Annual Report 2024
-
Posted by
Sharmini D
I warmly welcome all of you present tonight to our 2024 Prize Giving.
“The world’s most prominent women leaders show the importance of honesty, courage, impact and decisive action in leadership”
Oprah Winfrey
What an honour it is for us to have Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy a prominent world woman leader – a lawyer, diplomat, human rights advocate and Deshamanya award holder here to grace our 2024 Prize Giving. Starting her early life at Ladies’ College, Dr. Coomaraswamy has gone to great heights in the global arena as UN Under-Secretary General and as Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict from 2006 until her retirement in 2012. Earlier, from 1994 to 2003, she was the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, an independent expert attached to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, while located in Sri Lanka. In 2014, the UN Secretary General asked Dr. Coomaraswamy to lead the Global Study to review the fifteen year implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. In 2017 she was appointed to the UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar and also appointed as a member of The Secretary General’s Board of Advisors on Mediation. Many are her qualifications (from Yale, Columbia, Harvard …..), accolades and contributions. I was personally privileged to have her as my Professor for Jurisprudence in the University of Colombo Faculty of Law – where we students were simply mesmerised by her and hung on every word of hers. Thank you Dr. Coomaraswamy for taking time off your busy schedule to be with us here this evening.
We look at our busy year through our celebrations and the ethos of ‘sound learning’, ‘varied natural life’ and ‘spiritual growth’
UNWRAPPING 2024
“It is not about smart children, it is about HAPPY CHILDREN who have the confidence and courage to learn and pursue things dear to their heart.”
Alexandra Eidens
Sound learning
NURSERY (2+ to 4+ years)
The students of the Nursery have had a very exciting and enjoyable year. The theme for their Activity Day was “Disneyland” celebrating 100 years of Disney. The theme for their Project Day was “Continents” where our little learners enthusiastically delved into the various terrains and specialities of the great continents. Their year end concert, a blend of these two themes, transported us on a magical journey of song, dance and drama. Our youngsters took part in Founders Day and Avurudu celebrations, and Easter, Nativity and Harvest Festival services. They had an exciting time on their class trip at the Lotus Tower animation museum followed by a picnic on the Cathedral grounds.
KINDERGARTEN (Grades 1 - 3)
The students in the Kindergarten yet again had a very eventful year. The annual theme for their Activity Day was “Child Heroes” (Children who changed the world) - so that our young learners could be inspired and empowered to be positive change-makers from a young age. This learning experience was presented through a beautiful Activity Day concert of song, dance and drama. The KG Sports Meet and the exhibition were on the same theme and the students found further encouragement when two young Sri Lankan child heroes were invited to be part of their Sports and Swimming Meets.
The theme of the KG Science Exhibition was “The Five Senses” and their Book Day was based on “Culinary Tales” which had our students becoming little Master Chefs. The KG students also celebrated Founders Day, and had Passover, Easter, Harvest and Nativity Services. Students went on educational trips to places of worship and the Planetarium and also had an enjoyable time on their class trip travelling by train, visiting the Ratmalana Air Force museum, an elders home and a turtle hatchery - followed by a scrumptious lunch and games.
PRIMARY SCHOOL (Grades 4 - 6)
The Primary School 1st Term project was themed “Going Green - Building Green Cities”. The students had actively researched and built Green Cities and also enjoyed conveying special messages of being environmental stewards through creative songs and presentations. Reinforcing the theme of being responsible stewards of Mother Earth, the Primary Activity Day “Change the World together” was based on being protectors of our environment together. As our Hall was being refurbished, the students confidently presented this Activity Day Musical at the Lionel Wendt theatre. The Primary students, too, had their Book Day theme as “Culinary Tales”. The absolute enthusiasm and creative presentation of their stories was heartening. They even took on the challenge of cooking special treats for the Primary students from St Anthony’s Girls School (next door) who were invited for their Book Day.
For the first time the Primary School had their own General Knowledge Quiz (as opposed to being viewers of the Inter-House GK Quiz) with each of our Grade 6 classes sporting a team. This in turn brought about much enthusiasm and a significant improvement in the overall GK Paper scores. The Grade 6s also took Primary School Assemblies on the themes of ‘The power of positive thinking’, ‘Teamwork and cooperation’, ‘Embracing diversity and inclusion’ and ‘Sharing and caring’. A special guest speaker, an old girl psychologist also addressed the Primary School students on bullying.
