Burn Hall School

Infobox School
name = Burn Hall High School


imagesize =
motto = Industria Floremus
established = 1956
type = Private
affiliation = J & K Board of Secondary Education
grades = Class LKG - 12
Principal = Fr. Jey Kumar
vice principal = Fr. Jaimon
students = All boys school
campus type = Day School
location = Srinagar India

Burn Hall School is one of the most famous schools in Kashmir, India. It is situated in Srinagar the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir.

It was founded in the year 1956 and recently celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Right from its inception, it has maintained a high standard of education and acted as a nurturing ground for some of the leading lights of the valley. Omar Abdullah, once MP and now leader of the National Conference, was a student at the school. On the other side of the Kashmiri political spectrum, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq too counts as an alumnus of the prestigious institution and passed his high school in 1989 from the school.The school, established by christian missionaries based in Ireland, has come a long way in establishing itself as a leader and trend-setter in primary and secondary education in the Kashmir Valley. It recently expanded itself to include a higher secondary wing. Many of its Alumni are excellent speakers and fine debators, with Burnhallians bagging top prizes in many interschool events.

The school emphasizes on quality education and discipline. The whole of school campus is monitored 24/7 by high tech CC-Cameras found all over the Campus. It is known for its role in introducing English as a medium of language.

On 20th September 2007, Jibran Bhat, a student at BurnHall School created the Burnhallians community Website http://www.burnhallians.com in an attempt to bring all the X-Burnhallians and Burnhallians together. Burnhallians.com community is the only one of its kind for any institution in the valley.Recently the community site was under a DDOS by a local hacker in valley.

History

The History of Burn Hall School is inexplicably intertwined with the Baramulla Mission, christened as the St. Joseph's Mission. The church in its endeavor to have effective presence carved out the Prefecture Apostolic of Kashmir and Kafiristan from the diocese of Lahore and handed it over to the Mill Hill Missionaries.

The first Prefect Apostolic of this mission was Msgr. Ignatius Brouwer who made Rawalpindi his headquarters. On 13 July 1888, at the time of Maharaja Pratap Singh in Srinagar, Msgr. Ignatius Brouwer obtained permission from the Viceroy in Kashmir to stay in Kashmir.

Fr. Daniel Kilty was the first missionary to have set foot in Kashmir. He later went to Leh in August 1888 where he fell ill and died on 23 April 1889.

The Mill Hill presence in the dawn of the 20th century was felt in the persons of Msgr. Ignatius Brouwer, MSgi. Winkley, Frs. Densen, Kuhan and Simons.

Msgr. Winkley died in Rawalpindi and Fr. O'Donoqhoe was placed in charge of the Prefecture. He, with the help of Fr. C. B. Simons established a primary school in 1903 in Baramulla and named it St. Joseph's School.

Following the successful establishment of the school at Baramulla in Kashmir, the then Mill Hill Missionaries desired to open another educational institution in Srinagar. Fr.Tijssen was assigned this task and Fr. S.De Jong assisted him. They came to Srinagar in 1942 and rented a home from Mr. Mirza at the Hotel Road (now Moulana Azad Road) Srinagar. The building which housed the first Burn Hall School is at present the Teacher Training collage. Initially it was started as the senior Cambridge School, with the Hostel facilities for boys and there were students from the Punjab and the North West Frontier Province. Although planned for children of Indian nationality, the school also admitted Europeans. The school functioned well and grew from strength to strength.

Fr. Tijssen soon set out to acquire a plot of land to construct the school building. But there was no response from the British Govt. and the local Administration was very apprehensive of the Fathers intentions. In 1946 Fr. S. De Jong tried his luck to get a plot of land by putting an application to Hon. Minister Kak, but nothing came through.

Independence came in August 1947 and it added a new dimension to the situation of Kashmir. The Kabali tribals were preparing to invade Kashmir. Every communication between India and Pakistan came to a stand still. In the wake of the tribal invasion the missionaries and the hostel students had to be evacuated. The students were taken away by their parents as it had become unsafe for them to stay there. The Missionaries went back to Rawalpindi, their Headquarters.

The Present school

The New Burn Hall School at Srinagar was established in the face of formidable difficulties and challenges after a spell of nine years following the tribal invasion in 1947. This time Fr. J.Boerkamb was given this task to resurrect the institution-a challenge, which he accepted with a remarkable courage and steadfast determination. As the founding father and the first principal of the school, Fr. Boeakamp rendered yeomen service to the cause of education in the valley. It was at the request of Msgr. Shanks, in 1956 that Fr. Boerkamp came to Srinagar from Abottbad.

Msgr. Shanks had already rented a building "the Willows" as it was known then, from Mr. M.N. Koul, parliamentary secretary in Delhi at that time. He interviewed two teachers who had agreed to join the school, Mr. Omkarnath Koul and Mr. Prahalad. On 19th of March 1956, Msgr. Shanks and Fr. Boerkamp took possession of the "the Willows" and preparations began at once to make the

Higher Secondary Block

Under the dynamic leadership of principal Father Maria John, the higher secondary block was introduced in the school in 2006. For that a new building was constructed as an addition to the main building. Presently science and commerce are being taught by experienced teachers

School Song

Rquote
1=left
2=“What is the leaf in your armour, my brother?”

Like a leaf, So’s my life:

Budding forth in my spring:

“lost in the numberless foliage of summer,

Giving greatness and strength

To the mighty chinar”

“Little yet great is my life like, a leaf.

Swept away by the wind

“In the fall-who knows where?”

“What is the round in your armour, my brother?”

And the gold lines within

Rising up to the light?”

These are the shapes of our letters and learning

“Of the search of our mind

For who’s beauty and truth”

“Circle and sine make science and its ways

“Move the world and its wheels

Work our factories and fields”

Therefore, “In toil we shall Flourish”, Oh brothers

As the leaf provides food

And fresh air to the worlds

We too spread life and new strength all around us

Doing humbly our task

To seek Knowledge and light,

Little yet great is my life, like a leaf,

Giving glory and strength

To a mighty chinar.

Decoding the mystery

It sounds like an epilogue to a mystery thriller. Many believe that the name struck after an unfortunate fire incident in which the school suffered a lot. However, the fact is that the name comes down from River Burn, in England. According to the practice in that area, any institution built on the bank of a river was usually named after that river and suffixed with the word Hall.

Rev. Msgr. Shanks, the then Prefect Apostolic, hailed from an area on the bank of River Burn. He, lovingly, in memory of his native land, christened the school in Srinagar as Burn Hall School. However the name of the school before Burn Hall is yet another mystery..

External links

* [http://www.burnhallians.com/ Burn Hall School Community]
* [http://www.burnhallschool.com/ Official Burn Hall School Website]