Principal’s Report for Prize Giving 2019   Chaplain, members of the Trinity College Board of Governors, Chief Guest and Mrs Gunaratne, distinguished guests, teachers, parents, and Boys and Old Boys of this great Institution. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this year’s Prize Giving at Trinity College, Kandy. To begin with, let me say a few words about our Chief Guest to you: Maithri Gunaratne was Educated at S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia and then at Law College in Sri Lanka. He is a distinguished Criminal Lawyer and member of the Attorney General’s Department. He has also been a member of the Southern Provincial council for 15 years. Mr Gunaratne has held a number of non-legal positions; most notably, as Chairman of Lanka Coal Company, and Mineral Sands Corporation, both Government-owned corporations. Mr Gunaratne was recently appointed a “Presidents Council” the highest distinction for a lawyer in Sri Lanka. And he has also just become Governor of the Central Province. Sir, please forgive me for saying this… as an illustrious alumnus of the institution known as the “School by the Sea”, it is both a pleasure and an honour to welcome you to the institution simply known as “the best School of all”! Before I ask the Governor to say a few words let me speak about the past year and share with you my updated vision for the future of Trinity College. There is so much happening here at the school now that I cannot possibly refer to it all now as we would be here all night if I did. The full version of my Report on the Year will once again be published on the College website though even that cannot cover everything that has been going on. I am pleased to say that so many important developments are now happening at Trinity. All these have been introduced for the benefit of the boys and with the intention of restoring Trinity to its rightful position. We must never forget that children primarily come to school to work, even though extra-curricular activities remain valuable and enjoyable. In the past, maybe exam results did not matter that much for many Trinitians. There were plenty of opportunities to be successful without them. However, the world has completely changed. Nowadays, if children are to achieve any sort of career success, they will almost certainly need a degree. If not, in this rapidly changing world, they will simply not be able to impress potential employers, even if they have been to Trinity. New initiatives in 2018 There are far too many new initiatives taking place at Trinity to list them all here. Some of them are purely academic – including the introduction of London A Levels and of new technology-based subjects in the Local system. More and more boys in the Junior and Middle School are now opting for English Medium, though that does not mean we will be getting rid of either Sinhala or Tamil medium, assuming that there is demand for them. And in the Junior School, thanks to the generosity of Old Boys, before the end of 2019, there will be state-of-the-art Smartboards in every classroom in the Junior School; linked to this, all boys at this level are now benefiting from a completely new IT syllabus, put together by Chamira Athauda, our Director of IT, and Dr Asitha Bandaranaike, an Old Boy working at Peradeniya. He is also a Junior School parent and the new secretary of the PTA. From this year, even our 5-year-olds in Grade 1 are being introduced to Programming and Coding. And our Grade 5 boys are now basically doing the same level of computing as those currently doing Local A Level IT. In terms of extra-curricular initiatives, we are now offering about a hundred different clubs & Societies at the school. Whilst many of these have been part of Trinity for generations, a number are brand new to Trinity, reflecting interests of the teachers as well as the changing world we now live in. So alongside old favourites like the TCLA, Young Farmers’, Astronomy, Automotive, Commerce, Western and Oriental Music and Heritage Societies, we now offer ones as diverse as Design, Media, Young Inventors, Environment, Aquatic, Culinary, Model United Nations and the Peace Circle. And, of course, there are a number of Technology-based Societies too, at all levels of the school. Whilst Senior boys are strongly encouraged to take part in as many of them as they can, all boys in the Junior and Middle School are now required to select 4 different Clubs & Societies to do each week during the period after lunch. Involvement in all these activities will certainly help boys to develop holistically and creatively, thereby becoming more rounded and interesting people. They should also be enjoyable and stimulating too! Also, we are also reinvigorating Social Service, for so long a vital component of Trinity life. It was one of many things which had faded away, but which we are now revitalising. For me, it is crucial that our boys grow up with an understanding that they need to display genuine care and concern for those who are not so fortunate. We are actually now starting this at the very bottom of the school. Following examples found in other countries, our Kindergarten boys are now regularly going to visit an Elders’ Home nearby. Not only do the elders love spending time with the little ones, but the children have a great time too. Admissions Admission to Trinity is more competitive than ever. So it is vital that the whole process is transparent, comprehensible and (above all) fair. I am very grateful to the Admissions Committee for their professionalism, integrity and hard work last year. I can assure everyone that the process was conducted in a totally fair and honest way and the objective points system which was brought in by the Board for Grade 1 was rigidly adhered to by all members of