I
The Re-opening of the School in 2007

The new academic year 2007 began with the return of the required domestic staff and the staff teaching the ICSE and ISC (12) examination candidates and the class 10 and 12 students on 12 February. The students of these classes reported to school on 13 February and began attending regular classes on 14 Feruary.

The ICSE and ISC (12) examination commenced on 1 March and the ISC practical examinations commenced on 19 Feruary.

All other members of staff reported for work on 1st March.

The boarders of classes 5 to 9 returned to school on 6 March and the boarders of classes 1 to 4 returned on 7 March. The new class 11 commenced classes on 11 April.

The annual staff retreat followed by a general staff meeting was held on Saturday, 3 March. Rev Anita Templeton led the staff in the devotions and the Principal presided over the staff meeting thereafter.

Staff

Mrs U Misra, Ms E Andrews and Mrs P Hennessy retired from the service of the school at the end of the 2006 academic year.

Mr Albert Temple, Principal, and Mrs Julian Temple, Assistant to the Principal, resigned from the service of the school on 31 May 2007.

The following staff resigned from the service of the school during 2007:
Mrs P Chater, Mrs R Simon, Mr W Farrell, and Mrs E Farrell.

The Educational Director, Mr T W Phillips was appointed by the Board to take additional, interim charge of the post of Principal w.e.f. 31 May 2007. Mrs A P Phillips was appointed by the Board to take interim charge of the post of Assistant to the Principal w.e.f. 31 May 2007.

The following staff joined the school during the year : Mr A O'Connor as Project Officer; Mrs A Lucas, Ms A Scolt and Mrs P O'Connor as matrons; Mrs A Lazar, Ms P Kakde, Mrs E Farrell and Ms I Razia as Hospital Sisters; Mr A Wright and Mrs G Gilhotra as teachers at the Junior school and Mr W Farrell and Mrs G Prayas as teachers at the Senior School.

 

Student Enrolment

On 30 September 2007, there were 677 students on roll, of which in the Junior School there were 181 boarder boys, 65 boarder girls, 65 day scholar boys and 32 day scholar girls. In the Senior School there were 175 boarder boys, 69 boarder girls, 43 day scholar boys and 47 day scholar girls.

ICSE & ISC(12) 2005-2006 Examination Results

The School presented 57 candidates for the ICSE Examination of 2007 and all 57 candidates were awarded pass certificates. Esha Agarwal topped the batch with 94.4 %.

27 students were presented for the ISC (12) Examination of 2007 and all 27 candidates were awarded pass certificates. Disha Khati topped the batch with 97.7%.

Prize Day

Prize Day for the academic year 2007 was held on Saturday, 25th November 2006. The Chief Guest for the occasion was, Lt. General E G Kerr who addressed the school at the function and gave away the prizes.

Easter

The Easter Sunrise Service was held at 06.30 a.m. on Sunday, 8 April 2007 at the Seven Oaks flat and Rev Anita Templeton delivered the message. The Christian children attended the Good Friday service on 6 April and the Easter service on 8 April at Christ Church. A special Easter dinner was served to all the students of the school.

Founders’ Day

The 119^th Founders’ Day was celebrated on Friday, 8th June 2007 with a   Divine Service at the Sir Kirby Laing auditorium at 9.00 a.m..  The guests of honour for the occasion were Mr John Mason, Vice - Chairman, Board of Management, Wynberg- Allen School and Mrs Anjoo Mason. Mr Mason addressed the school at the service and Mrs Mason cut the traditional Founder's Day cake. After the service, the guests were served a high tea and this was followed by a swimming gala for the students. The celebration concluded with the Founder' Day Dinner.

Fancy Fair

The annual Fancy Fair was held on Saturday, 9 June 2006.  Mrs Lillian Singh, Member of the Board of Management declared the Fancy Fair open at 9:30 a.m. A turnover of Rs 5,17,071/- was recorded at the Fair and this amount has been credited to the Wynberg - Allen School  Scholarship Fund Account.

Grant of Scholarships

73 students were granted scholarships during the year amounting to Rs 34,72,452/- In addition the Board sanctioned a scholarship for a deserving former student, to enable him to complete his graduation.

Open House Days for Parents

Open House days were scheduled in the School Calendar for 28 June and 8 September 2007. Several parents availed of these opportunities to meet the teachers and discuss their children's progress.

