__NOTOC__ St. Peter’s College (; ) (also known as St. Peter's Central College) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

school in

Negombo Negombo (, ), also known as Punchi Romaya (Little Rome), is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway ...

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, ...

with a history of over a century.

History

In the early 20th century, French Catholic Priest, Fr. Esric wanted to start a school in the coastal area close to Negombo to provide education to children of fisherfolk in the region. The Mission of the school was aimed to provide formal education to Sinhalese speaking community in the region. St. Peter's College, Negombo was founded on 2 July 1903. Initially, the school was called "Banana Stall School" () as the banana market of the town was close by. H. M. Faris served as the first principal of the school, where the initial student enrollment was 33. Three teachers Messrs Simon, Wilbert, and Anthony who served for the benefit of the children. In 1967 Fr. Stanley Mellwa and the Minister of Education, I. M. R. A. Iriyagolla declared the school as a Maha Vidyalaya. Soon after, school started to develop gradually under P. A. D. Aquinas, P. A. P. Nonis, Jayanath Mendis, D. C. E. Madurasinghe and M. C. O. Fernando. When John Fernando became the principal of the school, as the school was promoted to a Central School. B. J. P. Perera became the principal after Fernando. Under principal, H.M.S. Bandara, the school acquired a large number of infrastructure facilities. After the retirement of H.M.S. Bandara, K. D. S. T. Silva became the principal. In 2013, K. D. W. D. R. Fernando assumed duties as the principal. Currently, the school has about 4,000 students in classes from grades 1 to 13 in both English and Sinhala mediums.

Houses

Sports

Cricket

The Battle of the Seagulls is the annual

Big Match In Sri Lankan cricket, a Big Match is an annual school cricket match typically played between two rival schools in Sri Lanka. These schools often have a long history of competition, some rivalries lasting over a century. Big matches have bec ...

played between St. Peter's College and St. Sebastian's College, Katuneriya; the inaugural encounter was held in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's College, Negombo Former Catholic schools in Sri Lanka Provincial schools in Sri Lanka Schools in Negombo Educational institutions established in 1903 1903 establishments in Ceylon