The Annual Graduation Ceremony and the Prize Giving of Wycherley International School was held on June 30 2011 at the BMICH. It is one of the most looked forward to events in the School's academic calendar.

The Graduating Class of 2011 had many words of wisdom given to them by the Principal of the School Mr. Kingsley Jayasinghe. He told the students that "The aim of education is to teach us how to think and be able to transform ourselves to be useful members of society, free of petty prejudices. Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learnt in school". He continued saying "Put your education in its proper perspective. An enlightened education should train you into young men and women who will contribute their wisdom and knowledge, their amateur imagination skills to make a better world for the common good of all". He summed up his advice to the graduating class by quoting Abraham Lincoln who told his son's teacher, "Teach my son to lose and also to enjoy winning. In school teach him that it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat".

Mr. Jayasinghe elaborated on the progress of the school saying "We changed from Edexel to Cambridge O/Level Examinations in 2004 and I am happy to state that we had excellent results from 2004 to date. Last year 55 students from our school sat the Cambridge O/L Examination. We had 100% passes in all subjects offered other than Economics which had 88% passes and Additional Mathematics 90% passes. We had over 70% A & B grade passes in English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Studies, Accounts, Sinhala, Tamil and Geography. Altogether there were 57% A Star Grades.

We changed to Cambridge A/Levels from June 2010. At the June 2010 Cambridge A/L Examination we had 100% passes in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths with Mechanics, Maths with Statistics, Further Mathematics, Computer Studies, Accountancy, Business Studies, Economics and English Literature. These were the only subjects we offered in 2010. We had over 70% A & B grade passes in Chemistry, Biology, Further Maths, Physics and Maths with Mechanics, while in Computer Studies and Business Studies we had 100% A & B passes.

We introduced the Cambridge Primary Education Programme from September 2010. We are the pioneers in Sri Lanka to introduce Cambridge Education Programme from Grade 1 to O/Level and A/Level. We received the results of the Grade 8 Check Point Examination last week. We had excellent results and the details are available with the Head Mistress of the Junior School. Out of a total of 42 students, 11 students gained 6.0 points which is the maximum possible. 13 students gained 4.0 to 5.0 points which implied a very good performance.

Impressive buildings and the best of the facilities do not make a school what it is. Teachers play an important part, a fact often overlooked. Many dedicated teachers have been with us for a period of 10 - 20 years. Our staff, apart from being well qualified mentors, also caters to the physical and emotional needs of the child. The teachers very willingly give of their free time to teach the weaker ones and for that purpose they stay in after school and come on weekends and holidays for extra lessons. These efforts bear fruit in good examination results. As a devoted teacher there is no greater joy than when a student gets a good grade at an examination".

The Prize Giving which is the accompanying event of the Graduation Day saw the students from Grade 3 to Grade 12 carry away over 200 prizes. In the Junior School, the Prize Winners received prizes for the four main subjects namely: English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. The High School students had prizes for individual subjects with Special Awards for the Cambridge Check Point Exam at Grade 8 which was held for the first time. The proud winners were Vinuri Hapuhinne, Madhara Iddamalgoda and Hisham Siddeek.

Special awards were given on the Cambridge O/Level and A/Level results. Apart from that the Gold Medalist for the Best Performer at the Cambridge O/Level 2010 Examination was Vishnu Thiruchelvam. Vaneeshwar Rajamoorthy and Aanjalee Kalutotage shared the Shamil Jinasena Memorial Gold Medal for the Best Cambridge A/Level Examination result in 2010. The Overall Challenge Shield for the Best Performance in Academic and Sports Activities went to Athena House. There were Special Awards for Art, Singing, Oratory, Open Essay and General Knowledge. Special Long Service Awards were made to four members of the staff - Ms. M. Rambukpotha, Mrs. M. Ambawatte, Mr. R. Iddamalgoda and Mrs. C. Seneviratne on their completing 20 years of service to the school.

Wycherley was absolutely proud when she welcomed Dr. Kushwin Rajamani - an eminent Cardiologist in Sydney as the Chief Guest. He had his entire education at Wycherley and he specially flew down for this event. Wycherley is always proud of her students who shine in the world as stars. Kushwin reiterated with pride that Wycherley made him. Kushwin very emotionally said that his cherished and fondest memories are the period of his life in school at Wycherley.

He continued saying, " If you focus in doing well in school, it will play a big part in your future. If you do well in school right now, there will be many opportunities out there for you. It can help give you an edge in whatever career you choose. What matters finally are your qualifications, skills, experience, motivation and enthusiasm. Reach for the moon. If you miss it, you will land among the stars," he said. "Career choices and options are many. Your decision on career should be what you enjoy doing for the rest of your life. Hence you need to remain focused on what you want to achieve. When you have succeeded, pay back to your country and to the less fortunate", he reiterated.

An event of this nature always takes a look into the past and the present with a vision of the future. The graduating students have built friendships in the school that will last a lifetime while they have now come to a parting of their ways. The management hosted all those present to refreshments after the event. This helps to build a greater bond between parents of diversity. So comes an end to the Academic Year 2010/2011, with fervent hopes in all hearts that tomorrow will be better.