Campion School, Mumbai

Campion School
Gaudium in Veritate (Latin) - Joy in Truth
Location
13, Cooperage Road, Colaba, Mumbai India
Coordinates	18°55′30″N 72°49′48″E / 18.924870°N 72.829962°E / 18.924870; 72.829962
Information
Type	Private
Established	1943
Principal	Paul Machado
Staff	35
Faculty	50
Grades	Prep-10th
Number of students	800
Houses	Britto, Loyola, Xavier, Berchmans
Sports	Soccer, basketball, swimming, athletics, cricket
Affiliation	ICSE
Website	www.campionschool.in

Campion School is a private school for boys located in Colaba, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Established in 1943 by Rev. Fr. Joseph Savall of the Jesuits, the school is named after St. Edmund Campion, a 16th-century English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest.^[1]

In a 2009 pan-India survey of day schools conducted by Education World magazine, the school was ranked 4th in the country.^[2]

The school is housed in Wellesely House on Cooperage Road in the Fort neighborhood of South Mumbai. The school is across the street from Cooperage Ground, which is a major soccer stadium in Mumbai, as well as Oval Maidan which is a city landmark. The school currently has over 800 students and offers classes at elementary and secondary levels, ranging from preparatory to grade 10. It is affiliated with the ICSE school syllabus. Its primary language of instruction is English. In addition to academics, the school offers a wide range of co-curricular activities in soccer, cricket, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, music, drama, debates and elocution.

Notable alumni include leading industrialists, political figures, Bollywood film stars and artists.

History

Foundation and early Years (1943 to 1956)

Campion School was founded on 20 January 1943 by Father Joseph Savall, S.J. He had been the Principal of St. Mary's High School, Mazgaon for many years.

In 1942, the Society of Jesus had purchased Wellesely House on 13 Cooperage Road, with the specific purpose of housing Campion School in it. However due to opposition from tenants, the society had to look elsewhere to house the school. For almost five years, the school was run from a ground floor rented at 45 New Marine Lines until they were finally able to move into the original intended location at Cooperage Road in January 1948.

Within nine months of the inception of the school, the Department of Education granted the school official recognition and the school was registered under the Code of European Schools. Initially it was allowed to teach up to Standard IV with permission granted to add one standard every year until the highest form was reached.

The school grew steadily throughout the late 1940s with increasing enrollment. However, the school still lacked a full-time principal to direct its affairs. Father Conesa, who served as Principal after the founder Father Savall retired and returned to Europe in June, 1949, was also the Director of the Technical Institute at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. In December 1950 he stepped down from his role and the Jesuit authorities selected Father E.F. More S.J. to become the first full-time Principal of Campion School. Father More oversaw major renovations to Wellesely House including the acquisition of the second floor in 1954 and the addition of a fourth floor.

In 1956, Campion School attained the stature of a full-fledged high school with 382 children on its rolls. It was recognized by the University of Cambridge as an A-certificate school and by the S.S.C. Board, Pune. In the same year, the first batch of students appeared for the Senior Cambridge Overseas Examination. Eight students appeared for the exams and all of them passed. Five students secured Grade I, one secured Grade II and two secured Grade III.

Academics

The school year, which begins in May and ends in April, comprises 2 terms: May to October and October to April. The course of school studies extends from the Preparatory Class to Class 10. It is designed to prepare students for the ICSE Examination, conducted by the Council for the I.S.C. Examination, New Delhi.

In addition to English which is the primary language of instruction, Hindi is taught from Class 1 and Marathi, the regional language of the state of Maharashtra is compulsory from Class 1 to Class 8.

School badge

Campion School Badge

The school badge is in the form of a medieval shield. The shield has three major divisions, each with a different colour background and a scroll containing the school motto “Joy in Truth”. This motto is symbolically expressed by each of the three main divisions on the shield.

On the left side, against a red background is a rope shaped like a noose. It stands for the death of St. Edmund Campion, ostensibly for the love of Truth. On the right side, against a white background are three birds that stand for Joy while the star stands for Truth. Finally, at the base of the shield is to be found the motto of the Jesuits. It consists of the Holy Name of Jesus in abbreviated form. Contrary to the popular belief held by most students, the divisions and their background colors do not represent the color of the four school "houses".^[3]

School anthem

Campion calls, Campion calls to courage and high chivalry
Campion calls, Campion calls to shared responsibility
To peace, love and charity; To honour truth and loyalty
Campion calls, Campion calls, Campion calls to You and Me.

Fair school, thy gracious gifts for mind and soul let me not miss
We pray that all thy sons may reach their goal eternal bliss
There is a challenge every man must meet who walks by day
But Campion steers me, lest my wandering feet from grace should stray.

Campion calls, Campion calls to courage and high chivalry
Campion calls, Campion calls to shared responsibility
To peace, love and charity; To honour truth and loyalty
Campion calls, Campion calls, Campion calls to You and Me.^[4]

Principals

Fourteen people have held the position of principal at the school.^[5]

School organisations

The original three houses of the school are:

• Britto House (red), motto "Unity is power" - named after St. John de Brito
• Loyola House (white), motto "Now or Never" - named after St. Ignatius of Loyola
• Xavier House (blue), motto "Never Give in" - named after St. Xavier

A fourth house was added in the 1990s - Berchmans House (yellow) whose motto is "Service before self" - named after St. John Berchmans

Boys are assigned to a house when they join the School.

The School Council is a body established to put into practices the aims and objectives of the house system. The Council is made up of the School Captain and his Assistant, the House Prefects and their Assistants, the Leaders, the Class Monitor of the upper classes, and representatives of activities and organizations. It is purely an advisory body.

