Message From The Deputy Principal of the Senior School - 20.10.2017

The Senior School welcomed the season of Deepavali this week, with a colourful and informative Deepavali Celebration Assembly. Members of all Key Stages organised a wonderful programme of dance and performance alongside a very informative and engaging round up of the significance of the festival of Deepavali and its customs and traditions. I must applaud our dancers and readers who looked wonderful in their costumes. Likewise, I must thank Ms Dhama, Ms Shamele, Mr Isuru and the many parents who supported this wonderful presentation on an important time in the Sri Lankan and world calendar. It is always wonderful to see students of all nationalities joining together to celebrate the remarkably rich and diverse culture of Sri Lanka and it certainly showcases the truly informed, culturally sensitive nature of our very special learning community. Thank you all for a wonderful start to the week!

I must also applaud our Basketball Teams who were consummate ambassadors for the British School, throughout the recently concluded Basketball Tournament hosted by BSC. Our players faced the challenges of each match with characteristic good spirit and sportsmanship and I am grateful to our players for their tireless efforts. Our Girls Team missed out on winning the Consolation Final by just one point at the end of what was a most memorable and enjoyable match. Well done to you all. I must thank Mr Mark and his team for organizing and hosting this event at our outstanding newly refurbished Basketball Court.

With hosting in mind, I must also congratulate our Team of Senior Prefects who ran the annual BSC Prefects’ Day on Saturday. Dr Scarth and I were both impressed by the ingenious concept of the theme for the day and I know that our hosting Prefects and their colleagues from a range of international and local schools enjoyed the activities that were organised for the day. Well done to you all for another outstanding achievement. BSC Prefects Day 2017 certainly was another success!

Thursday saw the multi-faceted skills of our students well and truly in the spotlight once again with the staging of the annual Inter-House Drama Competition. Newton, Nobel, Shakespeare and Scott Houses took to the stage and truly demonstrated their performance abilities as our actors and technical crew took on the challenge of creating engaging and memorable performances. This year, our Head of Drama, Mr Shane, presented the Houses with the theme ‘Awaken’ along with a piece of music, ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ composed by Edvard Grieg. Armed with this challenge and musical stimulus, our casts and crews produced performances that were accomplished pieces of theatre. We were delighted to welcome some of Sri Lanka’s finest theatre practitioners to judge the competition and who gave valuable feedback to our casts and crews. Congratulations to you all for a remarkable afternoon of theatre. I must thank our House Teachers too for their support throughout the period of rehearsal and preparation. I look forward to next year’s competition!

It is perhaps most fitting that our wonderful and truly international leaning community welcomed the half-term break with the annual BSC UN Day. In a week that started with colour and a message of the importance of cultural awareness, it was a wonderful opportunity to end the week with a similar message on international-mindedness. We must thank members of the PTA and parent volunteers who supported the ever popular International Food Fair, ensuring that UN Day 2017 was another success.

It has been a very productive half-term indeed! I thank you all for your constant support that ensures that BSC remains to be a very special place to learn.

I wish you all a wonderful half-term holiday and I look forward to seeing you all when school reopens on Monday 30th October.

I hope you enjoy this edition of The Lion!

With my best wishes,

Simon Harwood