Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram

Organization

Founded in 1961, Loyola is owned by the Kerala province of the Society of Jesus. The nominal head of the school has always been a Jesuit priest with the title of "Rector". Often the Rector is also the Principal of the Loyola College of Social Sciences, a post-graduate college that shares a common campus with the school. The executive head of the school has always been a Jesuit priest with the title of "Principal". The Principal manages the day-to-day activities of the school and is assisted by two Vice-Principals. The Rector and Principal of Loyola report to the Provincial superior of the Kerala Province of the Society of Jesus.

ICSE & ISC

Loyola has been affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), New Delhi, since its founding. Initially the school offered only the higher secondary level Indian School Certificate, Class XI up to year 1976 and thereafter Class XII (ISC) examination course. The Indian School Certificate (both Class XI until 1976 and Class XII thereafter) are recognized by the University of Kerala and many Indian universities as equivalent to a Senior High School Certificate or Pre-Degree Certificate or Higher Secondary School Certificate for admission to university studies. In 1991 Loyola began the secondary level (ICSE) examination course, with the first ICSE batch graduating in 1993. Typically, only those students who opted for the ICSE course in high school were placed in the ISC program after passing the ICSE examination, though exceptions were made for outstanding students from the SSLC stream as well as from other schools.

SSLC & HSC

In the 1970s, Loyola began offering high school students another option: the syllabus of the Government of Kerala in preparation for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination. When the Government of Kerala abolished the university affiliated Pre-Degree Course (PDC) and replaced it with the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) affiliated Higher Secondary Course (HSC), Loyola also adopted the newly introduced course as a higher secondary level option for students. Typically, those students who opted for the SSLC course in high school were automatically placed in the HSC program after passing the SSLC examination. In 2008, Loyola started phasing out the SSLC course, starting with the eighth standard. LENS, Loyola's student newsletter, reported that poor demand was the reason for the phasing out of the SSLC course.

CBSE

In the decade after 2000, Loyola started a separate Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated section in the same campus. Initially, only the secondary level CBSE course was offered, with the first tenth standard CBSE batch graduating in 2007. In 2008, Loyola added the higher secondary level CBSE course to its offerings, with the first twelfth standard CBSE batch graduating in 2010.

Achievements

Quiz

Every year the school management selects a quiz squad from the students. Under the guidance of a high school teacher, squad conducts quiz competitions in the school. Inter-class quiz competitions begin in junior school.

The Hindu Young World Quiz

Ever since the inception of The Hindu Young World Quiz (a nationwide quiz competition for school students) in 2000, teams from Loyola have performed very well at the regional level, and won at the national level in 2000, 2011 and 2012, while coming in second at nationals in 2001 and 2002 and third in 2003. In the Thiruvananthapuram leg of the Hindu Young World quiz competition, Loyolites maintained a winning streak from 2000 to 2007, finished third in 2009 and 2010, and were victorious again in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Other quiz competitions

In 2008, Loyolites won the Kerala leg of the TCS IT Wiz, were runners-up in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2009, and finalists in 2010. In 2006, Loyolites won the inaugural edition of the National Aerospace Olympiad conducted by the Aeronautical Society of India in Chandigarh, winning both the quiz rounds in the process. From 1999 to 2003 Loyolites maintained a winning streak in both the ICSE and ISC Kerala state level quizzes. In 2006, teams from Loyola won the Kerala state level ICSE and ISC quizzes and both teams went on to be crowned national champions. In 2006, Loyolites were the national champions at the inaugural edition of T.I.M.E. Aqua Regia, a national level science quiz. In 2002, a team from Loyola was one of the three national finalists in the ESPN School Quiz, after having topped both the south zone finals and one of the two national semi-finals of the competition.

LA Fest

Since 1996, the higher secondary students have organized a talent show called LA Fest (abbreviation for Life and Arts Festival). This single day event has attracted participation from other schools in Kerala. The twentieth edition was held on June 20, 2015. Unlike many other high school talent shows in Kerala, LA Fest is organized entirely by students on a shoe-string budget with students, parents, the school, and some sponsors chipping in. Loyolites promote the event through social media like Facebook and YouTube. They have also released a Trivandrum version of "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.

Awards are presented for winners and runners up in each event. The overall champions are determined by their performance in five on-stage events and two off-stage events. The on-stage events are:

The students emerging as winners of LA Persona are awarded individually and are given the title of Master and Miss La Fest. The award for the overall champions of the show is the statue of Nataraja.

