PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
“Education is a shared commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and enthusiastic parents with high expectations”.
Dear Parents and well wishers of St. Lawrence High School, the academic year 2015 has seen many academic and infrastructural changes.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
AVENTS AND ACTIVITIES - 2015
We started our academic session on 06.01.2015 – invoking God’s blessing on every person who are associated to St. Lawrence. We had Staff Orientation thereafter to plan ahead by preparing yearly syllabus which was put up on our website for parents to take note of.
Primary School had their Sports Day on 1st February. Inter house competition was tough even though the athletes’ age ranged between 5 and 8. Alyosius House won the prize for the Best Disciplined House. Xavier House won the overall Championship. I congratulate the Flag bearer of Xavier House Yash Saha of the Primary School.
Singing is an integral part of Bengal. St. Lawrence is no exception to it. On 23rd April we had Inter House Singing Competition. It was a good platform to showcase the singing talent of our little stars.
The winners are
Manish Chakraborty 1C Loyola House
Abhigyan Chatterjee 2A Aloysius House
Suryansh Bagri 3B Xavier House
Rupam Dutta 4C Aloysius House
Drawing Competition was held on 19th June. The students got an opportunity to show their creative ability and artistic skills. Some of the paintings were so good that we felt the need to publish them in our school magazine. We have no dearth of talents in St. Lawrence. Our students are the proof.
On 14th August the staff and students celebrated the Founder’s Day. A novel idea was conceived where all the four houses were given the opportunity to put up a presentation on the life of St.Lawrence in their own creative way for an inter-house competition. Xavier House was declared the winner.
Independence Day Celebration began with speeches given by senior students followed by patriotic songs. This year’s Independence Day celebration was a little different one. Our School was visited by a number of freedom fighters, namely, Shubhas Chandra Bose, Nehru, Gandhi, and so on. In fact it was these leaders who stole the show and shadowed the performance of the senior students. I congratulate all the parents who helped their children not only to wear the costume of the leaders but also help the students recite some of the famous sayings of the leaders impersonated.
Teachers’ Day was celebrated on 4th September. Students from classes 1 to 4 put up skits and sang some melodious songs to entertain their teachers under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Markus Hembrom SJ, Vice-Principal Primary section. All the teaching and non-teaching staff were presented with gifts by the Jesuit Family of St. Lawrence.
English Recitation Competition was held on 16th of September for Classes I & II. It was truly an encouraging event which helped the students to get rid off their stage fright, gain confidence and learn proper English with correct phonetics, pronunciation and intonation. The winners are
Layksya Jain 1B Loyola House
Rehan Rakha 2B Loyola House
18th of September the students had a Quiz Competition. It was an event that had lots of fun and serious matters. Questions from the life of the patron of the school, Nature & Wild life, Place & People, Sports, mixed bag etc were the topics. Xavier House was the Champion, followed by Aloysius House as the Runners up.
Story Telling Competition promoted the confidence, articulation & skill of public speaking of the students. It was held on 17th October. And the master story tellers for this year are:
Manjil Bhattacharya 1B Loyola House
Rehan Rakha 2B Loyola House
Aysush Agarwal 3B Xavier House
Aayushman Saha 4C Aloysius House
OUTSTANDING PERFORMERS
NATIONAL LEVEL
Soudipto Nath of class 3C, secured first place in a Junior Age group Art Competition organized on an all India basis by Hindustan Unilever Limited.
Samantak Kumar Das a student of class 3B, participated in the All Bengal Swimming Competition organised by Calcutta Sports Association. He bagged Gold Medal in the Butterfly 100 metres and Silver in Free Style 100 metres.
Hold your breath please. Samantak also bagged Triple Crown winning the boys' nursery, cadet and sub junior titles in the Indian Oil Table tennis Championship consecutively for 3 years.
Ladies and gentlemen kindly put your hands together for our Lawrencian and future national and world champions….for Samantak and Soudipto Nath.
I would like to place on record the following persons whose contribution to the smooth running of the school remains a vital one.
In the last one year there have been a number of programmes taken place. All were successful. Thanks to a group of teachers who looked into minute details and finely executed them.
I am indebted to these stalwarts of the School. They are the House Co-Ordinators:
Mr. Probhir Bhattacharya, Mr. Shubrato Sadhu, Mr. Rahul Gomes of Senior School and Mr. Abhir Panja and Mr. Augustine Biswas of Primary School.
I thank the House teachers for walking the extra mile. They are:
Aloysius House : Ms. Saswati Biswas
Britto House : Ms. Sharmistha Sen
Loyola House : Ms. Sangeeta Khosla
Xavier House : Ms. Manashi Chaudhuri
Life is a cycle. And so is any Institution. This academic year saw some teachers retiring while new ones stepping into the place.
