S. Thomas' Preparatory School

S. Thomas' Preparatory School (abbreviated as STPS) 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.

S. Thomas' Preparatory School
Main Gate of the School
Address
98 Steuart Place, Kollupitiya

Colombo
,
Western
,
00300

Coordinates6°55′0.6″N 79°50′50.4″E
Information
TypePrivate
MottoThe Lord is my Shepherd
Religious affiliation(s)Christianity
DenominationAnglican
Patron saint(s)St. Thomas
Established17 May 1938 (1938-05-17)
FounderWilliam Thomas Keble
HeadmasterNihal Fernando
Grades1 - 11
GenderMale
Age range6 - 16
Enrollment900
LanguageSinhala, Tamil, English
Hours in school day07:45 - 13:45
Campus typeUrban
Colour(s)Dark blue, light blue and white
   
Song"Cheer Cheer Prep School Boys"
NewspaperPrep News
AffiliationChurch of Ceylon, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Alumni nameS. Thomas’ Preparatory School, Old Boys’ Union
Brother SchoolsS. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa
S. Thomas' College, Bandarawela
Websitewww.stps.edu.lk

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 William Thomas Keble,[2] while Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule. Keble was a British scholar, author, educationalist, and an alumnus of Keble College, Oxford, which was named after his maternal great-uncle John Keble. He arrived in Ceylon in 1928 to join the staff of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, during the tenure of warden Kenneth McPherson.[3][4]

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. The school was the first preparatory school to be established in Sri Lanka based on the English public 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 founders tried to focus on the educational needs of younger children without the interference or influence of older students. Nevertheless, over the years the school began accepting older students, and currently has classes up to grade 11 in preparation for the GCE Ordinary Level examination.[5]

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 Anglican 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.

Rev. Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo assumed duties as headmaster on 1 January 2015[6] and continued to serve until 2021, when he was appointed the 16th Anglican Bishop of Colombo.[7]

Rev. Nihal Fernando was inducted as the school's sixth headmaster in February 2021.[8]

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 1,100 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.

Facilities

Flags of S. Thomas' Preparatory School, Kollupitiya displayed at the 2017 School Walk

The school campus consists of an assembly hall, over 50 classrooms, a chapel, 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.

House system

Students of the school are allocated into are allocated into one of four houses:[9]

Houses
House Name House Motto House Colour Other Information
Carpenter-Garnier Excelsior   The house is named after the sixth Bishop of Colombo, Rev. Mark Carpenter-Garnier, who was Lord Bishop of Colombo in 1938 when the school was founded.
Abeynaike One Team, One Dream   The house is named after the School's first headmaster, Norman Gray Abeynaike.
De Saram Veni Vidi Vici   The house is named after Canon R. S. De Saram, who was Warden of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia when the school was founded and the first manager of the school.
Keble Strive to Achieve   The house 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, traditionally held each year in February, facilitates students in each of the four houses to compete in athletic events.

Headmasters

Headmasters of S. Thomas' Preparatory School, Kollupitiya[5]
No. Name From To Special Notes
1. William Thomas Keble 1938 1942 Founder
2. N. G. Abeynaike 1943 1950 First headmaster
3. J. T. R. Perinpanayagam June 1951 August 1966
4. J. S. L. Fernando September 1966 1994 Longest-serving headmaster
5. N. Y. Casie Chetty 1995 2014
6. Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo 2015 January 2021 16th Bishop of Colombo
7. Nihal Fernando February 2021 Present Incumbent headmaster

References

  1. "S. Thomas' Preparatory School - Old Boys Union - The School". www.prepobu.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  2. "History - S. Thomas Preparatory School". 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  3. "S. Thomas' Preparatory School - Old Boys Union - The School". www.prepobu.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  4. Delmar, Shalom. "St. Thomas' Preparatory School, Kollupitiya". www.dioceseofcolombo.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  5. "S. Thomas' Preparatory School".
  6. "Rev. Dushantha Rodrigo appointed new Headmaster of S. Thomas' Prep". Daily FT. Wijeya Newspapers. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. "Fr. Dushantha Rodrigo to be appointed as next Bishop of Colombo". newsfirst.lk. News First. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  8. "New headmaster for S. Thomas' Preparatory School". the Sunday Times. 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  9. "STPS History Book".
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