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July14
SCHOOLS
and manners, academic rigour and
sportsmanship.
Sport is encouraged at all levels and
abilities. The facilities are impressive and
the kids are exposed to amyriad of activities
ranging from the traditional sports to the
lesser-known lacrosse.
Having been exposed to a number of
different schooling systems, we took the
conscious decision to keep the kids in the
British education system. Suitable schools
in Singapore had no places available for
the twins, so we decided to take on the
challenge of being part of this brand new
school. The journey has been exciting,
edgy and on occasions challenging.
Rather than being “the new kids on the
block”, our children have had a unique
opportunity to forge friendships in the
absence of established cliques. The result
Our kids have attended schools in
Brazil, South Africa, Australia, England,
and now in Malaysia. We like to think that
this culturally diverse education will make
us all more tolerant world citizens. All three
are proud to be founding members of the
College, which opened in August 2012.
The twins are in Year 7 and Gareth (Year
10) is in the senior boys’ boarding house.
MCM is a vibrant, busy place with loads
of space for thinking, learning and just
being. With numbers capped at around
900 kids, the extensive 90-acre site gives
them ample space to burn off energy.
MCM is unique in that it is not a franchise
of Marlborough College UK, but an
extension of it. Thus, MCM is essentially
British. It has the established ethos of a
170-year-old English boarding school,
placing great store in good etiquette
of a semi-pioneering spirit with everybody
being equally new, is a tight-knit bunch of
kids that are fiercely supportive of each
other when faced with outside competition.
Watching an U16 rugby match against
a larger school, I overheard the comment
that MCM won, not necessarily because
they had the better players, but because
they worked incredibly well as a team.
The sentiment was echoed when the U13
girls’ football teamwon the Southeast Asia
tournament “through sheer guts”.
Our children have different personalities,
interests and abilities and are all happy
and thriving at MCM.
Jalan Marlborough, 79250 Nusajaya,
Johor, Malaysia
+60 7 560 2200
marlboroughcollegemalaysia.org
Marlborough College Malaysia (MCM)
Nuala and Ken Tainton, Irish and Welsh;
Gareth (15) and twins Niall and Siobhan (12)