examiner in the IB World.
Outside of her professional commitments, Ms. Hu cherishes her family life. She met her husband, Mr. Richard St Paul, at Marlborough College. They are proud parents of twin sons, Edward and Daniel, who currently reside and work in London. They also have two pets in their London home, Puppy Naya and a cat named Lyla.
Miss Charlotte Townsend
House Mistress of Parks, Teacher of French and Spanish
Miss Townsend grew up on a farm in rural Somerset, southwest England. Her love of language learning sparked in Year 7 when her French and German teacher challenged her to reach the class “top table”. After her A Levels, hooked by the intrigues of Russian history and the nuances of English literature, Miss Townsend combined her interests in her degree choice; she began a BA in European Studies and Modern Languages, French and ab initio Russian, at the University of Bath.
Miss Townsend found that her studies and year abroad had opened up the possibilities of the world to her. In particular, her experiences and adventures studying in Aix-en-Provence, France, and Voronezh, Russia, gave her huge personal confidence. After a year in industry, she started her teacher training at the University of Gloucestershire, hoping to inspire young people from seemingly simple backgrounds that there is an exciting world beyond the boundaries of our home towns.
She took up her first teaching job at a school in Redditch, near Birmingham, teaching French and Spanish for 3 years, and from there moved closer to home near Bath, teaching French and fulfilling the roles of Lead Practitioner and Head of Department. There she met her partner, Mr Phil Harwood, a science teacher specialising in chemistry and an outdoor education instructor. They both decided to take up a teaching opportunity in Malaysia, where Miss Townsend was appointed to the roles of Prep-School Coordinator for Languages (Reception – Y6) and Assistant Housemistress of a girls’ boarding house.
Having loved her experiences in boarding, Miss Townsend accepted an offer to work as a Houseparent at a British boarding school in the north of England, before taking up her role as HM in Parks in September 2022.
