Round Square Explained

Round Square
Founder:Kurt Hahn (educational concepts)
Jocelin Winthrop Young (organisation)
Type:Educational
Membership:New schools inducted by election of member schools
Language:English
Website:www.roundsquare.org

Round Square is an international network of schools, based on the educational concepts of Kurt Hahn, and named after a distinctive building at Gordonstoun. Founded by a group of seven schools in the late 1960s, by 1996 it had grown to 20 member schools worldwide, and has since expanded to over 200 schools.[1] Round Square is incorporated in England as a Company Limited by Guarantee, and is a registered charity.

History

Between 1962 and 1963 Jocelin Winthrop Young and Roy McComish listed all the schools which they considered to have adopted the educational ideas of Kurt Hahn or had included them at their foundation.[2] [3] [4] These schools were: in Scotland, Rannoch School and Dunrobin School; in England, Abbotsholme School, Battisborough and Milton Abbey; in Germany Louisenlund; in Switzerland Aiglon College, in Ghana Achimota School; in India The Doon School; and the soon to open Athenian School in California. Salem, Gordonstoun, Anavryta and Box Hill were 'taken for granted' as the already established and pre-eminent Hahnian schools.[5]

On 5 June 1966, Kurt Hahn’s 80th birthday was celebrated at Schule Schloss Salem, and as the headmaster of the school Winthrop Young invited the headmasters of Box Hill School, Gordonstoun, Louisenlund, Anavryta, Battisborough, the Athenian School, and the recently opened Atlantic College, to discuss the establishment of a Hahn schools conference.[3] [6] [7] This meeting was chaired by King Constantine and during its course an agreement was reached on naming the conference "The Hahn Schools", it was then decided that the first conference would be held at Gordonstoun in 1967.[7] At this first conference at Hahn's insistence the name "The Hahn Schools" was dropped in favour of a new name "The Round Square" after an iconic building at Gordounstoun.[2] Six of the schools that attended this first conference and were the founding members of the Round Square: Box Hill School, Gordonstoun, Anavryta Experimental Lyceum, Schule Schloss Salem, Aiglon College and Abbotsholme School. At the 2nd Round Square conference held at Box Hill the principles of the association were established and co-education was the first of the sequence of conference themes that were discussed.[7] At a later conference held at Box Hill in 1980 the R.S.I.S. (Round Square International Service) was created to promote and organise overseas voluntary service projects in much the same way as the project in Cephalonia.[7] Winthrop Young retired as headmaster of Salem in 1974 but continued to run the Round Square association as Honorary Secretary and later as Director until he retired from that position in 1992.[8]

Activities

Round Square schools encourage students to take part in a range of community service activities both locally and internationally. Many projects are run through the school and further opportunities are available via the Round Square Region, Network and Worldwide Organisation. The philosophy of Round Square is centered on the 6 IDEALS, namely the Spirit of Internationalism, the Spirit of Democracy, the Spirit of Environment, the Spirit of Adventure, the Spirit of Leadership, and finally, the Spirit of Service. The goal is to develop a sense of responsible leadership and deeper understanding of democratic practice.[9] [10]

Member schools

+ Founder MembersSchool name Country
Anavryta Experimental Lyceum (no longer a member)
+ Other MembersSchool name Country
United Kingdom
Canada
India
India
Canada
Australia
Australia
India
Australia
Canada
United States
Australia
Pakistan
Canada
United States
United States
United States
India
South Korea
Bangladesh
United Kingdom
Colombia
Colombia
Switzerland
Jordan
Canada
South Africa
India
India
United Kingdom
Canada
United Kingdom
Canada
United States
Dubai
India
Australia
Canada
Argentina
United States
United States
India
United States
United States
China
Switzerland
International Community School
Kenya
India
Australia
Australia
India
Japan
India
Japan
Keystone International School Turkey
Kilittasi School Turkey
China
Jordan
New Zealand
Australia
L K Singhania Education Centre
Canada
Germany
United Kingdom
India
India
Canada
Japan
Australia
Canada
Canada
India
Australia
India
India
Argentina
India
United Kingdom
Australia
India
India
Australia
Australia
United States
China
Japan
Japan
Olive Tree International AcademyChina
United States
United States
India
Penryn CollegeSouth Africa
India
United States
Australia
India
India
Thailand
China
Thailand
Regents International School Pattaya Thailand
United States
Australia
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Canada
Canada
United Kingdom
India
United States
Peru
Sarala Birla Academy India
United Kingdom
Germany
India
Australia
Australia
India
China
India
Armenia
India
South Africa
South Africa
Kenya
Canada
South Africa
South Africa
St John's-Ravenscourt SchoolCanada
United Kingdom
Canada
Hong Kong, China
Australia
South Africa
South Africa
St. George's College Peru
South Africa
Kenya
India
Germany
Canada
India
India
Canada
Japan
China
Australia
United States
The British School
The British School India
India
India
Colombia
The Hutchins SchoolAustralia
The Hyderabad Public SchoolIndia
The Kingsley SchoolUnited Kingdom
The Lyceum SchoolPakistan
The Marvelwood SchoolUnited States
The Millennium SchoolUnited Arab Emirates
The Private Realschule Gut WarnbergGermany
The Punjab Public SchoolIndia
The Sagar SchoolIndia
The Samworth Church AcademyUnited Kingdom
The Sanskaar Valley SchoolIndia
The Scindia SchoolIndia
The Shri Ram SchoolIndia
The Southport SchoolAustralia
Tiger Kloof Educational InstitutionSouth Africa
Transylvania CollegeRomania
Trevor Day SchoolUnited States
Trinity Anglican SchoolAustralia
Trivandrum International SchoolIndia
United World College of South East AsiaSingapore
Vidya Devi Jindal SchoolIndia
Vivek High SchoolIndia
Welham Boys' SchoolIndia
Welham Girls' SchoolIndia
Westfield SchoolUnited Kingdom
Westminster SchoolAustralia
Whanganui Collegiate SchoolNew Zealand
Wilderness SchoolAustralia
Windermere SchoolUnited Kingdom
Woodleigh SchoolAustralia
Wyoming SeminaryUnited States
Yadavindra Public School PatialaIndia
Yakumo AcademyJapan

Notes and References

  1. The Good Schools Guide, Amanda Atha and Sarah Drummond, pp.343 (Macmillan 1996)
  2. Web site: Our History. 2024-05-24 . Round Square.
  3. Web site: History of Schule Schloss Salem: The Kurt Hahn Archive and a journey through time . Schule Schloss Salem. en. 2019-12-10.
  4. Web site: Gordonstoun Our history . 2022-07-19 . gordonstoun.org.uk . en.
  5. Jocelin Winthrop-Young 28/3/1999 - accessible https://www.jocelinwinthropyoung.com/work/round-square/
  6. Web site: Gordonstoun Our history. gordonstoun.org.uk. en. 2019-11-29.
  7. The muscles of friendship - Speech by Jocelin Winthrop Young on the occasion of his retirement in October 1992 - Accessible https://www.jocelinwinthropyoung.com/work/round-square/
  8. Web site: Life . jocelinwinthropyoung.com.
  9. Book: Tacy , Peter . Ideals at work: education for world stewardship in the Round Square schools . Deerfield Academy Press. Deerfield, Mass. . 2006. 9780975575826.
  10. Higham . Rupert . Djohari . Natalie . 5 March 2018 . From voting to engaging: promoting democratic values across an international school network . Oxford Review of Education . 44 . 6 . 669–685 . 10.1080/03054985.2018.1433649 . 150049210 .