Youth Festival

The school conducts an intra-school youth festival with competitions organised between the four houses and in three categories, Juniors, Pre-Seniors, and Seniors. Individual and group events include song, dance, poetry, and drama, as well as drawing, painting, and writing. For students of grades 10 and 11 there's also a personality contest called "Enigma".

The winners of the youth festival competitions, in addition to certificates, win points for their houses. Houses securing most points in each of the three categories, and the house winning the overall competition, are awarded trophies. The youth festival is organised mainly by the students in 11th standard.

Festivals

The school celebrates important days and festivals, like Onam, Independence Day, St. Ignatius Day, and Christmas. The day is marked by an assembly addressed by an eminent personality, followed by cultural events. As the festivals themselves are usually holidays, the assembly is held before the actual festival. The school celebrates Teachers' day, with the older students taking over the teaching of the younger classes.

Basketball

Basketball is considered the school's official game and was very popular among the students until the late 1990s. The annual Loyola Junior Invitation Basketball Tournament, with participation from several schools in Thiruvananthapuram, had been a fixture in Loyola's calendar over several decades. The school basketball team won laurels at various competitions, such as the St. Thomas Cup and Christ Nagar Cup, and participated in the city league. A few state-level players came out of the program.

Cricket

Though Loyola had cricket teams up to the early 1980s, interest waned during the 1980s and 1990s. But with the declining popularity of basketball cricket experienced a resurgence from the turn of the century. Loyola now has a cricket training academy called Loyola Cricket Academy (LCA). The LCA team participates in regional cricket tournaments. Trainees of the academy have been part of regional and national level junior cricket teams. Cricket teams from the school have toured Sri Lanka and in turn hosted tours from that country. Over the years Loyola has produced some promising cricketers. Although basketball is the school game, Loyolites show a special interest in cricket.

Football

Football is popular at Loyola, with several games on the main field during lunch breaks. Football coaching began in the summer vacation of 2003. In November 2003 Loyola's team made the semi-finals of the sports festival held at Christ Nagar School. In 2007 the Loyola football team won the Shri. Sasidhara Kurup Memorial Interschool Football Tournament in Thiruvananthapuram. Then in 2008 it won the Thiruvananthapuram district high school championship as well as the St. Thomas football trophy.

Athletics

Loyola School has an annual Sports Day every November with athletic competition between the four houses of the school. The event begins with an opening march and ends with a closing march past, both led by the School Leader and General Captain. The march past has the General Captain carry the school flag, leading the four houses along the periphery of the school ground, while the house captains carry their house flags. Besides track and field events, there are also displays like aerobics and karate. A tug of war between present and former students has a banana cluster for a prize.

School crest

The Loyola crest is in the form of a red shield with seven red bars on the top, a Nilavilakku in the center, and at the bottom the Christogram IHS (the first three letters of "Jesus" in Greek). The seven red bars at the top are from the shield of Oñaz-Loyola, the family of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. The Nilavilakku, a traditional lamp used in Kerala, symbolizes the culture of Kerala where the school is located, and also light, wisdom, and education. Taken as a whole, the school crest means: Loyola School where Jesuits are serving the people of Kerala in education. The renowned architect Laurie Baker, whose son Tilak studied in Loyola, designed the crest.

School flag

The flag is the school crest emblazoned on rectangular bands of white and blue. The use of the school flag is reserved for ceremonial occasions, like weekly school assemblies where it is hoisted, preceding the singing of the school song, and at the head of the march past of houses during the annual Sports Day.

School song

Cheer Loyola's sons is the school song of Loyola. It is written as a hymn with three verses.

The music and parts of lyrics of the song are adapted from Sound the battle cry, a hymn written and composed by William Fiske Sherwin, a nineteenth-century American composer. The lyrics of Cheer Loyola's sons are replete with sports imagery and call on Loyolites to cheer till the "game is won" for the school. This imagery is a legacy of the original song (Sound the battle cry), written in the form of a battle hymn connoting spiritual warfare.

The Loyolite

Loyola publishes an annual magazine named The Loyolite to communicate about events in the previous academic year to the Loyola community (management, teachers, students, parents, and alumni), and to provide students with an avenue to publish their literary works. Features include the principal's annual report, group photographs of all classes, photographs of office bearers and major events, and English, Malayalam, and Hindi language articles written by students, teachers, and alumni. The editorial board consists of about 10 teachers, headed by the most senior English language teacher, with several student editors assisting.

LENS

Loyola English News Service is a periodical brought out by the senior students covering events on campus. It is a wall magazine and is available on the internet.

Alumni

Alumni of Loyola are called ex-Loyolites or Loyola old boys. The school has an alumni association called Loyola Old Boys' Association (LOBA) that is part of the World Union of Jesuit Alumni(ae).