We thank Sr. Severine Pinto for her service to the school. We also welcome Mr. Nigel Hildreth, Ms. Monjita Biswas and Mr. Mervyn Nathanel to St. Lawrence family.
SENIOR SCHOOL
We started our academic session 06.01.2015 – invoking God’s blessing on every person who are associated to St. Lawrence. We had Staff Orientation thereafter to plan ahead by preparing yearly syllabus which was put up on our website for parents to take note of.
On the 26th of January 2015 the students and all the staff members of St. Lawrence celebrated Republic Day with great patriotic fervour. It was the day that marked the investiture ceremony of our Four House Captains, Vice Captains and other office bearers of the House.
31st January 2015 was the day marked for our Senior School Sports Day which was a colourful and competitive event. The star student of the day was Sachin Pandey who created history by breaking a long standing record beside winning all the events he participated in. Xavier House was the Champions of the Day.
Students’ Exchange Programme
Between 13th – 22nd February 2015 we had SERVICE & LEARNING IMMERSION TRIP in which 10 students along with 2 teachers came down from BELLARMINE COLLEGE PREPARATORY, San Jose California. Their interaction with the Lawrencian Family and their stay at St. Lawrence High School was a fruitful one.
Our students visited YUNNAN NATIONALITIES HIGH SCHOOL in Kunming, China between 19th May and 28th May along with Ms. Moon Ray and Ms. Chaitali Roy. It was a transformational one as the students were trained by these two teachers for 6 months in a row which included hosting one of the Chinese students as host brother in the family.
Learning does not and need not be within the class room. This is the manthra of Ms. Nupur Chaudhury Class Teacher of VIII A. on 15th October, She took her students to different historical places like Town’s Square, Victoria Memorial and Indian Museum to mention a few places of Kolkata to bring life into the young minds learning history. She was ably assisted by Mr. Prabhir Bhattacharya and Ms. Manisha Yadev. As one of the students, Soumalya Ghosh, put it, “learning history in the class room is no more boring but exhilarating and a lesson for life”.
Department of Maths under the able guidance of Mr. Siddhartha Bhattacharya conducted a seminar, “A number of fun with Numbers” for the budding mathematicians on 29th September. 12 Schools around the city participated. Dr. Partha Chatterjee, Hon’ble minister for Education and Rev. Fr. Provincial presided over the seminar. The main thrust of the maths seminar is to encourage the students who are weak in maths and not only for those students who do well in maths. I congratulate the teachers and students who made this seminar a success.
We have recently started Robotic Club. Students are taught the application of Science by assembling robots besides teaching them to use renewable energy and energy conservation. Students are taught to make robotic cars and the theory behind it.
Responding to the invitation of a fellow Jesuit School,
St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, our students of Class 10 to 12 participated in ‘EXUBERANCE’ the school fest.
Aritra Guin bagged the 1st Prize for T-shirt painting.
Aritra Guin and Leslie Kujur bagged the 1st Prize for Spray Painting.
Souvik Biswas and Ranadeep Das secured the 1st Prize for Bengali Elocution.
Souvik Biswas and Dattatreya Mitter were awarded the 2nd Prize for Bengali Creative Writing.
Arya Mukherjee, Baidik Chakraborty, Rickraj Nath and Souhittya Sinha received 3rd Prize for Western Music. Ananya Krishna Deb, Soham Mazumder, Jyotirmoy Chakraborty, Rickraj Nath, Dibyadeep Choudhury, Diptesh Chandra, Souhittya Sinha and Baidik Chakraborty won 3rd Prize for Eastern Music.
This time, on the 10th of August 2015, we celebrated St. Lawrence Feast Day in a novel way where we saw teachers and staff of St. Lawrence on stage enacting the life of our patron saint. The students were ecstatic seeing their teachers perform on stage. I congratulate all the teachers leading by example and positively influencing and encouraging our students.
Special thanks to Mr. Subrata Sadhu and Ms. Bhaswati Mukherjee for taking our students to SANDAKPHU. It was an enjoyable and learning experience for the students and the staff alike.
On 16th December, Dr. Joydeep Mukherjee, Director of NASA Space Grant consortium and Ms. Sreela Mallick, Assistan Director, Florida Space Institute as well as Assistant Director of NASA Space Grant Consortium conducted two sessions for our science and arts students on life on Mars. They have also gifted to St. Lawrence a memento, “CELEBRATING ORION EFT-1”. St. Lawrence accepts their generosity and is indebted to them for their availability to our students.
