St. Peter’s Mat. Hr. Secondary School – Kodaikanal, South India – a home away from home set in a lush, green, quiet town high up in the hills

My sister and I joined the school with the fear and anxiety of being in a foreign country, in a completely new environment away from our parents and friends. But it didn’t take long for us to realise that we had indeed landed in a magical place.

Over the course of years I learnt many things at the school and it has helped shape me to be the independent man I am today. The school’s friendly staff were like family to us. The correspondent Mr. Sambabu and his beautiful family treated us like we were their own children – with love, respect and kindness. I was taught the important of punctuality, discipline & honestly. Key ingredients in my day to day life of a freelancer as I interact with people at various levels from all around the world. St. Peter’s school offers various types of support and guidance to help a student grow mentally, spiritually and physically. We were taught to have determination and encouraged to face our fears – mine was math. I was given extra coaching and ample practise to over my fear and begin to love learning. Which helped me right through college as I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Applications, followed by my Master’s Degree in Mass Communications both at prestigious Indian universities.

Alongside school life was our hostel life – which was probably some of the best years of my childhood. We were always happy and had so much of good clean fun. The quality of food provided by the school hostel was exceptional. The hostel wardens were kind and straight forward. The quality of the teachers were exceptional – each a master at what they taught and knew how to engage the students well.

The school was strict when it came to lessons and made sure no one was left behind. We would have study hours before and after the school hours and also have weekly tests to ensure we were on track. Our weekly lessons had the correct balance of theory as well as practical lesson in their well-equipped chemistry, physics and computer labs. The school library boasts of a wide selection of books which catered for all levels of readers – books ranging from fiction to religious to newspapers and magazines. Over the years the school had produced many state and national level rank holders in all areas of study earning many accolades to the school.

St. Peter’s was not all about books. We were actively involved with various clubs such as the Green Circle Club, were a part of the Rotract club among many others. Students were given the opportunity to learn music and even put on shows whenever the chance was available. Bands from school took part in musical competitions, winning many awards

Sports was also a major thing in school with fully equipped sporting areas manned by professional coaches ranging from football, basketball, badminton, table tennis, track and field and of course cricket. We also had ready access to golf, horse riding, trekking and boat racing. In fact St. Peter’s school held many sporting records which included regular winners at the annual Regatta (boat race), track and field records and even in football and basketball with teams regularly competing at zonal, district and even at state level.

We were taught the importance of team work and were put into 1 of 4 houses: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We were then able to cultivate the feeling of togetherness as we strived to gain points for our respective houses both in academics and in sport. The annual School Sports Day was a show case of the mighty houses as the students would take part in a march-past and also put on various demonstrations.

We would have our assembly every morning and were constantly taught the importance of appearance – clean shoes and smartly dressed. The assembly consisted of a board of student prefects lead by the head boy/girl.

At St. Peter’s School we were given to chance to experience event management first hand – as the students played an active role in organizing bon fire nights, special events, celebrating festivities and even helping organise the annual Parent’s Day functions.

All in all St. Peter’s school was a fascinating experience and I will be for ever grateful for the time I spent there among friends & family. Like myself, we had students from various part of the globe and each and every single student shared the same opinion.

With international standards Peter’s School is a wonderful place for a child learn and grow. I only wish I had joined the school sooner!

Shendrew S Balendran
Sri Lanka.

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