St. James' School (Kolkata)

St. James' School

Pro Ecclesia Et Pro Patria
For Church and For Country
Address
165, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, Kolkata 700014
Kolkata, West Bengal
India
Information
Type Private
Established 1864
Principal Dr. Terence Hamilton Ireland
Headmistress Angela Ghose
Headmaster Soumen Kumar Mundul
Staff Varies
Enrollment Varies
Campus Urban
Nickname Jacobeans
Affiliations Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
Website www.stjamesschoolkolkata.com
For other schools with a similar name, see St. James' School (disambiguation).

St. James' School, Kolkata, India, is a CNI school, one of the oldest and most prestigious private schools in India.It completed 150 years in 2014. It is associated with the ICSE Board of Education. It was established on 25 July 1864 by Bishop Cotton.[1]

The school is associated with St. James' Church, Kolkata, which is a historic building.

The principal is Dr. T.H. Ireland ; past principals have included John Mason and D.L. Bloud. The school has a double steepled church.

History

St. James' School was established in 1864. It was inaugurated by the then Most Revd. George Edward Cotton- the Bishop of Calcutta on 25 July 1864. Almost from its inception, reports show that these were years of stress and struggle. In the first twenty years of its existence the school faced intensive financial difficulties and had to be closed in December 1904. According to reports, there was an upsurge of sentiment on the part of parents, well wishers and old boys at the closure of the school. In 1907, with financial assistance from the Church Education League, the school was reopened. However, again it ran into difficulties and closed in 1918.

It opened its doors again in 1924 under the Rectorship of The Rev. Thomas H. Cashmore, also the Vicar of St. James' Church. Rev. Cashmore established a renaissance in the life of both church and school. He had a strong feeling for the traditions the school had established in the half century of its existence, particularly in the field of sport, looking back to school's triumphant winning of the Beighton Cup in hockey in 1900.

Rev. Cashmore left in 1933 to return to England and was succeeded by Mr. I. M. Valentine during his tenure from 1933 to 1950.

The impact of World War II was felt in the period between 1942 and 1946. Air raid shelters were constructed in the school compound and the school premises requisitioned by the RAF on rent. The boarders were sent off to Christ Church School, Jabalpore, and to Bishop Westcott School, Allahabad. The school itself functioned from two rented premises on Ripon Street and Lower Circular Road. The school moved back to its own premises in July 1947.

In 1950 Mr. Valentine resigned as Rector and Mr. F. R. Marshall had a short two-year tenure and was succeeded by Mr. E. C. Chippendale in 1952, who ushered in a period of considerable change. There was an emphasis on the teaching of science and streaming into Science and Humanities began in Class IX. In 1960 the school had above six hundred pupils on its rolls, and with the care of the Rector and the Board of Governors, was at last financially sound. A new science block was constructed and named after Mr. Chippendale, on his departure in 1961, after nine years of service. Mr. L. N. Bird took charge as Rector in 1961, the designation of Rector being changed shortly thereafter to Principal.

Mr. F. P. Pakianathan succeeded Mr. L. N. Bird in 1971 and the numbers of pupils on rolls now increased from 640 in 1971 to 1200 in 1977. Mr. Pakianathan gave a much needed face-lift to the school.

Mr. J. A. Mason (Above) joined the institution as Principal in 1978. The scope of academic, cultural and extra-curricular activities was greatly increased, the school buildings renovated and the gardens nurtured. The expansion programme initiated by Mr. Pakianathan required additional accommodation, which was provided in December 1979 with the opening of the Schunker Block constructed over the school hall and annex, consisting of fourteen classrooms to accommodate the Junior School. Numbers during this period rose to 1800 with as much as ten per cent of the pupils studying at concessional rates or on freeships.

Mr. D.L. Bloud (Above) took over from Mr. Mason in 1992. The number of qualified teachers rose to 70.

The current Principal, Mr. T. H. Ireland, joined in April 2000. Major structural changes have taken place under his stewardship. The school now has a covered basketball court, a sports facility with two swimming pools, science laboratories and computer centre.