Campus

School organizations include:

• 43rd East Bombay Cub Packs: selection of recruits for five Cub Pack is made from the Primary section.
• 43rd East Bombay Scout Troop: the selection of recruits for the Scout Troop is made in the Secondary section. As a rule, students who have been cubs before, are given preference The Scout motto is "Be prepared".
• The 19th Mah. Junior NCC Air Wing and the 21st Troop Junior NCC Naval Unit 1st Mah. Bn. Wing: The NCC provides training for students with a view to developing in them officer-like qualities, thus enabling them to obtain commissions in the Armed Forces.
• The Road Safety Patrol (RSP), motto "We live to serve", provides service training to young men and women so as to stimulate interest in the safety of the people from accidents and to build up officers to enable the Police Force to expand at the time of emergency.
• The Junior Red Cross trains its members to care for their own health and that of others, and to help the sick and suffering, especially children.
• The Interact Club is a Junior branch of the Rotary movement and aims at fostering a sense of social concern and international understanding among young students. It undertakes relief projects on behalf of the underprivileged.
• Sanskar provides an opportunity to the students to follow and understand the cultural values of the ancient Indian Civilization.
• The Nature Club of India represents the Youth Wing of the World Wildlife Fund. Its aim is to make India's children aware of the economic, cultural and aesthetic value of national resources by spreading interest and knowledge about its wildlife rivers, forests and other natural resources.
• Elocution, Debating and Dramatics: trains students in public speaking, and developing dramatic talent among the students of the higher classes. Prizes are awarded to the best individual speakers both in English and in Hindi and to the best Class and House in Inter-Class, Inter-House Elocution, Dramatic and General Knowledge competitions.
• The Campion Review is issued half yearly to foster the literary talent of the students. The Journal is managed by an Editorial Board and provides news reports.
• The School Band, instituted by the late Fr. E.F. More, S.J, was revived in 1996. The band plays at school functions such as the Republic Day parade, Independence Day and the Annual Athletics Meet.
• The Audio-Visual Instruction Room is used for practical and demonstration work. The screening of educational films and documentaries is a regular feature. A Video Cassette Recorder is installed here so that tapes can be screened.
• Games and Sports: the school has a gymnasium where all boys of the Senior School have a programme of physical education. The boys play basketball, football, cricket, badminton, table-tennis and lawn tennis. There are annual meets for athletics aquatics and a Junior Sports Festival.

• 

  Main building in 1987

• 

  Backgarden, view from school terrace

• 

  Backgarden's oldest tree

Notable alumni

Shashi Tharoor: Former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information

• Business and Industry:
  • Ratan Tata - Chairman, Tata Group^[6]
  • Kumar Mangalam Birla - Chairman, Aditya Birla Group^[7]
  • Bhaskar Pramanik - Chairman, Microsoft India^[8]
  • Keki Mistry - Vice Chairman & CEO, HDFC^[7]
  • Farrokh K. Kavarana - Director, Tata Sons & Tata Industries Ltd.
  • Niranjan Hiranandani - Managing Director, Hiranandani Group
  • Juzar Khorakiwala - Chairman & Managing Director, Biostadt India Ltd.
  • Neville Taraporewala - Country Head, Yahoo India
  • Pramit Jhaveri - CEO, Citi India
  • Vikram Parikh - Managing Principal, Global Catalyst Partners
  • Alok Kejriwal - Founder & CEO, Contests2Win.com
• Politics:
  • Shashi Tharoor - Member of Parliament, Former Minister of State in the Union Government, Former Indian diplomat^[9]
  • Praful Patel - Ex-Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India^[10]
  • Jyotiraditya Scindia - politician and former Maharaja of Gwalior^[11]
• Film and Fashion:
  • Vivek Vaswani - Bollywood actor, producer
  • Jugal Hansraj - Bollywood actor
  • Randhir Kapoor - Bollywood actor, producer and director^[12]
  • Rajiv Kapoor - Bollywood actor
  • Rishi Kapoor - Bollywood actor^[13]
  • Ranjit Chowdhry - Bollywood and Hollywood actor, screenwriter
  • Sanjay Gadhvi - Bollywood Director
  • Atul Kasbekar - Noted Photographer ^[14]
  • Tarun Tahiliani - Indian fashion designer^[15]
  • Kaizen Writer - Reality television star, participant in NDTV's Swissmade Challenge

Rajdeep Sardesai: a well-known Indian journalist

• Literature, Theatre and Journalism:
  • Dom Moraes - Popular Goan writer and poet
  • Maxim Mazumdar - Dramatist and playwright and founder of the now-folded Phoenix Theatre in Montreal, Canada
  • Rajdeep Sardesai - Journalist and recipient of the Padma Shri in 2007 for his contributions to Indian journalism
• Science:
  • Dr Adi Bulsara - Physicist who has made important contributions to the field of nonlinear dynamics.^[16]
  • Dr. Vikram Patel - Leading psychiatrist and recipient of Rhodes Scholarship and MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for Leadership
  • Dr. Burzin S. Morris - Respected Family Physician, Radiologist and author for Australasian Radiology

Development

• Sport:
  • Soli Colah - squash player
  • Hirji Nagarwalla - Indian athlete (represented India at the 1986 Asian Games, held in Seoul)
• Military:
  • Air Marshal Adi Gandhi - Youngest pilot to be awarded the Vir Chakra
  • Rear Admiral Mahendra Pratap Taneja - Current Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area

References in popular culture

The school is mentioned in Salman Rushdie's book The Moor's Last Sigh as a school for boys from "good homes".^[17] Other schools mentioned in a similar context are Cathedral and John Connon School and Walsingham House School.^[17]

References

External links

• Official website
• Alumni website
• Campion sites