All Saints’ College, Galle is an Inspiration to those who are mundane and ordinary in social standing but strong and elite in character. All Saints College in the Southern coastal city of Galle is located in the secluded but highly accessible Galle Dutch Fort. The School was launched by the Anglican Church under the patronage [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

All Saints’ Galle is an inspiration to the ordinary and mundane

By Sujitha Miranda
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All Saints’ College, Galle is an Inspiration to those who are mundane and ordinary in social standing but strong and elite in character.

All Saints College in the Southern coastal city of Galle is located in the secluded but highly accessible Galle Dutch Fort. The School was launched by the Anglican Church under the patronage of Lord Peter in 1867 with 137 students. Reliable sources reveal that All Saints’ initially catered to the children of the Dutch trading community nestled in the Galle Fort at the time. As a Catholic school at the start All Saints was managed by a principal appointed by the British Chamber. Undoubtedly, All Saints was one of the most pristine schools in the Galle district at the time.

Owing to the political, social and cultural changes All Saints’ was transformed into a state owned institution on January 9, 1959.
All Saints’ College, which later became a central school, has produced some extraordinary personalities, who excelled and glorified the nation in a number of spheres. These include R.L. Spittel, a prominent writer, anthropologist and surgeon, a former Governor of Sri Lanka, Sir Oliver Gunatilake , Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former President of the Maldives, a brilliant footballer, D.K. Podimahattaya

The Students who got through the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination, 2012

and Sir Marken Marikar, a distinguished and celebrated Muslim leader among others not far behind in fame and importance.
W.A.D.A. Gunathilake was the principal of the school between 1991 and 1993 and the gentleman who saw to the radical changes that brought All Saints’ to its current status among the prominent schools in Galle.

Harold Wijesinghe who held the reins for long, productive ten years from 1993 carried forward the transformation of the school with his ardent and discreet management, which initiated a programme to raise school funds for development projects.

S. Kulasinghe, who followed suit, raised the all important academic standards of the school during his visionary tenure. The school admissions boosted and slowly but surely All Saints’ threatened to surpass some of the leading schools in town.

The Present Principal Mr.C.D. Nagahawatte

Currently, C.D. Nagahawatte, (MEd. OUSL) the principal, serves the school with unwavering enthusiasm and unattainable levels of energy. He is ably assisted by W.C. Abeygunawardena, Deputy Principal and an IT scholar of the highest caliber, who was the winner of ‘Innovation in Content’ at the 7th Asia Pacific Regional Innovation Educational Forum by Microsoft in March 2011 and K.H. Dinesh Kumara, Deputy Principal and a Science Academic. Three assistant principals, Sectional heads, Heads of departments look after the smooth functioning of the school while the expert, competent and diligent 65 tutorial staff amply caters to the educational, psychological and sociological needs of the boy students who number 1585 eager, possessing respectful and reflective minds and aged 6 to 18.

The school offers physical and bio sciences, commerce subjects and an art stream for A/L students of Grades 13 and 12. The Primary currently partly held in a different location quite close to the school, due to pressing space issues, contains either two or three parallel classes in each grade from 1 to 5.

College Western Band

Science A/L classes started in 1990 and the school was graded as 1AB. In 2006, Mohommed Iflan secured district 5th rank at G.C.E A/L. The computer laboratory is currently among the 20 best school laboratories in the island. All Saints was ranked 9th among

Provincial schools at G.C.E O/L in 2011. Thulana Panditha of Grade 5 achieved 9th place in the district at the Grade 5th Scholarship Examination, 2012 which 13 others also passed. The College Dancing Troupe was placed 2nd at All Island Dancing Competitions in the Low Country Dancing category and

The College Dancing Group which took the All Island Second Place in 2012

won a Provincial award in the same competitions as well.

The Aesthetics unit sharpens the skills of students in music and singing, dancing and drama, literary appreciation in Sinhala and English media and the mass media as well. Sports are as diverse as cricket – the School Eleven have played Big Matches with St. Aloysius, Galle in our heyday, football – All Saints’ is renowned for the sport, volleyball, swimming and chess – having achievers at various levels, and all these with a marked lack of facilities having neither a school ground nor a swimming pool, not even a main hall!
An array of Clubs and Societies function with the purpose of recognizing, fine tuning and establishing scattered talents. The Media Unit seeks out budding talents in news

casting and commentating. The Cub Scouts carry forward the ways of Lord Baden Powel. The Photographic Club covers school events in a bid to attain professionalism. The Environmental Club is hoarse calling to stop pollution. The Buddhist Society, the Science Society, the Commerce

Board of Prefects

Society, the Astronomical Society – proud owners of a powerful optical telescope, the School Cadet Corps, the Junior and Senior Eastern and Western School Bands and the Sinhala and English Literary Club have all stuck to their respective agendas.

All Saints’ strive to be well subdued in a quest to find self refuge as suggested in their Motto (Attahi attano natho). At All Saints’ their acreage maybe among the smallest – only 67 perches, but their heritage is among the longest, 150 years!




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