Northwood College ends year with ‘ARUNALU’ Concert, Inaugural Prize giving and Christmas carols

9 February 2015 11:03 am Views - 2399

The Northwood College ended the year 2014 successfully with the annual ‘ARUNALU’ 2014 concert and an inaugural prize giving.  Amidst  the distinguished gathering which took place recently, S. Dandeniya, the Principal of Musaeus College graced the occasion as the Chief Guest while Guest of Honour, Sumathi Dharmawardene and Rohini Alles were also present together with special invitees, parents, corporate partners and other well-wishers who came together to celebrate the evening.



The day’s proceedings began with the lighting of the traditional oil lamp amidst hewisi drummers, the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour were then escorted to the event by Nirmala Liyanage, the Principal of Northwood College, along with Hussain Sadique, Founder Director of Northwood College and the college staff.


Religious observations were followed by the school song and the curtains were raised for the evening’s celebration which began with a dazzling Pooja dance performed by the students of Grades 1 and 3. The Northwood Principal’s report and address by the Founder Director led to the next item on the agenda which was to bid farewell and best wishes to all the Upper Kindergarten students  who said goodbye to Northwood Pre-school. The students performed a goodbye song and the school presented them with a certificate of completion. 


The main highlight of the evening was the prize giving ceremony which recognized the achievers of the 2014 academic year. This was followed by a speech by the Chief Guest S. Dandeniya who commended the immense progress that the school has made over a short span of time. She went on to wish the school the very best for the future, advising that every leading school has had a challenging start, and instead of getting disheartened with challenges, Northwood College has moved forward and continued its journey. After a short break, the second half of the evening began with the school children staging a performance of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ which featured a total of 150 students from Nursery to Grade 7.



The drama was directed and choreographed by veteran playwright Jerome, L. de Silva, whose tireless efforts to coach the students resulted in a fantastic display of talent and an exceptional performance. Following the speech by the Guest of Honour, the evening came to an end with the management appreciating and acknowledging the staff who had served the school since its inception. In addition, the evening also saw the launch of the official website of the college - www.northwoodcollege.lk  


During the year, Northwood College has carried out several academic and extracurricular activities such as sports meets, Avurudu celebrations, Earth Day and Independence Day commemorations and a Vesak Dhansala, which helped the school, engage with the community. As a key initiative, the ‘Leader In Me’ programme based on the best-selling book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Dr. Stephen R. Covey was also initiated, in order to nurture students from a very early age, providing them with a good, structured programme to develop self-confidence and leadership qualities. 



To conclude the year, the Northwood family came together and stepped into the festive mood of Christmas by presenting a Christmas carol event where Sandhya Dharmadasa and Mahesh Dharmadasa, Directors of the Nawaloka Group graced the occasion as Chief Guests. A large gathering of parents, well-wishers and special invitees also attended the event.


Students from Nursery to Grade 7 passionately took part in singing carols while the nativity play signified the main reason for the celebration by depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. The Principal and staff of Northwood College also took part in the celebration by presenting three Christmas carols and the atmosphere at the school premises was illuminated with colourful lights, a traditional Christmas tree, and little children dressed as angels and Christmas trees. Christmas events are never complete without a visit from Santa and the evening came to an end with Santa Claus surprising the guests and giving away gifts and sweets to all the children.



The Hameedia Group, the main corporate sponsors of Northwood College, comprises a team of committed professionals holding key positions on the school’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will expand in the future, by inviting individuals and corporates who are passionate about education and want to contribute to society in some way. Northwood’s reputation and its number of students have grown drastically since the school’s inception and Northwood now conducts classes from pre-school to Grade 8, and will continue to grow further. The pre-school and day care centre are situated in Battaramulla, while the classes are conducted at No. 103, Cotta Road, Colombo 8.


Northwood College is a private national educational institution in Sri Lanka that follows both the local and Edexcel syllabi in order to give students a strong academic foundation. Northwood College’s activity based education system focuses on grooming students to become experienced, educated and talented individuals. A mix of teachers are carefully recruited and given extensive training to ensure that they provide Northwood students with the very best standards of education. Northwood College is also supporting the government’s intention to standardize uniforms across private and public schools, and is currently using white coloured uniforms. Over the course of the next two years, Northwood College will also expand its educational offering by introducing Ordinary Level classes. Northwood College prides itself on being a school that any Sri Lankan child can attend and excel in. The school caters to children of all ethnicities and religions, ensuring that they are treated equally, and have a safe environment to learn and thrive in.