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THE COOL SCHOOL

FROM THE DAILY MIRROR = 25^th February 2006

St. Thomas’ College, Gurutalawa - a school with a difference

By Gihan de Chickera

After prep each evening the students of St. Thomas ’ College Gurutalawa gather around the television to watch the popular teledrama ‘Danga Malla’. This may appear to be an unusual activity for school boys - but not in the case of STC ‘Guru’ (as it is fondly referred to) as the teledrama, based on Enid Blyton’s naughtiest girl series, was in fact filmed on location in the picturesque environs of this school. One visit to STC Guru, nestled in the hills 4000 feet above sea level in the Badulla district along the Boralanda-Welimada road, is that Nalaka Swarnathilaka - the director of ‘Danga Malla’ could not have picked a more appropriate location for his tele series. The trees and flowers that adorn the school landscape together with the old buildings and the Chapel of St Francis of Assisi truly create an ambience of serenity. STC Guru came into being by sheer accident. During World War Two, the Royal Army was commandeered at the main school - STC Mt.Lavinia. Due to this the school split into three units in 1942, and though “re-assembled” later at Mt.Lavinia, only Guru survived to this day.

In 1942 Dr. H.L.Hayman, the Sub-Warden of STC Mount, was sent to Gurutalawa to prepare a branch for the school. Dr Hayman was the longest serving head master and in 1964 after 22 years of service. Like in Mt Lavinia Dr. Hayman was responsible for building the Guru swimming pool – which is one of the oldest in the country.

Over the years, starting from only five classes from Grade 6 to the then SSC (now GCE) and about 150 boys, Guru expanded over the years to have a student body of over 1000 and all the classes from Year 1. But again in order to maintain the higher standards the College inspired, the numbers have been reduced to more realistic ones. Originally only a Boarding School, it now has day boys as well. However of the current 320 student population about 90 percent remain boarders.

The school was originally a farm at Gurutalawa which was gifted by Mr. Leslie de Saram (a Royalist) and Mrs. De Saram in 1942. It had a central Farm Bungalow and a spattering of out houses and farm buildings in an area of over 32 acres. These proved adequate to house a complement of 55 Boarders (in the main Bungalow) and 9 staff members of whom Dr. R.L. Hayman was Headmaster and Rev. A.J. Foster the Chaplain.When a plaque with the names of Mr. & Mrs. De Saram was placed at the College entrance, they insisted that it should state ‘two well wishers’ so it reads “The Farm is the gift to STC from two well wishers of the College, April 1942”.

The school which is one of four members of the Thomian family – the others being STC Mt Lavinia, STC Prep school Kollupitiya and STC Bandarawela - has a rich tradition of discipline, sports and English education. Under the leadership of the new Head Master E.C.G Canagasabey the school has received a new lease of life starting with a new IT centre with 44 computers. There are also English Language amity programmes from Grades 6 to 9 and the subjects taught are Maths, Science, Environmental Studies, Geography, History and Civics. The school also has two foreign English teachers – Ms Shirley Newell from Canada and Mr. Tom Wilkinson from the UK to help the students improve their English. The fact that the teachers do not speak the mother tongue is more an advantage than a disadvantage. “The bulk of learning a language is through listening. Young children don’t read or write. They learn through listening” says Ms Newell who has prior experience teaching English as a second language in China .

The head master has also started a new ‘English corner’ for students every Wednesday and Saturday where improvements are made to spoken English through story telling and role plays.

IT is taught as a subject as well with two periods a week per class from primary to Grade Eleven. There is also the link language programme where Sinhala students are taught Tamil and vice versa. This helps strengthen the multi ethnic multi religious identity of the school, which although having roots in the Christian tradition has a majority of Buddhist students. The school itself is situated in the Gurutalawa which is a Muslim town. There are many Tamil students as well. The link language is also an optional subject for O’ levels the head master says.

The chaplain Fr. Harold Goodchild who has been associated with STC Guru since 1964 and served for 22 years says he hasn’t seen another place where there is so much harmony between races and religions. There is Sunday worship in the Chapel and daily morning prayers while on poya days there is a special meditation programme. Fr Goodchild teaches English to senior students and coordinates the dorms and is also available for student counselling. The tutorial staff of 40 serves the student population of 320 making the teacher- student ratio about 1 to 8. The students are also given special tuition classes from 2.30 to 3.30 pm for a nominal rate of just Rs 15 per month says Mr. Canagasabey.

The school also provides an array of extra curricular activities for the students. There is also a wildlife club and young zoologists association. The students also go on hiking treks twice a month to Ohiya and Diyatalawa situated a few miles away. Scouting began in 2005 and the students will be participating in this year’s jamboree says Mr Canagasabey who himself was a national Javelin and Putt Shot champion. There is also a disciplined cadet corps with a trainer from the Diyatalawa army camp. The school band is also trained by a former soldier Mr. Ariya Kulasinghe. On Saturday’s it is customary for the band to practice the College song Blue Black and Blue ‘Esto Perpetua’.

Authorities also recently established a school museum which displays old photos of the prefects’ guild, cadet platoon, and swimming team and other school memorabilia. It also has a sculpture of Dr R.L Hayman. The students follow a disciplined routine waking up every weekday at 5 am to attend morning prep from 6 to 7 am . Saturday prep is from 8 to 9.30 am while evening prep is from 6 pm to 7.30 pm . This ensures that boys get disciplined in studying to a routine. The school also has a comprehensive library complete with the encyclopedia Britannica and popular magazines such as Time and National Geographic. A unique feature about Guru is its farm and agriculture programme. Potatoes, beetroot, carrot, cucumber, turnip and radish are grown within the school premises and the farm has cows and poultry that produce milk and eggs for the school fraternity. The college store run by Tamil teacher Mr. M.L Razik sells goods to staff, workers and students on credit.

Since the institution is mainly a boarding school the kitchen plays a vital role in day to day living. The students are given a healthy diet says Mr. Tissa Harischandra who is in charge of the kitchen. The students also get to play a role in suggesting the menu and food purchasing. During vacation time, STC Guru is ideal for all types of residential camps. The daily fee per head depending on the menu is between Rs 350 and 400. Indeed STC Guru is a school with a difference which offers its students a wholesome education of both body and mind.

Pix by Pushpakumara Mathugama