S. Thomas' Preparatory School

S.Thomas' Preparatory School
S. Thomas' Prep School Crest
Location
S.Thomas' Preparatory School
Location in central Colombo
Kollupitiya
Sri Lanka
Coordinates 6°55′0.6″N 79°50′50.4″E / 6.916833°N 79.847333°E / 6.916833; 79.847333Coordinates: 6°55′0.6″N 79°50′50.4″E / 6.916833°N 79.847333°E / 6.916833; 79.847333
Information
Type Private
Motto The Lord Is My Shepherd
Established 17 May 1938 (17 May 1938)
Headmaster Rev. Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo
Colour(s) Dark Blue, Light Blue and White             
Affiliation Church of Ceylon, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Website www.prepobu.lk

S. Thomas' Preparatory School is a private, Anglican, multi-ethnic, primary and secondary day school for boys aged 5 to 16 years, located in Kollupitiya in the Colombo District of the Western Province of Sri Lanka.

The school was founded on 17 May 1938 as a branch preparatory school of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. It is governed by the Board of Governors of S. Thomas' College of the Church of Ceylon. The school is amongst the elite schools of Sri Lanka and is affiliated with the three other Thomian schools and colleges administered by the Church of Ceylon.[1]

History

S. Thomas' Preparatory School was founded on 17 May 1938 by W. T. Keble, the school's first headmaster, while Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule. The school was the first preparatory school to be established in Sri Lanka based on the English primary School model.

The institution, which commenced with a student population of 95 boys and a staff of seven teachers, currently has a student population of 975 and over 100 staff members. At first, the school only accepted students between the ages of 5 and 11 years, as its founding fathers sought to remedy a conceptual void in the educational system by placing a new emphasis on the requirements and aspirations of younger children to be educated and to be allowed to express their creative talents and faculties unfettered and unhampered by older and more mature students. Nevertheless, over the years the school began accepting older students.

W.T. Keble

William Thomas Keble M.A. (Oxon) was the founder of S. Thomas' Preparatory School, an eminent British scholar, author, educationalist, and an alumnus of Keble College, Oxford, which is named after his maternal great-uncle John Keble. He arrived in Ceylon (the name for Sri Lanka during the British colonial governance) in 1928 to join the staff of S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia, during the tenure of warden Kenneth McPherson.[2][3]

He was the author of several books, including Ceylon, Beaten Track, A History of St. Thomas' College, Colombo, and Astrapani: A Romance of Sigiriya, a novel based on Sigiriya.

School Administration

The school is governed by the Anglican Church of Ceylon. It is classified as a private fee levying school and is not financially dependent on the government. It is administered by a Board of Governors (established by the S. Thomas' College Board of Governors Ordinance No. 7 of 1930) of which the chairman is the Bishop of Colombo, thereby retaining a connection between the church and the school. The day-to-day activities are managed by the headmaster. The school has a sectional head for the Upper, Middle, and Primary schools.

The current headmaster is Rev. Dushantha L. Rodrigo, who assumed duties on 1 January 2015, and was officially inducted as Headmaster of the school on 26 January 2015, at a special ceremony held at the school premises.[4]

Previous principals

  1. W. T. Keble (1938–1942) (founder)[5]
  2. N. G. Abeynaike (1943–1950) (first principal)
  3. J. T. R. Perinpanayagam (June 1951 - August 1966)
  4. J. S. L. Fernando (September 1966 - 1994)
  5. N. Y. Casie Chetty (1995 - December 2014)
  6. Fr. Dushantha Rodrigo (2015 - present)

Academic Terms

The school's academic year has three terms; each named after a period in the Christian liturgical calendar of the church. They are -

  • Lent Term: January to April
  • Trinity Term: May to August
  • Michaelmas Term: September to December

Demographics

The student population is in excess of 900 students, aged 5 to 16 years, although the roll has declined from its peak of around 1100 students in the year 2000. The students come from diverse ethnic backgrounds (Sinhala, Tamil and Moor amongst others). The four main faiths practiced by the students of the school, in descending order of frequency, are Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. The majority of students live in the suburbs of Colombo.

Academic Subjects

S. Thomas' Preparatory School provides education in Sinhala and Tamil languages as well as Bi-lingual education up to the G.C.E. (Ordinary Level) in conformity with the education policy of the country. The school teaches English as a second language.

All administrative correspondances are conducted in English.

Facilities

The school comprises an assembly hall, over 50 class rooms, two chapels, faith rooms, a computer laboratory, two music rooms, three art rooms, two playing fields, two basketball courts and a cafeteria. The school has separate laboratory facilities for science, electronics, and mechanical technology.

House system

Students are allocated into four houses:

  • Abeynaike: is named after the school's first headmaster, Norman Gray Abeynaike.
  • Carpenter-Garnier: named after the sixth Bishop of Colombo, Carpenter-Garnier, who was Lord Bishop in 1938 when the school was founded.
  • De Saram: is named after Canon R. S. De Saram who was Warden of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia when the school was founded.
  • Keble: is named after the school's founder, William Thomas Keble.

The houses compete against each other in many sporting events throughout the year. An athletics championship held each year in February, facilitates students in each of the houses to compete in athletic events.

Sports and extra-curricular activities

The school has a number of sports teams.

Sports offered by the school in addition to the curricular

  • Cricket
  • Rugby
  • Swimming
  • Athletics
  • Basketball
  • Soccer
  • Badminton
  • Tennis
  • Table Tennis
  • Scrabble
  • Chess
  • Carrom
  • Rifle shooting
  • Karate
  • Hockey

Clubs and Societies

  • Student Christian Movement
  • Buddhist Association
  • Hindu Union
  • Islamic Society
  • English Literary and Debating Society
  • Sinhala Literary and Debating Society
  • Tamil Literary and Debating Society
  • Photographic Club
  • Hewisi Band
  • Choir
  • Western Band
  • Art Club
  • Cub Scouting
  • Scouting
  • Cadeting
  • Interact Club
  • Radio Club
  • Traffic and Road Safety Society

See also

References

  1. ↑ "S. Thomas' Preparatory School - Old Boys Union - The School". www.prepobu.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  2. ↑ "S. Thomas' Preparatory School - Old Boys Union - The School". www.prepobu.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  3. ↑ Delmar, Shalom. "St. Thomas' Preparatory School, Kollupitiya". www.dioceseofcolombo.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  4. ↑ "Rev. Dushantha Rodrigo appointed new Headmaster of S. Thomas' Prep". Daily FT. Wijeya Newspapers. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "Headmasters" (PDF).
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