Welham Girls' School

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Welham Girls School
Artha shanti phala vidya (The aim of education is to bring peace)
Location
12 Circular Road
Dehradun-248001
India
Information
School type Independent north Indian boarding school
Religious affiliation(s) Secular
Founded 1957
Founder H.S. Olyphant
Sister school [Welham Boys' School, The Doon School]
Founder Principal G.M. Linnell
Gender Girls
Age 10 to 18
Number of students 600
Campus 12 acres
Houses 5
Colour(s) Blue and White

         

Mascot Kingfisher
Publication
  • News and Views
  • Delphic
  • Kshitij
Affiliation ICSE
ISC
Former pupils Welhamites
Telephone 91-135-2654754
Website http://www.welhamgirls.com

Welham Girls' School (previously known as Welham Girls' High School) is a traditional boarding school for girls located at the foothills of the Himalayas in Dehradun, India.[1] Established in 1957, it has progressed from being a school for privileged local girls to being a school that educates students mostly from North India.[2][3] The school was identified as one of the top performing schools country-wide based on academic performance,at the Indian School Certificate Examinations for 2013, the Indian school leaving examination conducted at the end of the K-12 system, by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.[4] [5] The girls refer to themselves as Welhamites.

History

Welham was named after the little Welsh village from where its Founder, Miss H. Oliphant hailed. A retired English head mistress, Oliphant started Welham Boys School in 1937. She was struck by The Lawrence School, Sanawar and lack of schools of similar quality for the girls around Dehradun. She acquired a palatial estate called Nasreen adjacent to Welham Boys School to start a small boarding school for girls. There were no funds, staff, or school buildings. Oliphant recruited another retired English lady, Miss Grace Mary Linnell to run the boarding school for girls. Ms.Linnell became the Founder Principal of Welham Girls School, which started in 1957.[6] Welham Girls’ High School, as it was known then, established itself as a full fledged boarding school. From its initial crop of 10 students, it has grown to over 600 students. The school, since its early years, has kept a very warm, healthy, and stable relationship with Welham Boys School, and this mutuality has developed a proactive emotional atmosphere for the girls against the Welham Boys. The relationship is now established as an extension to the school's prestige and tradition, and is quite evidently befitting the respective school's students' progression towards adulthood.

Houses

The houses—Bulbuls, Flycatchers, Hoopoes, Orioles and Woodpeckers—were named after popular birds that were widespread residents in Dehra Dun at the time Welham was established. There are regular competitions amongst the five Houses, which compete on the sports field and in a variety of other disciplines such as dance, music, debating, quizzing, dramatics. Each house is looked after by a House Mistress and a Matron, and headed by a two student officials - a house captain and a vice captain. Younger students live in a separate hostel called Holding House (also known as Kingfisher House). Junior and senior girls have separate hostels.

Extracurricular activities

Students volunteer once a week at Cheshire Homes for the Handicapped, Raphael-school for the blind and other charitable organizations.[7] There is also an organized social service program on campus run by campus officials appointed from the student community.[8] The school hosts competitive events amongst the 5 houses throughout the year in the sphere of sports and arts. Students are encouraged to organize and conduct a host of social welfare events and activities in school. Career Counseling and Life-skills Programmes can also be accessed.

Each student is expected to take up two activities each term. These include musical and creative activities such as craft, dramatics,sitar, tabla, vocal music, western music, bharatnatyam, kathak, folk dance and photography.[9]


Sports

These include basketball, hockey, badminton, lawn tennis, athletics, table tennis, karate, cricket and aerobics. The Basketball team has won numerous tournaments over the years, represented Uttrakhand at National Level and several students have been chosen for the India camp as well.[10]

Clubs and societies

  • Nature Club
  • Quiz Club
  • Photography Club
  • English Literary Society
  • Debating Society
  • Hindi Literary Society
  • Music Society

School magazine

The School magazines, News and Views in English and Kshitij in Hindi, are published in alternate months, as well as a science magazine, Delphic. Two issues of the magazine, "The Wall, are published each year. Additionally, the English Literary Society (YEL) produces its own literary publications, Chrysalis, twice a term. The School Annual is published in summer each year.

Exchange program

Welham has an exchange program with the Millfield School in England, a co- educational residential school. This year it started a new exchange program with th St Edwards School, Oxford. These programs are an important part of the school's educational program to expose the girls to different types of cultures.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "Rishi Valley ends Doon's legacy as best boarding school - India News - IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  2. ↑ "Award India: Gold completion in Welham Girls' School the largest in India: a peek into their Residential Project with HESCO". Gahs.in. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  3. ↑ http://educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-2369
  4. ↑ Top ranked ISC and ICSE Schools: http://www.thelearningpoint.net/home/examination-results-2013/top-icse-and-isc-schools-based-on-academic-performance
  5. ↑ Welham Girls' School of Uttarakhand tops in country in academics!: http://hillpost.in/2013/08/welhams-girls-of-uttarakhand-tops-in-country-in-academics/95305/
  6. ↑ History
  7. ↑ "Welham’s alumni fund surgery of guard’s son". Indian Express. 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  8. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Dehradun Plus". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  9. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Dehradun Plus". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  10. ↑ "YPS, Mohali cagers shine - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  11. ↑ "Old school skirt". Indian Express. Jun 24, 2006. 
  12. ↑ http://sd41.bc.ca/trustees/

External links

Coordinates: 30°18′59″N 78°03′23″E / 30.3163°N 78.0564°E / 30.3163; 78.0564

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