Welham Girls' School

Welham Girls' School (previously Welham Girls' High School) is a private boarding school for girls located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.[1] Established in 1957, it has progressed from being a school for privileged local girls to being a school that educates students mostly from North India.[2][3] It was identified as one of the top-performing schools country-wide based on academic performance, at the Indian School Certificate Examinations for 2013, the Indian school leaving examination conducted at the end of the K-12 system, by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.[4][5]

Welham Girls' School
Location
12 Circular Road
Dehradun-248001
India
Information
School typeIndependent
MottoSanskrit: Artha shanti phala vidya (The aim of education is to bring peace)
Religious affiliation(s)Secular
Founded1957
FounderH.S. Oliphant
Current PrincipalPadmini Sambasivam
Founder PrincipalGrace Mary Linnel
GenderGirls
Age10 to 18
Number of students550
Campus12 acres
Houses5
Colour(s)Blue and White    
MascotKingfisher
Publication
  • News and Views
  • Chrysalis
  • Techkey
  • Delphic
  • Kshitij
AffiliationICSE
ISC
Former pupilsWelhamites
Websitewww.welhamgirls.com

History

Welham was named after the little Welsh village from where its founder, H.S. Oliphant hailed. A retired English headmistress, Oliphant started Welham Boys' School in 1937. She was struck by The Lawrence School, Sanawar and lack of schools of similar quality for the girls around Dehradun.

She acquired a palatial estate called Nasreen adjacent to Welham Boys' School to start a small boarding school for girls. There were no funds, staff, or school buildings. Oliphant recruited another retired English woman, Grace Mary Linnel, to run the boarding school for girls. Linnel became the founder principal of Welham Girls School, which started in 1957.[6] She was later awarded a Padma Shri for her contribution to education of girls. Welham Girls’ High School, as it was known then, established itself as a full-fledged boarding school. From its initial crop of 10 students, it has grown to over 550 students.

Houses

Like British boarding schools, Welham follows the house system. The school has 5 houses named after the popular birds found in the Doon Valley: Bulbuls, Flycatchers, Hoopoes, Orioles and Woodpeckers. The school emblem is also a bird, the kingfisher, which also lends its blue color as the school color. The house colors are also taken from the birds they are named after, red for Bulbuls, white for Flycatchers, deep yellow for Hoopoes, bright yellow for Orioles and green for Woodpeckers. There are regular competitions between the houses in disciplines such as sports, dance, music, debating, quizzing, dramatics. Each house is looked after by a house mistress and a matron and headed by a two student officials — a house captain and a vice captain. Junior and senior girls have separate hostels.

Extracurricular activities

Students volunteer at local charities, such as Cheshire Home for the Handicapped and Raphael, a school for the blind and other charitable organizations. There is also an organized social service program on campus run by campus officials.

The school hosts competitive events amongst the five houses throughout the year in the sphere of sports and arts. Career counseling and life-skills programmes are offered.

Each student is expected to take up two activities each term. These include musical and creative activities such as craft, dramatics, sitar, tabla, vocal music, western music, bharatnatyam, kathak, folk dance and photography.[7]

Sports

These include basketball, hockey, swimming, badminton, lawn tennis, athletics, table tennis, karate, shooting and aerobics. "The Tribune, India". Tribuneindia.com. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.The basketball team has won numerous tournaments over the years and represented Uttrakhand at the national level. Several students have been chosen for the India camp as well.[8]

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme is a programme that the school offers to its students.

Clubs and societies

There are multiple opportunities for girls to explore. Being involved in activities is an essential aspect of being a Welhamite. Students get involved in these activities from their first day in school. The activities on campus are:

  • Nature Club
  • Quiz Club
  • English Debating
  • Hindi Debating
  • Music: Indian Classical (vocal), Sitar, Western Vocals, Western Instrumental
  • Dance: Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Folkdance, Contemporary
  • Craft
  • Photography
  • Computers
  • French
  • Dramatics


Publications

The school newspapers, News and Views in English and Kshitij in Hindi, are published every month, as well as a science magazine, Delphic. A technology-based publication, 'The Tech-Key' is also published 4 times a year. It is the newest addition in school, having started in April 2019. Two issues of the magazine The Wall are published each year. Additionally, the school publishes an English literary and art publication, Chrysalis, twice a term. The School Annual is published in summer each year.

Exchange programme

Welham runs an exchange program with some schools in the UK and United States. These include: Millfield School in England, a co-educational residential school; Downe House School in Berkshire, UK; Groton School in Massachusetts, USA. These form an important part of the school's educational program to expose the girls to different cultures.

Notable alumnae

Politics

Film

Journalism

Sports

Art

See also

References
  1. "Rishi Valley ends Doon's legacy as best boarding school - India News - IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  2. "Award India: Gold completion in Welham Girls' School the largest in India: a peek into their Residential Project with HESCO". Gahs.in. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  3. http://educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-2369
  4. Top ranked ISC and ICSE Schools: http://www.thelearningpoint.net/home/examination-results-2013/top-icse-and-isc-schools-based-on-academic-performance
  5. Welham Girls' School of Uttarakhand tops in country in academics!: http://hillpost.in/2013/08/welhams-girls-of-uttarakhand-tops-in-country-in-academics/95305/
  6. "History".
  7. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Dehradun Plus". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  8. "YPS, Mohali cagers shine - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  9. "Old school skirt". Indian Express. 24 June 2006.
  10. "Weaving a success story". The Financial Express. 4 September 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  11. "Business Standard". Business Standard. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.

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