S. Thomas' College, Bandarawela: 2014 Events
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Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was held amongst a large gathering at the Keble Memorial Hall on 30th November 2014. The Archdeacon of Nuwara Eliya, Ven. S.P. Nesakumar delivered the Christmas message.
View Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols Programme
Children's Day 2014
The Children's Day was held on October 1st, 2014. The Academy of Adventure (AOA) conducted various fun filled activities that developed soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, self confidence, planning and decision making.
Some of the activities included 'blind polygon', 'human trolley', 'climbing net', 'seven up', 'human knot', 'barrel relay' and a game related to memory. The event was sponsored by the Staff Guild.
Service of Institution and Installation
The Service of Institution and Installation of Revd. Christopher William Chandran Balraj as the 7th Headmaster of S. Thomas College, Bandarawela by Rt. Revd. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Bishop of Colombo and Chairman Board of Governors took place on Monday the 14th July, 2014 at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, S. Thomas College, Bandarawela, Sri Lanka.
Rev. Balraj was born on 7th June 1962 and is a distinguished Old Boy of S. Thomas College, Bandarawela. He holds a Master of Theology (M.Th) and is presently a Ph.D candidate in Biblical Studies at the University of Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.
'Kalai Vizha' Programme
The Annual ‘Kalai Vizha’ was held on 5th July 2014 at the Keble Memorial Hall. The Chief Guest was Professor A. Murugadas, Head of the Department of Languages, Eastern University of Sri Lanka.
The well attended programme had many events that were well presented by the Tamil medium students of the school.
Inter-school Rugby
As part of the the inter-school Division III, under 20 Sri Lanka Schools Rugby, S. Thomas' College Bandarawela and Central College, Bandarawela took part in the Col. Chandra Chandra Jayaweera Trophy in the Polo Grounds, Diyatalawa. The Central College won the trophy 38-12.
Singer Schools Cricket Awards Ceremony 2013/14
Singer Schools Cricket Awards Ceremony 2013/14
Singer Schools Cricket Awards Ceremony 2013/14: S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela, was awarded the Provincial Team Award for the Uva Province.
Poson Bakthi Gee
The Annual Poson Bakthi Gee, organised by the Buddhist Society was held on Friday, 20th June 2014. The Chief Incumbent of Kahaththewela Sri Subodarmaya Kahaththewela Siriwasa Thero graced the Bakthi Gee Programme.
The event was held at the Bandarawela Town Hall along with the Maha Sanga of the locality.
Annual Prize Giving
The Annual Prize Giving was held on Wednesday, 11th June 2014. The Chief Guest was Professor Indra de Soysa, Warden, S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. The event was well attended by staff, students, members of the Board of Governors, parents and well-wishers.
View the Headmaster's Report and Prize List
Easter Musical Worship
The Easter Musical Worship was held at the Church of the Ascension, Bandarawela on Sunday 11th May, 2014. The school choir sang several Easter hymns and carols in English, Sinhala and Tamil while the congregation also joined in the worship. The sermon was delivered by Revd. Andrew Devadason, Vicar of St. Marks Church, Badulla.
View the Easter Musical Worship Programme
New Wooden Floor for SLA Ratnayake Memorial Stadium
The SLA Ratnayake Memorial Stadium was refurbished with a cushion wooden floor thanks to the generous contributions of the Old Thomians Association, United Kingdom, STC OBA New York and STCB OBA.
The stadium was blessed by the Bishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Dhilo Canagasabey on 19th April 2014.
Uva Thomian Cricket Encounter 2014
The Uva Thomian cricket encounter between S. Thomas’ College, Gurutalawa and S.Thomas’ College, Bandarawela was held at the Bandarawela Esplanade on April 5.
The Chief Guest was former Sri Lankan Cricketer Mr. Chandra Schaffter. Mr. Schaffter was former head prefect and cricket captain of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. He was an outstanding sportsman – a double international in hockey and cricket for Ceylon. He was also the Manager of Sri Lanka’s National Cricket Team on several occasions, and was appointed as the Vice President of the Ceylon Olympic Association. He was a National Selector in both cricket and hockey for many years. He currently serves as Deputy Chairman and Director of Janashakthi Insurance PLC, Sri Lanka. The Guest of Honour was the Mayor of Bandarawela, Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri.
STC Bandarawela won the game and carried away the Patrick Gunawardena and SLA Ratnayake Trophy for the 3rd consecutive year.
Read about both teams in the Sunday Times.
Scout Investiture Ceremony
The Scout Investiture Ceremony was held on 24th February, 2014 at the Keble Memorial Hall. Several new students enrolled as scouts at this colourful event.
Primary School Sports Meet
The Primary School Sports Meet was held on Saturday the 22nd of February 2014 at 10.00 am on the College Grounds. The Chief Guests were Ven. Perry Brohier, Archdeacon of Colombo and Mrs. Christine Brohier.
View the Primary Sports Meet 2014 Programme
Annual Sports Meet
The annual sports meet was held on 31st January 2014 at the college grounds. The chief guests were Captain Pujitha Vithana, Commanding Officer, Sri Lanka Naval Headquarters and Mrs. Rasika Vithana. The meet had numerous athletic events and also included a band display, drill display, old boys' race and staff race.
View the Sports Meet 2014 Programme
Cross Country Meet 2014
The annual cross country meet was held on 24th January 2014 and took a strenuous path along the hills of Bandarawela. The event commenced with a blessing by the Acting Headmaster Ven. S. P. Nesakumar.
A total of 120 students participated at this event and the starter was Chief Inspector Chinthaka Karunasena, HQI, Bandarawela. The following children were placed among the top ten of the race:
Divya Pradiv (Hayman House) with a timing of 40:33:81, Kaveesha Jayarathna (De Saram – 42:16:32), Bhagya Gunathilake (Hulugalla – 43:18:32), Sahan Rathnayake, H. Liyanage, Manojan, Kaveesha Pahanpriya, M.I. Risham, Yasiru Dilan and M. Aman.
Hulugalla house emerged first and was followed by De Saram, Keble and Hayman.
The awards were distributed by Mr. Sumith Prasanna Weerasinghe, Director Sports, Zonal Education Office, Bandarawela and Rev. Christopher Balraj, Deputy Headmaster.
Founder's Day 2014
A moving commemoration of Founder's Day was held at the school on 20th January 2014.
The day commenced with a communion service at 8.00 a.m. at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd with Rev. Nihal Fernando, Headmaster, Gurutalawa, being the Chief Celebrant and with Ven. S.P. Nesakumar, Acting Headmaster and Rev. Christopher Balraj, Deputy Headmaster assisting. A number of Christian staff, students and old boys were present. This was followed by an assembly in the Keble Memorial Hall, where Mr. Vino Vigneshahar, an old boy of the school eloquently addressed the gathering. Mr. Vigneshahar also presented to the Acting Headmaster a beautiful oil painting by Ms. Geetha Alwis depicting the Chapel of the Good Shepherd.
The old boys walked round the school and were particularly impressed with the new class-rooms constructed in the primary section. The old boys present were Mr. Panini Edirisinhe, Mr. Vino Vigneshahar, Mr. Subash Kulasena, Mr. M. Balamurugan, Mr. G. Parinathan, Mr. Hemantha Wanigasekara and Mr. Dinesh Wijeyakannan.