School Song

Ecclesia et Patria,
We vow again our loyalty,
To Mother-Church and to our land,
We Jacobeans proudly stand,
Knit by this bond of fealty;
Ecclesia et Patria

Our Church comes first, Ecclesia,
God’s brotherhood of every race,
God’s children of the second birth,
We’ll spread its message o’er the earth.
We’ll raise the Cross in every place,
Ecclesia et Patria.
 
Our land comes next, our Patria,
This land of Ind, where God has cast
Our lot that we with service true
May bring to her some treasures new
To swell the glories of the past;
Ecclesia et Patria.
 
Hail Alma Mater! Hail, all hail!
Unsullied will we bear abroad
The honour of the school we love;
The past, the present, those above
Joined in one comradeship of God;
Ecclesia et Patria.

Houses

The students are divided into four houses, named after the school's founding members:

They are named after bishops of the Anglican Church in India. Competition between the houses takes place in the form of quizzing, debating, athletics, drama, and elocution, as also the Monday morning uniform inspection. Meritorious houses are awarded house points and the house with the most points at the end of the year wins the Cockhouse cup, which was instituted following a gift from the RAF after the school buildings were used as barracks during World War II.There is one house master and one house mistress in each house.

Athletics

Annual sports day for the middle and senior school is held in February and the meet for the junior takes place in November–December. Events like march past, relay races, tug of war, and javelin throw are part of the event.

The students competing are divided into divisions according to their age group. All the activities take place on a house basis. The house with the most number of wins and points from the events emerges to be the winner. At the end of sports day awards are given:

The following awards are given out on the Annual Prize Day:

Activities and Achievements

Interschool activities are stressed at St James', the school having won The Telegraph School of the Year award (given by a local English daily) a number of times for its prowess at interschool activities. In 2005, the school, after having won the award for a sixth time, was inducted into The Telegraph Hall of Fame. This meant that the school would not be eligible for this award again in the future so as to give other schools a fair chance.

School clubs include Interact Club, Drama Club, Nature Club, Bible Club,Science and Space Club, Eastern Cultural Club, Quiz Club, SPICMACAY and others, each hosting public events throughout the year, ranging from the photography contest of the photography club to the interschool quiz organised by the quiz club, known as 'Jaco-Iz'. The Debating society of St. James' School organized a new event, Jaco-MUN, 2009 being its inaugural year, which is a Model United Nations.

The Interact Club, which is involved in community service activities in collaboration with The Rotary Club of Calcutta Victoria, had been awarded best Interact Club in town in the academic year 2006-07. One of the most sought after fests, Jaco-Synthesis is hosted by the school, though 2009 sees a fest called Jaco-Sanskriti, a cultural fest. St. James' School lifted the prestigious Keventer trophy in the 5th edition of the Keventer Cup Football tournament in 2016.

The students call themselves Jacobeans.

Activities like swimming, cricket, hockey, football, table tennis, rugby are a part of the school's extra curriculum. Cricket, hockey and football are played at three levels i.e. class, house and school.

In 1900, St. James' School won the Beighton Cup and has till date been the only school to ever win the oldest hockey tournament in the world.[2]

St. James' School Alumni Association

Former students of the school got together in 1998, under the leadership of Mr. Marcus Rodrick (student of St. James’ School and former Senior Headmaster and Vice Principal), and approached the Principal at the time - Mr. Daryl Bloud - to form an Alumni Association. The society now has over 200 members.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ St. James' School, Kolkata. "Official Website of St. Jame's School, Kolkata". Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  2. ↑ O’Brien, Barry (4 December 2004). "All hail hockey on history high". Eye on Calcutta. Calcutta, India: The Telegraph, 4 December 2004. Retrieved 2007-04-13.

Coordinates: 22°33′18″N 88°21′56″E / 22.55500°N 88.36556°E / 22.55500; 88.36556

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