Now I would like to highlight some of the outstanding performers of St. Lawrence High School:
Students’ Achievement
Class X and XII Performance
Lawrencians this year did very well in Madhyamik examination. Mohamed Zaid secured the highest mark, obtaining 93.71 %. We have 140 students in First Divison, 90% and above 19 students and 80% above 52 students.
In Uccha Madhyamik, all the 355 students passed the exam successfully. Asish Gandhi and Suvrojit Ghosh secured 87% and Rohit Agarwal secured 86% as school toppers. 90% and above 9 students, 80% above 94 students, 70 above 114 students and 307 students secured 1st Division. I congratulate all the students for their hard work.
Devansh Badaria 6B secured 3rd Joint Position in the 17th All India Full Contact Karate Championship on the 29th of March 2015.
On 25th & 26th April St. Lawrence went to St. Xavier’s School, Ranchi to participate in the 4th Inter – Jesuit School Basketball Tournament where we were the Runners-Up. St. Lawrence emerged as the Champions in the 14th BRC Students Rowing Championship 2015, held between 10th and 17th May 2015. It was organised by The Bengal Rowing Club. In June St. Lawrence was crowned Champions in the 43rd K.C. Mahindra All India Invitational School’s Regatta 2015 organised by the ‘Lake Club’.
Students from the H.S. section were selected to participate in the All India Quiz Competition on 8th August 2015, organised by Metals and Mettallurgy Institute (Kolkata Chapter) which was held in the Metallurgy Dept. of Jadavpur University.
St. Lawrence was Runners-up in the Star Sports Young Heroes Inter-School Football Tournament organised by High Life Management on the 25th & 26th August 2015. Sayak Bayen was declared the highest scorer and Md.Shah Minhajuddin was declared the best goalkeeper.
St. Lawrence High School was part of the prestigious 62nd Inter-Jesuit Elocution and Essay Competition which took place in St. Xavier’s, Bokaro, on 29th August. Sagnik Talukdar, Rohit Singhi and Soumyadeep Mukherjee represented our school in the senior and junior division of the competition respectively. St. Lawrence secured 2nd position in the essay competition. The participants were Sagnik Talukdar of XA and Tishyo Chakroborthy of Class XC.
The Lawrencians were declared once again victorious in the 4th Inter Jesuit School Football Tournament held on the 8th and 9th of August 2015 at St. Xavier’s School, Durgapur. Sumay Shome was declared the highest scorer and Joe Shani the best Goalkeeper of the tournament.
Aritra Bhattacharya of class XC participated in the District Swimming Competition (school level) where he ranked 1st in 100m Back Stroke and 2nd in 50m Back Stroke.
Dikshak Bose won the 1st Prize and Gold medal in the 15th East India Open Shoto Cup in Karate.
Ayush Pandey won the Best Batsman award in the Ganga Motor Tournament and was selected to play in the under 16 Bengal Squad. He played for Bengal against Tripura and Tamil Nadu. He was the second highest scorer in the school CAB Tournament held in Kolkata, for the year 2015.Md. Tanqir won the Gold Medal in the Reliance Quiz Competition, 2015.
Mohak Manot was awarded Gold for the Inter-school Cricket Tournament organised by SLOBA.
Rajbir Singh Sidhu won Gold and was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ title in a Hockey Tournament organised by Punjab Sports Club. Samudraneel Sarkar ranked 43 in the All Bengal Spell Bee Contest.Souranshu Roychaudhuri secured 7th position in All Bengal Open Rapid Chess Tournament 2015. Deep Panda was awarded 3rd position in All Bengal Gosuku Karate Tournament. Ranadeep Das,Saukarya Samad & Souradeep Dasgupta participated in Quizzat conducted on 24th September 2015 at Mahanayak Uttam Marcha. They made the school proud by coming 2nd in the finals. On 26th September 2015 Jyotirmoy Chakraborty of Class XI showed his ‘‘Tabla’’ playing skills (solo) at Yuva Bharti Sangha Sangeet Yojna in Bangalore.