A readathon was introduced to the Primary (and KG) titled ‘Read for Sri Lanka’. In the month of September, for every three books a student read, they could drop off a book in Sinhala or Tamil in a special box. At the end of the readathon, the books were collected and distributed to rural and under-privileged schools. The students immersed themselves in this special readathon and read with purpose for fellow Sri Lankan students. A Maths Camp was also introduced to Grade 6 students this year. The Primary School students enjoyed going on their class trips to Panadura, Hikkaduwa & Kelaniya.
MIDDLE SCHOOL (Grades 7 - 9)
This year the students from Grade 8 up could do religion (Christianity, Buddhism and Islam) and History in English. As in the Primary School, the Middle School 1st Term project was themed “Going Green - Building Green Cities”. The students carried out in depth research, creatively built Green Cities and confidently presented their information. Their Book Day project, too, was “Culinary Tales” which the students thoroughly enjoyed. Assemblies were conducted by the students of Grades 7, 8 and 9. - Iconic child book characters (Grade 7), Stamps and their stories (Grade 8) and Environment victories in Sri Lanka (Grade 9) The children learnt to work as a team and confidently and creatively presented their information.
Middle School students had Math Camps, carried out their themed based social responsibility projects (Grade 7 - Elders, Grade 8s - Under privileged schools and Grade 9 - Environmental issues) and held their annual Christmas bazaar to raise funds for monetary vouchers for the support staff. A new prize relating to Animal Welfare was also open to Middle School students and their research and active volunteering and final submissions and presentations were of a high standard.
Middle School students enjoyed going on their class trips to Kandy, Galle and Wadduwa. A Health Programme for Middle School students was carried out by the School Health Department. Sessions on sex education, body safety and general counselling for students of grade 7-9 were held. A few of our students participated in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Diyasaru park
UPPER SCHOOL (Grades 10-14)
Public examinations are a priority in the life of the students of Upper School. The results at the public exams have been good and whilst we thank God for His providence, we deeply appreciate and value the dedication of our committed staff who ensure that our students are successful (notwithstanding the demanding schedules our students have juggling a myriad of co-curricular, sports and extracurricular activities).
- Examination Results
- British Advanced Level
A2 Level 12.2% 3A*s and above
28% 3As and above
Edexcel Board - World Prize in Law & 9 High Achiever Awards
Cambridge Board - Sri Lankan Prize in Psychology & 5 High Achiever Awards
AS Level 31% 3As and above
BTEC 5 BTEC High Achievers with 3D*s
- Ordinary Level 26% over 8As (9As - 16 students & 8As - 10 students)
- Co-curricular activities - All the Grades went on their annual excursions to different parts of the country. Students also ventured out and participated in field trips, seminars and competitions which broadened their learning experiences.
- Accolades - We are proud of Treasa Adams who was the recipient of the ‘Student of the Year’ in the school category – female at the 5th New Generation Asia Award 2024 organized by the National Youth Services Council and the New Generation Sri Lanka.
VARIED NATURAL LIFE
Sports are a stimulus for health and vitality. We encourage children to participate in the varied sports available at Ladies’ College and to enjoy themselves in full measure. Opportunities are given to the girls in the school to participate in 16 sports. We have qualified professional coaches for all the sports.
SPORT
ACHIVEMENT
- Hewisi Band - 40 members of the Hewisi Band competed in their first International Marching Arts Championships in IPOH Malaysia and won a silver award.
- Little Friends - Celebrated their 80th anniversary.
- STEM - Ladies’ College team was adjudged the best women's team at an inter school Robotics competition.
- Sinhala Oratorics - Two students were placed 1st in the Under 16 and Under 15 categories of an Inter-School Sinhala Oratorical competition.
- Drama - Ladies’ College was placed 1st at the inter-school Tamil Drama festival. A student was adjudged the best actress.
- Two students were placed first in divisional, zonal, and provincial levels and placed third at the National level in Tamil Solo Singing at the All Island Tamil Day competitions.
- A student won: First place in divisional, zonal, and provincial levels for solo singing in the All Island Tamil Day competitions (Division 3), and third place at the National level.
- English Debating team were quarter finalists at the D S Senanayake Debating Tournament and the APIIT Inter School Debate Championship. Nimansa Jayasundera was adjudged the 10th best speaker. The ‘A’ team was placed 2nd at the Henley Debating Championship.
- Sinhala Debating Team was a quarter finalist at the ‘Suwani’ organised by Musaeus College.
- Student Exchanges - Continuing the student exchange programme into its 16th year, 6 students and a teacher visited Ladies’ College from the Gymnasium Isernhagen School in Germany and 5 Ladies’ College students in turn spent three weeks in Hannover.