Independence Day

Independence Day 2007 was celebrated at the School with the unfurling of the National Flag at 8:30 a.m. by Mr L O Edwards, Member of the Board of Management, in the presence of the staff, students and class IV employees. Thereafter a Special Assembly was held at which the Headmaster, in the absence of the Principal, and the School Captain addressed the School. A group of students, supervised by Mr Teron participated in a tree plantation drive on the school estate organised by the Forest Department. The celebrations concluded with the Independence Day dinner for the students and staff.

A special tea was served to the class IV employees and their families on 14 August and each employee was given a cash gift to mark the occasion.

Students' Health

Generally, the students have maintained very good health during the year. Except for few cases of viral fever, there have been no serious cases of illness among the students. This year there were no cases of measles, chickenpox, mumps, typhoid or jaundice.

A very high standard of hygiene, an excellent, wholesome diet and a regular physical fitness programme keeps the students in good health.

Extra- Curricular Activities of the School

A good range of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities forms an important part of the School's programme.

The annual Senior School Hindi play, " Shabdkosh Ka Nuskha" was staged on 14 May 2007. The annual Junior School Hindi play, " Kaun Bada, Kaun Chhota" was staged on 10 May.

The Annual Junior School English play " The Stolen Diamonds" was staged on 9th August.

Brandon Thomas' play, " Charley's Aunt" was presented by the Senior School on 21 September 2007 and was greatly appreciated by the audience.

The students continue to enjoy the swimming programme at the School and did well at the Inter-House Aquatics Meet on 28 August 2007 establishing 14 new records in the various divisions.

The Inter-house Athletics were held on 29 September 2007 and 6 October 2007 respectively. Mrs Susan Mann an alumnea of the school was the Chief Guest at the Junior School Athletics Meet and Mr and Mrs W R King  were the Guests of Honour at the Senior School Athletics Meet. Several new records were established at both the Meets.

Wynberg-Allen hosted the 10th Annual Inter-school Athletics Meet on 20  October 2007. Dr. Rajnish Singh and Dr (Mrs) Sangeeta Roy were the Guests of Honour. Wynberg-Allen won the overall championship for both the girls and boys.

The following students won the individual championships in their respective divisions:

Diya Maitra in the Sub-Junior Girls division
Sonali Hatwal in the Senior Girls division
Abhishek Rai in the Junior Boys division
Gurjeet Gill in the Intermediate Boys division
Nitin Mahendru in the Senior Boys division

Several new records were established by our students at the Inter-School Athletics Meet held this year. Special mention must be made of Sonali Hatwal who established four new records in various events in the Senior Girls division and Gurjeet Gill who established two new records in the Intermediate Boys division. Diya Maitra and Shimona Gupta established one new record each in the Sub-Junior Girls division.

The students have participated during the year in hockey, cricket, basketball, soccer, badminton, and table-tennis both in inter-house and inter-school fixtures.

Overnight excursions were held for all the senior school students in April 2007 and day excursions were conducted for the students of the Junior school.

Every student in the school was engaged in a club activity throughout the school year.

Courses / Workshops for the Staff

The School had continued its association with The Motivation Institute, Dehra Dun, in its programme on bullying in schools and the staff have attended two workshops conducted by the institute during the year.

Periodically, the staff have attended other workshops during the year.

School Facilities

The facilities for the students and staff are regularly being reviewed and are upgraded as and when necessary with the latest and some of the best equipment available. A new school bakery was made functional at the Wynberg campus in October, 2007. The bakery is equipped to enable it to supply all the need of the school dinning rooms in terms of a variety of breads and confectionery items.

Conclusion

At a time when the educational environment in our country is going through many changes, when educational issues continue to be debated at various forums, we at Wynberg-Allen are able to examine these issues on merit. We are able to adapt to change, when necessary and in a manner which works in the best interest of our students and their development. However, while we are able to adapt to changing circumstances we have been never compromised with our basic principles and values and this has been our strength. Our Christian values are our hallmark, and they will always continue to guide and sustain us and to enable us to stand firm and unshaken in the most difficult circumstances.

I would like to place on record my thanks and appreciation to the Chairman, members of the Board of Management and the Wynberg Homes society for their invaluable support and faith in my leadership of the school.

Finally, I would also like to place on record my thanks and appreciation to all those who have worked faithfully for the school during the year: my wife, Mr Tindale, the Headmaster, Mrs Cashmore, the Headmistress, Mr Sen, the Bursar, Mrs Young, my secretary and all members of the staff.

T W Phillips

Principal