The Annual Graduation Ceremony and the Prize Giving of Wycherley International School was held on June 28 at the BMICH. This year's Graduation Ceremony and Prize Giving was indeed very special, as in the history of Wycherley it marks a quarter century of the school's excellent performance.
The Graduation Ceremony and Prize Giving is one of the eagerly awaited events in the school calendar. It is indeed the most prestigious and colourful event. It honours the children who have gone through their secondary schooling and are now leaving to map their future and become world citizens. Leaving the portals of their alma mater brings a tear to many an eye; that was very evident from the camaraderie shown among the staff and students immediately after the event. The grand finale for them was their Graduation Ball that followed on June 29, a truly grand event at the Cinnamon Lake Side Hotel.
The distribution of prizes followed the Graduation Ceremony. More than 200 students carried away prizes from Grades 3 to 12. The prize winners in the Junior School received prizes for the four main subjects: viz English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. The Senior School students had prizes for individual subjects and the special awards for the O/Level and A/Level results of 2009. Junaid Iqbal was awarded the Gold Medal for the best O/L results. The Shamil Jinasena Memorial Gold Medal for the best A/L results for 2009 was awarded to Kiran Sritharan. The overall challenge shield for the highest tally of points for both academic and sport was awarded to Pegasus House.
Apart from the subject prizes, there was an array of special awards for categories such as General Knowledge, Open English Essay, Singing, Oratory and Art at the Primary, Junior, Intermediate and Senior Levels.
A secret behind the school's success lies in the fact that most of its teachers have been with the school since its inception. "They are experienced and qualified in their respective subjects, and take every measure to help each and every student achieve his or her full potential," the Principal Mr. Jayasinghe said.
 Despite being an International School, Wycherley is firmly rooted in local soil. The Principal says he is very particular about discipline in school, the efforts of which are much appreciated by parents. "For me, the school's Sri Lankan aspect is very important, which I advocate to both students and parents alike. Therefore, Wycherley is very strict when it comes to behaviour, dress code and so on" emphasized Mr. Jayasinghe.
Wycherley has many success stories to its credit, with most of its past pupils presently reading for their degrees in medicine, law, engineering, finance and other spheres in some of the most prestigious universities in the world. Wycherley's students have successfully transferred to top UK universities such as Cambridge, Sheffield, Nottingham, and Australian and US universities, Jayasinghe states.
Principal, Wycherley International School, Mr. Kingsley Jayasinghe, a veteran teacher and a leader par excellance, in his address, extended his sincere gratitude to Dr. Lakshman Werasena a skilled physician and trained specialist in Aviation Medicine in UK and USA and an Aviation Medical Examiner for many airlines in UK, USA, Oman and Sri Lanka for being present to grace the occasion. Mr. Jayasinghe continued, "Knowledge is no longer confined to the classroom. It goes beyond the boundaries of race and religion. We still teach the traditional subjects - Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History and Mathematics but they have taken an entirely new concept".
Continuing, he said the graduating students, "qualify and come back to your country to help her to rise from the ashes and get back to former glory". At the May 2009 Cambridge O/Level examination he said that out of 15 subjects the students offered, we had 100% passes in 14 subjects and 94% passes in Commerce. At the June 2009 A/Level examination Wycherley had 100% passes in Accounting, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Economics, Physics, Mathematics, Further mathematics and computer Studies and 89% passes in Maths with Statistics. Notably he said "we had a very high percentage A and B grade passes in most of the subjects."
Impressive buildings and the best of facilities do not make a school what it is. Teachers play an important part, a fact often overlooked. Many dedicated teachers have been with us for a period of over 10- 20 years. Our staff, apart from being well qualified mentors, also attends to the physical and emotional needs of the child. The teachers very willingly give their free time to teach the weaker ones, and for that purpose they even stay in after school and come on weekends and holidays for extra lessons. These efforts bear fruit in good examination results. As a devoted teacher there in no greater joy than when a student gets a good grade at an examination.
He had a special word of thanks and appreciation for the new management of ANC, for improvements in the infrastructure both the junior and high school. With ANC's ambitious stake in Wycherley, hopes for it to reach greater heights were apparent as Mr. Jayasinghe voiced out. He extended his thanks to other distinguished invitees, staff, parents, and the numerous well- wishers who comprised the gathering.
Mr. Jayasinghe also expressed a special word of thanks to the Head Mistresses of the school and his dedicated staff of teachers, instrumental in producing exceptional results and a gifted young generation.
Adding glamour to the event were four special segments of entertainment performed by the students of the Junior and Senior School. This was ample testimony to the fact that Wycherley, though bent on a result oriented education also inculcates aesthetic values into the minds of the students. It was a wonderful evening and a fitting end to the academic year 2009- 2010. |
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