Bishop Cotton School (Shimla)

Infobox School

|right|frame|School Crest
imagesize = 150x
dms = a
name = BISHOP COTTON SCHOOL
caption =
motto = Overcome Evil With Good
founder = George Edward Lynch Cotton
established = 1859
type = Private
affiliation = Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (ICSE) and The Indian School Certificate examination (ISC)
grades = Class 3 - 12
head of school = Roy Christopher Robinson
students = 500 appx.
campus size = 56 acres
colours = Dark Blue & Light Blue
free_label_1 = Former Pupils
free_1 = [http://www.oldcottonians.org Old Cottonians]
location = Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
country = IND
houses = Curzon, Ibbetson, Lefroy and Rivaz
website = http://www.bishopcottonshimla.com/

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, (Himachal Pradesh, India) is one of the oldest boarding schools in Asia, having been founded on 28th July, 1859, by Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton. Bishop Cotton has produced several prominent alumni, known as Old Cottonians, including the highly decorated officer Major Roy Farran (Curzon).

History

The school opened for students on 15th March, 1863. The first boy, Frederick Naylor, joined the school on 16th March, 1863. Bishop Cotton personally reconnoitred ten sites in September and October 1864, and finally approved the South end of Knollswood Spur which belonged to the Rajah of Keonthal. After lengthy negotiations the site was acquired through the intervention of the Viceroy and the foundation stone for the new buildings was laid o­n 26th September 1866, by the then Viceroy, Sir John Lawrence.

The school grew from strength to strength under the stewardship of the first Headmaster, Rev. Samuel Slater, who had been brought from St. Paul's School in Darjeeling, and who went on to serve Bishop Cotton School for twenty-two years.

The first Indian boys permitted to join the school were Suren Tagore in 1881 and Vishnu Singh in 1883. The first four Indian School Captains were RJ Gandhi in 1928, Harry Chukerbuti in 1936, Jahengzeb Khan in 1941 and Hasan Agha in 1946-47.

chool organisation

Houses

The student body is divided into four houses, represented by different colours. Each student is sorted into one of these houses upon entry into school. The four houses are named after significant figures in the history of India and the Punjab and are:

* Rivaz (sky blue)
* Ibbetson (navy blue)
* Lefroy (forest green)
* Curzon (cherry red).

The houses compete against each other in academic and sporting disciplines, each contributing towards house points which eventually count towards the "Cock House" awarded to the champion house for the year.

House tutors

Each House master has between eight and ten House Tutors working with him. Each House Tutor has about ten boys from classes VI to XII attached to him or her. These tutorial groups usually don't change so as to foster the ward / guardian relationship. The tutors are responsible for the emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual health of their wards. House masters and their tutors meet at least twice a month. Tutorial feed back is reviewed by the Senior Master (Vice Principal) and Headmaster (Principal) at least three times in the year.

In the Junior School, from classes I to V, pastoral requirements are met and control and supervision of the boys is by the Matrons who live next to the boys in the dormitories. The children have Class Teachers who function like House Tutors for the children of their classes. Matrons and teachers work in tandem and feedback is a continuous process monitored by the Head of the Junior School.

Prefects

Prefects are appointed by the Headmaster after consultation with the House Masters. Prefects are entrusted with a good deal of authority and distinguished privileges. The Prefects are led by the Captain of School, Vice Captain of School, the four House Captains & School/House Prefects. Special ties and blazer crests are worn to distinguish prefects from the rest of the boys.

Curriculum

The School designs and implements its own curriculum for classes III to VIII and tries to ensure that the boys and their teachers have as much flexibility as possible to foster mutual learning. While classes IX to XII have to follow the CISCE syllabi, a flexibility of methodology and learning systems is strongly encouraged so that learning by rote is completely negated. A substantial amount of work is done in the library or outside the classroom and this is enhanced by the Council's own recommended structures. Every boy goes on for tertiary education at the end of year XII, and the success rate for the board examination is usually 100%. The teaching system is backed by a remedial address system, and since the boys and staff are residents, every teacher is accessible at any time if a child seeks help. The School has provisions for helping children with special needs which includes identifying their requirements and seeking appropriate solutions. The School also runs The Learning Centre, which is a special education centre for non-resident, mentally handicapped children of Shimla town.