The many clubs and societies cater to a range of interests and outreach programmes. Interest in the Clubs and Societies has grown through the years and they continue to function well. They are entirely student centred and the students are given the responsibility and opportunity to make decisions and organise events. The Societies actively organised their respective Society Days on particular themes with many interactive sessions and activities. Some Societies also went on educational excursions.
The most significant event organised this year was by the MUN titled ‘Tempotrek’ which was an event for mental well being of Youth. Through this event our Students together with the students of Wesley College raised Rs.1 Million for the Suicide Hotline.
- Twelve Ladies’ College students represented Sri Lanka at the 11th Asian Age Group Championships held in the Philippines - Aneeka Sumanatilleke and Denila Robin in Swimming / Chrishael Robin, Sithaarah Zuhair, Treasa Adams, Tharuki Kalansooriya, Rahell Dias and Ayahna Amarasinghe in Water Polo / Amara Watson Kittle, Ayla Watson Kittle, Andrea Thirukumar & Nischka Nanayakkara in Artistic Swimming. Aneeka Sumanathilleke was a member of the Open 4x200m FreeStyle Relay team that won a bronze medal for Sri Lanka.
- Chrishael Robin, Sithaarah Zuhair, Treasa Adams, Tharuki Kalansooriya and Rahell Dias represented Sri Lanka in Water Polo at the BIMSTEC Youth Water Sports 2024 held in New Delhi. The team was captained by Chrishael Robin and they won a Bronze Medal for Sri Lanka.
- Maheli Ranasinghe represented Sri Lanka at the Kusanoha Open Invitation Karate Championship in Malaysia. Maheli won a bronze medal and she also captained the national team.
- Taliya De Fonseka represented Sri Lanka Junior Under 21 teams at the Junior Women’s Asian Hockey Federation Cup in Singapore. Sri Lanka team was placed 4th and the team qualified for the Junior Asia Cup.
- Navya Ganegoda (U-13) and Adhithi Gunasekera (U-17) represented Sri Lanka at the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship held in Pakistan.
- Haaya Hassen was selected to represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Rowing Indoor Championships in Penang, Malaysia. She won a Gold medal for U19 mixed 500m x 4 relay event, a Silver medal for U19 girls 2000m pair event and a Bronze medal for U19 girls 500m single event.
- Taalya Tranchell participated in the Langkawi National Sailing Regatta in Malaysia. She also participated in the U-19 ILCA World Championships in Italy.
- Ruqayyah Jurampathy captained the Sri Lanka Karate team at the 8th South Asian Karate Championship (U-21) in Bhutan. She won a Bronze medal.
- Arundhati Sinha represented Sri Lanka at the 9th World Junior Wushu Championship held in Brunei.
- Our Career Guidance Counsellor Mrs. Taanya Tranchell was the one of 10 Career Guidance Counsellors from Asia (and the only Counsellor from Sri Lanka) to be granted a scholarship to visit the USA. She visited 10 leading universities and was able to seek opportunities for our students to secure future placements in them.
- Our British AL Sectional Head represented Ladies’ College at IC3 in Delhi (through a scholarship) and was successful in securing educational university benefits for our students.
- Ladies’ College was one of three schools selected from Sri Lanka for the Global School Heads Conference ‘School Now 2024’ in Cape Town, South Africa. The Principal represented Ladies’ College.
- 12 students and 2 teachers travelled to Malaysia on a Sustainable Tourism & Management Summer Programme at Sunway University.
- Three senior science students were selected to travel to Tokyo Japan on a fully sponsored special STEM & Robotics program. Mrs Ranmalee Balasooriya, our Vice-Principal was also invited to accompany these students along with a few students from Hillwood College.
Our students continued to actively reach out throughout the year and give of their time and resources to the sick, the disabled, the under privileged, flood victims, the differently abled, the elderly, the less fortunate, the orphans and so much more. We truly value their efforts to be a continuous blessing to others by caring and giving.
