Lyceum Kurunegala celebrates its 5th Anniversary

Five years back, to date, at the pediment of historical Athugala in the heart of the city of Kurunegala, North Western Province, marked the embedding of the sapling of an age old Wise Oak; the inauguration of the Kurunegala Branch of the Lyceum International Schools Network, as  the youngest member of its chain of schools ; Nugegoda, Wattala, Panadura, Gampaha, Ratnapura, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura. On the 16^th of September 2016 the dream of the eager parents, awaiting the arrival of Lyceum to Kurunegala, was realized flourishing their hopes for a perfect English medium education for their children. The 8^th branch of the Lyceum International Schools Network started with 136 students and 15 teachers, and there were only 6 classes from Pre-grade to Grade 3.

The school has rapidly grown since then. The parents, who had been vigilant over the perfect and clear pathways for their loved little ones’ future, found Lyceum to be the best place. Today, the student body is over thousand three hundred. Currently the school premises consists of two four-storeyed buildings, and the staff comprises hundred and fifty teachers divided among 52 classes; from Pre-primary to Grade 9 in both local and international curriculum. There is a promise for much more in the coming years.

The Lyceum Kurunegala property houses the Lyceum Adventure Park completed with a camping area, Day Care Centre, auditorium, open theatre, playground, gymnasium, swimming pool, hostels, residences, and several other features, which provide our students ample opportunity to enjoy their regular indoor and outdoor activities. It also provides a range of exciting events throughout the year.

Lyceum International School, Kurunegala has already provided testimony to its foreseen future. Within a year, in 2017, the students brought home glory, with national level achievements in varied competitions while successfully proceeding in their academic path under the guidance of an experienced team of teachers. The students are privileged to engage in a plethora of co-curricular activities such as sports, aesthetic, vocational education and international forums under the proper guidance of experts in particular fields. The national and international level achievements and the victories gained by the Kurunegala Lyceumers within a short period of time is commendable. They have displayed their talents and capabilities at many occasions in different fields. With the discipline and training the students have achieved a number of victories in sports, including Swimming, Chess, Table Tennis, Badminton, Karate and Gymnastics. The junior Cricket team too shows promise of future accolades. Not only in sports, even in the fields of Dancing, Music and Arts, Lyceum Kurunegala has gained islandwide recognition as the students have claimed several victories continuously during the past five years. The western brass band, orchestra and the eastern dancing teams of Lyceum Kurunegala are still young, yet present much maturity and talents second to no other, through rather astonishing performances. The Lyceum Kurunegala Broadcasting Unit is a paradise for young communicators to sharpen their skills.

The students of Lyceum Kurunegala have taken part in speech competitions, debating contests, international Olympiad competitions and essay writing competitions as well, and displayed their talents, proving that they are competent in bringing honor to their alma mater in all aspects of a wholesome education.

In the international arena, Lyceum Kurnegala is well known because of the Global Social Leaders team. In 2019 August, the G.S.L team of Lyceum Kurunegala represented Sri Lanka in the global forum, where 105 countries took part in the United Kingdom. There, they were awarded the Junior Standout Award for their outstanding social work, for three consecutive years. The members of the G.S.L team gets involved in environmentally friendly social projects every year, encouraging the community to save the greenery for the future, while boosting the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Even under pandemic conditions, which is prevailing in the country for almost two years now, the G.S.L team members have been very active via online platforms. They are unstoppable. They are strengthening their international relationships, while spreading their wings beyond the horizon.

In the aftermath of the Easter Attack, while the schools were closed islandwide, the experienced management of the Lyceum International Schools network recognized the importance of online education and found alternatives to continue with the education beyond the classroom. When Covid-19 rendered the country paralyzed collapsing the entire education system, Lyceum Kurunegala proceeded with online learning & teaching, thus completing the academic years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 successfully while most of the schools were struggling to navigate through the process under various circumstances. The new concept of virtual school emerged along with the Covid-19 pandemic and the academic team of Lyceum Kurunegala has well proven the fact that nothing is impossible.

Under the pandemic conditions while the entire country is forced to stay at home, the students of Lyceum Kurunegala continues to complete their education within the safe environment of their home. While studying via online school, they are involved in many more skill development activities. Innovative programmes such as; ‘Study Buddy’, ‘Life Skills Development Challenges’, ‘Subject Hubs’, ‘Virtual Assemblies’, ‘Digital Magazines’, ‘Mirror Walls’, ‘The Lyceum Writers’, ‘Virtual Hikes’, and many more events have created a meaningful and exciting ‘work/study from home’ environment for the students as well as their parents. The religious, cultural and social activities often shared via Lyceum social media, have gained the fullest cooperation and lively participation of the parents and the well-wishers. The Lyceum Kurunegala Dhamma School inspires religious education and it is open for all students of Sri Lanka and overseas.     

The school is always benefited with the blessings, guidance and the utmost care of the Founder of the Lyceum International Schools Network, Dr. (Mr.) Mohan Lal Grero, the Coordinating Principal, Dr. (Mrs.) Kumari Grero, the Director, (Mr.) Nikitha Grero, and the Senior Management Team. The young innovative leadership of the present Principal of the school, (Mr.) Chandana Basnayake is also a great asset to the school.

The concept of ‘Leaf Schools’ initiated by Lyceum Kurunegala, within a short period of time, has spread its influence in the territory, providing more opportunities to the parents living in the school’s enclosing areas, to enjoy the benefits of Lyceum Pre-primary Education.

Successful five years have passed. Today, the entire school community celebrates the Fifth Anniversary of Lyceum International School Kurunegala, with humble pride and the humble sense of pleasure of working towards achieving goals, and overcoming challenges while leading towards the vision of the Lyceum Network, ‘To produce global citizens who will reshape the future of their Motherland’. There is a long way to go. Let’s wish all the best to the Kurunegala Lyceum International School for a bright future.                                                                                                                                

Chandana Hettiarachchi