Lawrence School, Sanawar

The Lawrence School, Sanawar
School motto Never Give In
Location
Kasauli Hills, Himachal Pradesh India
Information
Type	Public school
Established	15 April 1847
School district	Solan
Staff	70
Grades	Lower Three - Upper Six
Number of students	700
Colour(s)	Red and White
Affiliation	All India CBSE
Founder	Henry Montgomery Lawrence
Houses	Himalaya, Nilagiri, Siwalik, Vindhya
Headmaster	Praveen Vashisht
Website	http://www.sanawar.edu.in

The Lawrence School is situated in Sanawar, adjacent to Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, India. It was founded by Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence of the Indian Army of British India and was established on 15 April 1847.

The school has educated many notable people. It is a co-educational, residential public school, affiliated to India's Central Board of Secondary Education.

The government of India recognised the school with the issue of a commemorative stamp and first-day cover on October 3, 1997, marking the school's sesquicentennial year.

Henry Lawrence wanted to establish a chain of schools to educate the children of soldiers serving the British and Indian Armies in India. Lawrence was himself killed in the Indian rebellion of 1857. His dream took shape, and four such schools, initially known as Lawrence Military Asylum, were established in India: the first two during his lifetime in 1847 at Sanawar and the second at Mount Abu in 1856; the third at Lovedale, near Ootacamund on 6 September 1858, and the fourth in Ghora Gali (near Murree, now in Pakistan) in 1860.

History

Founded by Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence and Lady Honoria Lawrence, Sanawar is believed to be the first co-educational boarding school in the world.^{[citation needed]} On 15 April 1847, a group of 14 boys and girls camped at the top of the foothills of the Himalayas. They lived under canvas for some weeks, waiting for the first buildings to be completed before the arrival of the monsoon. By 1853, the school had grown to 195 pupils when it was presented with the King's Colour, one of only six schools and colleges ever to be so honoured in the British Empire (the others being Eton, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, the Duke of York's Royal Military School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst).^{[citation needed]} Sanawar has held its Colour for the longest unbroken period.^{[citation needed]}

From its foundation, the financial burden of the school was borne by Lawrence until his death in 1857, when the government assumed responsibility as a mark of esteem to his memory.^{[citation needed]} Under these arrangements, control of the school passed from the Board of Directors to the Crown. This was a most unusual arrangement, not repeated in any English public school.^{[citation needed]}

School motto, Lawrence School, Sanawar.

The tradition of military training at Sanawar has always been strong and was of such a high standard that several contingents of boys were enlisted from the school and sent straight to the battlefields of the First World War.^{[citation needed]} In appreciation of this, the school was redesignated in 1920 as the "Lawrence Royal Military School" and, in 1922, the Prince of Wales presented the school with new Colours. The school Colour continues to this day to be trooped at the Founders' Celebration in early October, and Sanawar pupils continue to make a major contribution to the defence of the country.^{[citation needed]}

Sanawar's centenary year (1947) was crucial to the development of the school. With Indian independence, the bulk of the staff and children at Sanawar returned to Britain.^{[citation needed]} However, the then-Governor General, Lord Louis Mountbatten, presided at the centenary celebrations and read out a message from King George VI. Thereafter, control of the school passed from the Crown to the Government of India's Ministry of Defence. A further transfer in 1949 brought the school under the control of the Ministry of Education and subsequently, in 1953, to the autonomous Lawrence School (Sanawar) Society.^{[citation needed]}

Sanawar retains strong links with its past. The chairman of the Society is the Secretary for Education, Government of India^{[citation needed]} and, at the sesquicentennial celebrations in 1997, a message of congratulations was received from the Prince of Wales.^{[citation needed]}

The first principal of the school was the Rev. W. J. Parker, (1848–1863). Notable events during his period include the first Founder's Day in 1849 and the opening of the chapel in 1851. Parker was followed by the Rev. J. Cole (1864–1886), the Rev. A. Hilldersley (1886–1912) and the Rev. G. D. Barne (1912–1932) who developed Sanawar into a major public school along English lines, with house and prefectorial systems, games on an organised basis, and a curriculum working towards Cambridge University examinations.^{[citation needed]}

The school continued to evolve and modernise throughout the middle and later years of the twentieth century.^{[citation needed]} In 1956, E. G. Carter retired as principal and was succeeded by Major R. Som Dutt (1956–1970), the school's first Indian headmaster. He laid the foundations for the school as it is today. Developments have continued since that time, most notably under the leadership of S. R. Das (1974–1988).^{[citation needed]}

Campus

Sanawar is situated on an independent hill spread over 139 acres (0.56 km²), about 3 kilometres from Kasauli City. The Birdwood School, a British-era building that houses the classrooms, covers an approximate area of 1-acre (4,000 m²), with no discrimination over space allocation between boys and girls. Situated on the first floor of the Birdwood School is the Barne Hall, an auditorium with two levels of seating facing a raised stage, on which the house shows, debates, quizzes and cultural performances are enacted. Extracurricular subjects such as art and sculpture are taught in spacious workshops, a little removed from the Birdwood School.

Academics

The school is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi.^{[citation needed]}

There is a growing emphasis on the audio-visual aids in education at Sanawar.^{[citation needed]}

Old Sanawarians

See List of Old Sanawarians and Category:Old Sanawarians

External links

• Official website
• Article on Sanawar in The Tribune
• Sanawar in The Times Of India
• Sanawar at odds with itself
• Sanawar article