Refer attachments
- Academic-Achievers-2024
https://ladiescollege.lk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Academic-Achievers-2024.pdf
- Extracurricular-Achievers-2024
https://ladiescollege.lk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Extracurricular-Achievers-2024.pdf
- Sports-Achievers-2024
https://ladiescollege.lk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sports-Achievers-2024-file-1.pdf
https://ladiescollege.lk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sports-Achievers-2024-file-2.pdf
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
- CHRISTIAN ACTIVITIES
Chapel services are held on four days of the week and a communion service is held every first Monday of the month. The Chaplain visits school every Monday for service. Founders’ Day was held on 7th February. At the Confirmation Service this year 10 students were confirmed by the Bishop of Colombo. A service of blessing was held for the students of Grade 1 (with the Bishop of Colombo being present) and the students sitting the Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Examinations. The Valedictory service for the school leavers was also held. A special service was held on Ash Wednesday and on Maundy Thursday Passover services were held for KG and Grade 4 up which also commemorated the Last Supper. Nursery & KG Easter and Harvest Festival Services were held and children of all faiths participated in these services where a special collection was offered at the altar which was later donated to many orphanages and elders’ homes. Nursery, KG and Primary had Nativity Services and gifts collected were sent to less fortunate children. The Servers Guild actively participated and assisted in many of the School’s services. The SCM continued to have an active year with their Annual SCM camp ‘You are chosen’, overnight stay ‘....’ Youth Alpha, bible studies, prayer and Junior SCM sessions along with outreach programs to the disabled and underprivileged.
- BUDDHIST ACTIVITIES
The Buddhist Society celebrated their 60th Anniversary and a new logo was introduced for the society. A bodhi pooja for the 2023 OL batch and an alms giving were conducted at the Meththramaya Temple. Books and stationery were donated to Gunasinghe Vidyalaya, Colombo 12. A Bhakthi Gee Recital was held by the members of the society.
- HINDU ACTIVITIES
Navarathri was celebrated.
- ISLAM ACTIVITIES
A special Ramadan program was held.
CELEBRATIONS
- Founders’ Day
- Avurudu
- Children’s Day -A Wishing Well was placed outside the Principal’s office and students were encouraged to drop off school supplies - which they did enthusiastically and generously. This was a special program titled ‘A child for a child’ where the contributions made by our students were immediately sorted and sent to orphanages and under-privileged schools.
WHAT'S NEW
- E-Newsletter – ‘Spotlight’ setting out the highlights of each Term.
- 125 Celebrations – Launch of logo and 2025 Event & Celebrations schedule.
IN GRATITUTE
- PTA - You have courageously supported us through thick and thin and we are truly grateful for your sincerity and continuous support. Thank you for the tireless hours of expertly putting together ‘MuCycle’ yet again.
- OGA and old girls – ‘Just because’ you gave of your resources and time, school life benefitted with many possibilities becoming realities.
- Chaplain – Fr. Christie, you have continued to be our anchor upholding us through your prayers and continuing to be the calm but firm reassurance through the many challenges we have made our way through.
- Manager – Mrs. Leonie Seneviratne we appreciate your continuous support in ensuring that things around school stay on course and financially viable.
- Governing Body Member – Mrs. Anila Dias Bandaranaike, we are deeply grateful for your invaluable advice and indefatigable spirit and efforts to ensure funding was found for our Main Hall repairs & upgrade.
- 2024 Head Girl & Prefects – Ms. Roshni Jebenassan (our Head Girl) thank you for your quiet and resilient leadership this year. We value the effort all the Prefects of 2024 put in to steer the student body through yet another successful year.
- Staff – Academic staff we truly value all your hard work to ensure that our students went through their curricula successfully and secured excellent results at public examinations (specially, as reflected in our British A/L results). Non-academic staff, we are grateful that you continue to be the anchor in supporting all the operational aspects of our school life. Support staff thank you very much for the tireless hours serving our School - we are blessed by it all.
- Heads & Deputies – The Core Team : We cannot express in words how blessed LC is to have each of you doing all that you do. In a year we have made you strategize, rethink and challenge yourself as a team, we are truly proud of your tenacity and creativity. Thank you for all the sacrifices made beyond the call of duty.
- Vice-Principal – Dear Ranmalee, thank you for the tower you are and continue to be for LC. Above all, I am indebted to you for straightening my flagging hands and being the trusted shoulder I can always lean on. I am truly blessed by the journey we make together at LC.
To all those who have continued to refuel me, spur me on and encourage me on with your prayers, care, uplifting words, silent sacrifices and genuine love – I am truly blessed beyond measure by it all because your sincerity above all has surely made this journey strewn with many impossibilities – overturned into joyous possibilities ….. for this is the victory even our faith.
IN Conclusion
I leave you with some words that struck my core many years ago and has helped my perspective to stay anchored -
The single thing I learned was from an indigenous elder of Cherokee descent, Stan Rushworth, who reminded me of the difference between a Western settler mindset of “I have right” and an indigenous mindset of “I have obligations”. Instead of thinking that I am born with rights, I choose to think that I was born with obligations to serve past, present and future generations, and the planet herself.
May the LC experience never be one of entitlement, but of obligation to give back in every way possible!
Thank you and God bless,
Deepika Dassenaike
Principal Ladies’ College
4th December, 2024