S. Thomas' Preparatory School (abbreviated as STPS) is a private,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, multi-ethnic, primary and secondary day school for boys aged 5 to 16 years, located in

Kollupitiya Kollupitiya (historically known as Colpetty, administratively as Colombo 3) is a major neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The name Kollupitiya comes from the name of a chief from Kandy who had unsuccessfully attempted to dethrone the last king ...

in the

Colombo District Colombo District ( ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a D ...

of the Western Province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The school was founded on 17 May 1938 as a branch preparatory school of

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

. It is governed by the Board of Governors of S. Thomas' College of the

Church of Ceylon The Church of Ceylon () is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extraprovincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan bishop, Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the fir ...

. 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.

History

S. Thomas' Preparatory School was founded on 17 May 1938 by William Thomas Keble, while Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule. Keble was a British scholar, author, educationalist, and an alumnus of

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

, which was named after his maternal great-uncle

John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...

. He arrived in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in 1928 to join the staff of

, during the tenure of warden Kenneth McPherson. He was the author of several books, includin
Ceylon, Beaten TrackA History of St. Thomas' College, Colombo
an
Astrapani: A Romance of Sigiriya
a novel based on

Sigiriya Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (''Lion Rock'' , , pronounced SEE-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is a site of historical and archaeologic ...

. 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 GCE can mean: * Galactic Center GeV excess * Gas Control Equipment, GCE Group, Sweden * General Certificate of Education * Global citizenship education * Google Compute Engine * Ground combat element in the United States Marine Corps * Guthri ...

examination.

School administration

The school is governed by the

. 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 The Anglican Bishop of Colombo is the ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Diocese of Colombo, a diocese in the Church of Ceylon which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Diocese of Colombo was founded in 1845, as the diocese of the ...

, 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 Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo (born 5 October 1968) is the 16th and current Anglican Bishop of Colombo. Early life Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo was born in Trincomalee on 5 October 1968, the son of Arthur William Rodrigo and Ruth Adlene De Alwis, h ...

assumed duties as headmaster on 1 January 2015 and continued to serve until 2021, when he was appointed the 16th

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

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 Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and Moor amongst others). The four main faiths practiced by the students of the school, in descending order of frequency, are

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. The majority of students live in the suburbs of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Facilities

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: The houses compete against each other in many sporting events throughout the year. An

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

championship, traditionally held each year in February, facilitates students in each of the four houses to compete in athletic events.

Headmasters

References

External links

Church of Ceylon - The Anglican Church in Sri Lanka
{{S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia

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. The sch ...

Church of Ceylon schools in the Diocese of Colombo Educational institutions established in 1938 Private schools in Sri Lanka Schools in Mount Lavinia 1938 establishments in Ceylon