“School is a building which has four walls with tomorrow inside.” – Lon Watters

School plays a major role in the lives of every person who has gone through institutionalized education. You come to learn that ‘school’ is more of a community than a place, as some relationships we form during school time last for a lifetime. Asa toddler or school child, you enter the school environment and it becomes your first sub-cultural experience and the first taste of society.

This community has a large impact during your developing years and, eventually, it helps you become who you are. That is why your school becomes the home away from home, and teachers become the second set of parents. Humans are constantly learning, irrespective of whether they are in school or not. But school provides you a structure, a hierarchy to fit into and follow; it also provides you with an opportunity to reach potential, find leadership and overcome challenges.

It gives you the first feelings of belonging to a community, outside your biological family. From the moment we are born until we draw our last breath, we are engaged in a continuous process of observing, adapting, and evaluating information in our surroundings. This process is unconscious and disorderly, but school helps to bring order to that insanity.

This opportunity to learn, unlearn and re-learn, as well as the magic of discovering the knowledge outside, and within you, is why a student falls in love with his/her school. Not only the strict rules and discipline of the school, but the ample opportunities to explore the unknown, and the freedom, help forge an unbreakable attachment to the school.

From Rowling's Hogwarts to Blyton’s St. Clare's, all dream schools are a combination of discipline and adventure. With time, students may get disenchanted with the idea of learning, especially as they begin to associate learning with examinations, test scores, and GPAs. But the school community rectifies this by allowing them the opportunity, to pursue co-curricular &extracurricular activities.

They are given opportunities to polish their physical, social, and soft skills through these activities. So each student may find a reason to be in school because they love it, not because they must. The educational system exposes children to less than exciting environments, especially those who struggle to compete with their peers, or struggle to socialize, making such children less than interested in being at school. Hence, the schools offer a range of activities to encourage them and accommodate them. Education is not limited to subject knowledge and textbooks.

It must be wholesome and should focus on the overall development of the child. Sadly, the education system today has slightly deviated from this purpose. But there are many who try to break away from result-oriented education and focus on delayed gratification. School education is an investment for the future. School time is an incredibly unique period, which you turn back to with a sense of nostalgia.

It is quite natural to feel the urge to contribute something to the school community or pay back, in gratitude for the privilege you are given, as a student or as an adult. As I mentioned earlier, you register the feeling of the school being a home away from home, because of the caring environment, and how invested the teachers are in a student's future.

The best gift you receive from a school is the opportunity to meet incredible people, be it your teachers or fellow students. It allows you to fashion yourself as a better version of yourself, every passing second. Students are motivated to pursue education and knowledge, under the constant guidance of a house of people/educators, who can be reached at any given time and who are ever ready to assist and facilitate the students.

At schools, students are offered a myriad ofdifferentlearning methods, with the purpose of producing a wholesome and skilled individual. It has been clearly established that, if a school stands by its students and makes them their first priority, students & parents make the school their priority. So it is important that children, as students, learn to value their school and understand what a privilege it is to be a part of that particular school.

As teachers and parents, it is our duty to instill that love for the school in the students, by teaching them to respect everything, from the school uniform to its motto, to its vision. This feeling will enable the child to become successful in life and bring pride to their alma mater. Parents and students must contribute to the development and progress of the school and volunteer to aid the school in times of need. Also, it is important that you behave in a way, which reflects the genuine sense of tradition and class inculcated in you, by the school.

At Lyceum international schools, we consider the entire Lyceum community to be one family, and we care for each other and respect each other, as one great interconnected community. The school management treats the staff with respect and admiration and works hard to provide the best opportunities for its students. The academic staff focuses on improving the students and providing the highest quality of education.

Our only expectation is to produce a successful future generation that loves its roots, school, and country and seeks to be the best at what they do. We are proud of the achievements of our students, and we humbly expect the support of our students and parents, in working towards the betterment of the school and the students.

Chandana Basnayaka
Supervisory Principal
Lyceum International Schools