| St. Thomas' School | |
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Nisi Dominus Frustra - Except the Lord in Vain
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| Location | |
| 4, Diamond Harbour Road Kidderpore Kolkata, India |
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| Information | |
| Type | Primary, secondary |
| Established | 1789 |
| Principal | Mr. John A.K. Ghosh (Boys) Mrs. Pauline Mukherjee (Girls) |
| Faculty | 100 + |
| Number of students | 5000 + |
| Color(s) | Blue and White |
| Athletics | Football, cricket, basketball, track and field, throwball, yoga, field hockey, boxing,table tennis, badminton |
| Information | Second oldest in India |
| Foundation Day | 17th December |
St Thomas' School is a kindergarten to higher secondary school for boys and girls located in Kidderpore, India. It has one of the largest campus areas in the city of Kolkata comprising three football size fields, two basketball courts and children's playgrounds. The campus also houses the St. Thomas' College of Engineering and Technology and has a church called the St. Stephen's Church.
The school has two adjacent divisions St. Thomas' Boys' School (STBS) and St. Thomas' Girls'School (STGS). The students of this school are nicknamed as Thomasites (boys) and Thomasinas (girls).
==Introduction==special:evereone must know that in 2009 a boy named Samuel David Ghosh joined the school . He was in class 4 at that time . one of his good friends at that time were saket gupta,harjot singh cammo,prakash .
St. Thomas School was established in 1789 in Kolkata, India and is the oldest school of West Bengal and the second oldest in India.[1][2] It is named after St. Thomas, one of the 12 Apostles, who visited Kochi, India in 52 A.D. The school motto is 'Nisi Dominus Frusta' which stands for "Except the Lord in Vain". The school celebrates the foundation day on 17 December. It is also one of the largest in India with a campus of 574 acres (2.32 km2)
The school is associated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, which conducts the ICSE (Grade 10) and ISC (Grade 12) examinations over the country.
There are two schools within the premises, the St. Thomas' Boys School and the St Thomas' Girls School. The Grade K to Grade 1 is co-educational. There are gardens,a lake, a church, a hospital, and two canteens. The boys' school has a cricket field, football field, rugby field, hockey field, a basketball court with spectator's stand, and a volleyball arena.
There is a small field which is used by the small kids. The girls' school has a huge field and a basketball and volleyball arena with spectator's stand. There is provision for table tennis, chess, carrom and boxing rugby.
The school has two boardings divided into three dormitories in both St Thomas Boy's and St Thomas Girl's School. Students of the school are often differentiated as "Boarders" and "Day scholars". The boarders attend regular studies in "Prepe" where school teachers have rotational duties. An annual "Social" is organized where the boys and girls (boarders) meet each other amidst music and dance.
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The school began life as the Charity School, on a site on which today stands the Scottish Church, in Dalhousie square, Calcutta, adjacent to Writer's Buildings. Later on the school premises moved to Free School Street. That site was sold and on the land stand the Food Department and the Free School St. Post Office and other buildings. A part of the St. Thomas' School still exists at the same site and is called St. Thomas Day School, as legally it is a branch of the main St. Thomas' School.
The Charity School and later, its successor, the "Free School" was founded for the children of Europeans and Anglo-Indians. The same objectives were embedded in the St. Thomas' School Society which succeeded the Free School. In 1923 the Bengal Legislative Assembly enacted the St. Thomas School Act of 1923 and the purposes of St. Thomas School were as follows, and no other : The education of European and Anglo-Indian children. The lease deed of the property known as "Kidderpore House" was signed between the Govt. of India and the St. Thomas' School Society the lease states that the property was given on lease in perpetuity for the purposes of St. Thomas' School land no other. The Governors had no power in the said lease to sub-let or dispose of the property to any person or body. In the years 1990-1991, the then nominated MLA of the Anglo-Indian community in West Bengal moved an amendment to the St. Thomas School Act 1923, which made certain changes in the act, and also gave power to the Governors to "sub-lease" the property, which they could not do and which would violate the terms and conditions of the original lease.
Taking advantage of the "amended" St. Thomas School Act 1923, the then Bishop of Calcutta, Revd. P.S.P. Raju went ahead to sub-lease 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of land to an "St. Thomas Engineering College" of which he was the Chairman too and which was his own pet project. Knowledgeable Anglo-Indians petitioned the West Bengal Minority Commission against this illegality and the transfer of the property was held up. Later on the Secretary of the St. Thomas Engineering College filed a police complaint against the Bishop Revd. P.S.P. Raju and the Bishop was arrested by the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station of Calcutta Police on fraud charges.
In the year 1984 the Board of Governors of St. Thomas School, were considering appointing a non-Anglo-Indian as Principal of the Boys' School. A large public body of Anglo-Indians protested against this appointment citing violation of Article 30 of the Constitution of India. The High Court of Calcutta accepted the case, with the observation that it appeared that there was substantial violations of the fundamental rights of the Anglo-Indian community. The Governors withdrew their project to install a non-Anglo-Indian as Principal. In subsequent years, because the Anglo-Indian community is getting weaker, the Principal of the Boys' School is Mr.John Ghosh who is a non-Anglo-Indian.
We are proud of St Thomas' and her colours in blue,
And our banner is proudly unfurled.
Our motto, it teaches a lesson so true,
Count'ring evil and self and the world.
We have pledged to be loyal and to stand side by side,
And to give of our best is our aim.
If we win or we lose, you can count on the Blues,
Being cheerful and playing the game.
Though the years of our stay shall be left far behind,
Naught will sever the links with our school;
We will join with those pupils whom then we shall find,
And our ties with them gratefully pool.
Present pupils and past, come sing loud in her praise,
All her glory let's proudly reveal;
And our prayers with sincerity, earnestly raise
For her future success and her weal.
We must always strive hard be it work or at play
And uphold what is noble and true
Let us each pass the torch at the close of our stay
Ever keeping the flame steady through
With the oldest of schools and the greater ones too
We can boast of achievements as fine
Let us strive for fresh honours and records good few
That will hold high our aim so sublime.
The schools have a house system for the students. Extracurricular activities involving competitions like school sports and quiz are performed by students representing their houses. There are six houses for the boy's school:
The houses for the girl's school are:
Named 'St. Thomas' Alumni Association' (STAA). Its internet web address is Facebook and Orkut
Another association working as an abroad chapter is 'St.Thomas' Old Pupils Association' (STOPA) They have an online portal on Facebook where ex-students living outside India stay connected.