Facilities in St. Lawrence High School
FACILITIES FOR STUDENTS
St. Lawrence High School has embarked upon the novel idea of making learning a joyful and interactive experience by introducing new methods of study, bridging traditional method of teaching and learning with modern day technology. Through modern aids of tools, St. Lawrence is striving to bring all the stakeholders of the school namely Parents, Teachers, students and the administration together in one platform. Thus we have:
Calender Application in Google Play (an online & offline communication tool for parents)
Renovation of the stage BRITTO STOA
Renovation of Wavreil Hall
Apple Labs
Installation of ERP school management software and generation of computerized report cards
Development of the school website and e-messaging system
E-learning Platforms
Three Computer Labs with the latest operating system
Revamping of the library
Auditorium for lectures and performances
Lush green school playgrounds laid with new grass and lined with seasonal flowerbeds including installation of LED lamps across the sprawling campus
Extracurricular activities: debate, extempore, drama, elocution, music, school choir, fest etc
Special educational guidance
Career counselling
FACILITIES FOR TEACHERS
Staffroom is renovated and relocated from the second floor to the ground floor
Apple labs for academic research related to school curriculum
Apple Seminars on e-learning
Internet facilities
Staff orientation programes and workshops
Centralized Photocopiers and Printers
All areas under CCTV surveillance
St. Lawrence High School has opened the doors to St. Xavier’s College for opening a new Co-ed Commerce Section (evening) with 210 seats. The students of the College are now enjoying the benefits of this lush green campus that offers its students a holistic and healthy learning environment. Existing Lawrencians and students now have an added advantage of having access to one of the most renowned institutions in the country and across the world.
Books Published by our Teachers:
Ms. Nupur Chaudhury presented the paper, “Caste, Gender and the Social Formation in Old India”, at the 75th Session of Indian History congress held at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. This paper will be published in the 76th Session to be held this year in Gour Banga University, Malda.
Her other works are ‘‘1857 Historical works and Proclamation” edited by Crispin Bates “Mutiny At The Margins”, volume 6, Sage publication New Delhi, 2015.
Mr. Pranab Pradhan has written a text book on Life Science and Environment of Classes IX & X (new syllabus) published by Calcutta Book House.
Mr. Siddhartha Chatterjee has released a book, “ Higher Secondary Business Studies” for class 11 and 12.
Ms. Moon Ray published a text book, “Introducing Sociology” for class 12.
Ms. Poonam Pathak, the Poet of St. Lawrence, published a book, “Sanatta Bunta Hai Kaun”. A beautiful collection of poems on life and nature.
I thank all the teachers who have made St. Lawrence proud by releasing a number of books catering to different needs of students. Keep up your good work, Teachers!
Keeping a vigilant eye on the overall performance in academics and other related matters is not an easy task. In fact, following day to day functioning of students’ performance in academics and giving regular feedback to parents, besides giving valuable guidance to the teachers is a very tiresome process. However, the school academic co-ordinators have been, imbibed by the Jesuit spirit of education, doing this follow-up charge very notably. My heartfelt gratitude goes to:
Dr. Poonam Pathak – Co-Ordinator for classes 5 to 7
Mr. Soumak Chatterjee – Co-Ordinator for classes 8 to 10
Ms. Susmita Banerjee – Co-Ordinator for classes 11 and 12
In the last one year there have been a number of progammes taking place. All were successful thanks to a group of teachers who looked into the minute details and finely executed them.
I am indebted to these stalwarts of the School. They are the House Co-Ordinators:
Mr. Probhir Bhattacharya, Mr. Shubrato Sadhu, Mr. Rahul Gomes of Senior School and Mr. Abhir Panja and Mr. Augustine Biswas of Primary School.
I thank the House teachers for walking the extra mile. They are:
Aloysius House : Ms. Moon Ray
Britto House : Mr. Shukanto Ghosh
Loyola House : Ms. Jayashree Sherpa
Xavier House : Ms. Chaitali Roy
I thank Ms. Kalyani Banerjee for her extraordinary sacrifice and selfless service in bringing out, ‘‘The Lawrencian’’ school magazine along with the editorial team.
Life is a cycle and so is any Institution. This academic year saw some teachers retiring while new ones stepping into the place.
We welcome Ms. Shirley Paul, Mr. Melroy Anthony,
Mr. Debraj Chaudhury, Ms. Moumita Ray, Mr. Arijit Sadhu khan, Ms. Aparajita Mondol, Ms. Rituporna Lazarus Banerjee, Ms. Charlie Banerjee and Ms. Shaista Ahmed to the Lawrencian family.
In a very special way I would like to welcome Fr. Markus Hembrom S.J., the new Vice Principal of the Primary Section who took over from Sr. Severine Pinto B.S on 9th June 2015. His deep love for students and greater love for the institution is admirable. I thank Fr. Markus for his dedication and generosity. I wish him all the success for his new assignment and invoke God’s blessings on him.
It is a privilege to work with Fr. Joseph Toppo, the Vice Principal of the Senior School. His timely advice always helped me for the smooth running of the Institution.
Above all I thank God for his invisible support and showers of blessings.
I now declare the academic year 2015 closed.
For God and Country.
Fr. Sebastian James, S.J.
Principal