Buildings and grounds

There are many interesting aspects of the school buildings and grounds including several parts named after notable people from Indian history. The staff are housed in Linlithgow house. Next to this is the Holy Trinity Chapel and between them is Canning Gate and Lawrence Gate which can be identified with the LSS crest bearing the legend “Be ready”. Viceroy Lawrence laid the foundation stone of the school at the present site.

Facing the main school building are Rivaz, Ibbetson, Lefroy and Curzon dormitory houses. Opposite Lefroy is the War Memorial and Museum with a cannon and an aircraft further along. Between Lefroy and the War Memorial is an arched hedge that leads past a tiny rose garden to the Headmaster’s Lodge and the Lady Willingdon Swimming Bath. In front of the Porch is a fountain commemorating Sardar Sohan Singh.

The main hall of the school is Irwin Hall. Behind this is the Senior Master’s Lodge to the left of which is the park and to its right Litster Hall and the laboratories. Sports facilities include the Bawa Squash Courts and Shankar Hall for indoor badminton.

Dormitories

From classes one to eight the boys live in the newly built Remove dormitories under the direct care and supervision of Matrons and boys of the same age group are together. The Remove Building commemorates Ronald and Zoe Hakim (Staff 1969-86; HM: 1987-94). Each dormitory has about 34 boys with locker, cupboard, toilet, common room and linen room space. From class IX onward the boys move up to the Main School, which dates back to the 1860s, and live in their Houses with all boys of a particular house together. They are under the direct control and supervision of their House masters and House Captains. The Main School Matron is in charge of the box room and sees to the cleanliness of clothes, issue of personal items and other pastoral requirements.

Old Cottonians Association

The OCA was officially started on 13th May 1910 when 17 Old Cottonians assembled in the Freemason's Hall in Simla. This was held on the 27th of July as 28th fell on a Sunday. These OC's sat at the High Table for the meal that followed the function.The Old Cottonians Association is spread all over the world with its various chapters in different countries.

Notable alumni

Heads of government

*Jigme Dorji, Prime Minister of Bhutan (Rivaz 1936-38)
*Palden Thondup Namgyal, Chogyal of Sikkim, (Lefroy 1933-42)

Judges

*H.S. Bedi, Supreme Court of India (Curzon 1954-62)

Defence Services (Brigadier and above)

*Air Chief Marshal P.C Lal, Padma Vibhushan, DFC, CAS (1927-29)
*General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, military governor of Baluchistan and head of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan

Police (DIG and above)

*B S Bedi (Director General Police Assam & J&K)
*Sir L Tomkin, CIE,IG Police Punjab 1922-26 (1882-87)
*Ali Akbar Khan, IG Police , Hyderabad, India (Rivaz 1920-22)
*DIG Simranjit Singh Mann, MP, Punjab (Ibbetson 1951-61)
*Ravinder Kumar DIG HP (Curzon 1963-68)

Politicians

*William Kirkpatrick, MP for Preston (Conservative), 1931 (1891-96)
*Maj Roy Farran, MLA, Minister of Utilities and Telephone, Canada (Curzon 1932-34)
*Fali Nariman, Legal Luminarie, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India, MP (Rajya Sabha), Padma Bhushan (Ibbetson 1942-44)
*Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, MP and MLA (Ibbetson 1947-51)

Bishops

*Ronald W Bryan, Bishop of Barrackpur (Ibbetson 1920-22)
*Anand Chandulal, Bishop of Amritsar and former Metropolitan of the Church of North India (Rivaz 1943-49)

Authors/Art/Culture/Activists/Poets

*Felix Rossetti, Poet (1899-1909) [ [Old Cottonians list] accessed July 2007]
*Melville F O De Mellow, Padma Shri, Prix Italia, broadcaster (Ibbetson 1925-29)
*Ruskin Bond, Padma Shri, Author (I 43-50) [ [http://members.rediff.com/ruskinbond/letsmeetruskin.htm Ruskin Bond tribute site] accessed July 2007]
*Tarsem Singh, Director, Hollywood film "The Cell", starring Jennifer Lopez, (Ibbetson 1972 -78)

Others

*Moninder Singh Pandher, accused serial killer

References

External links

* [http://www.bishopcottonshimla.com/ Official school page]
* [http://www.oldcottonians.org/ Old Cottonians Association]