Our Staff                                                                   Our Logo
          Current Teachers
          •	   Seedevi De Silva
          •	   Lalith De Silva
          •	   Hemantha Madurapperuma
          •	   Sumudu Madurapperuma
          •	   Yashodha Jayawardhana
          •	   Jagath Wijesooriya                                                                              Symbolism:   
          •	   Chamindi Abeydeera                                                       Culture, Buddhism, Language, Our new home.
          •	   Sumudu Samarawickrama                                                                                                                                     fj,sxgka YS% ,xld mdie,
          •	   Indeewari Ratnayake                                                     This is how the symbolism is interpreted:  
          •	   Samanthi Samarasinghe                                                   •	    The	‘Pun-Kalasa’ symbolises our cultural                                Wellington Sri Lankan School
          Teacher Aides                                                                heritage, in other words, giving our cultural 
          •	   Nuwani Siriwardena                                                      heritage a prominent place in our lives.                                                        Established in 1990 
          •	   Saranga Liyanaarachchi                                                  •	    The	‘Dharma-Chakra’ on the top lotus                                          (Approved Charity  |   Reg No. CC 35807)
          Student Teachers                                                             petal symbolises our fore most  respect and 
          •	   Senuka Sudusinghe                                                       adherence to Buddhism.
          •	   Hesadi Niruthmi                                                         •	    The	first letter in the Sinhala Alphabet on                                      Celebrating
          •	   Sayumi Kodikara                                                         left lotus petal symbolises our efforts to learn 
          Management Committee                                                         and retain contemporary Sinhala language 
          •	  Seedevi De Siva - Senior Teacher                                         skills within ourselves.
          •	  Nimanthi Wijayaratne - Coordinator                                       •	    The	abstract koru on the right lotus petal 
          •	  Wimal Herath - Secretary                                                 symbolises our efforts to adapt to and integrate 
          •	  Tharanga Witharana - Treasurer                                           with our new home which is New Zealand.                                                     30
          •	  Dhammika Muthumala - Grants Coordinator                                                For further details contact
          •	  Gamini Settinayake - Senior Committee Member                                                  Seedevi De Silva                                                           years
           “The key to our success rests in people like you,                                             Senior Teacher of WSLS
                   who embody the spirit of greatness                                                       P: +64 4 234 8584                                     of education in the community
                by saying, “Yes I can, and so can you!”                                                    E: Info@wslsnz.org
                 Thanks for your inspiring dedication                                             Mail to: PO Box 51245, Tawa 5249,  
                and tremendous example to the world”.                                                  Wellington, New Zealand                                                   www.wslsnz.org
        We express our sincere appreciation to all teachers, 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
          teacher aides, student volunteers and parents for                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                       Design & Print Production:                                                                               
               contributing their valued time and effort                                        Unique Design & Print Ltd, Lower Hutt
                                                   Wellington Sri Lankan School Celebrates it’s 30th Anniversary
                                                                 Compiled by Gamini Settinayake (Senior Member, Management Committee)
           HOW THE SCHOOL BEGAN
           The year 1990 saw the birth of the Sinhala Class in         learning standards. several workshops were held to obtain           opportunity of participating in CLESOL Conferences. 
           Wellington. It was housed at the Batchelor Street           feedback from teachers and parents. Additional resources            This gives them an exposure to wider community 
           Community House in Newlands (Community House has            were obtained from the Dept. of Education in Sri Lanka and          language issues in NZ.
           now been replaced by the Newlands Community Centre).        the Victoria School of Languages in Melbourne.                      RECOGNITION OF SCHOOL’S CONTRIBUTION 
           The families who supported the setting up of the class      In 1996 late Mrs. Swarna De Silva (retired teacher, Ananda          TO CHILD AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
           included:                                                   College, Colombo) introduced Buddhism into the school’s             In 2012 and 2016 WSLS was recognised for it’s services 
           Channa and Chandrani De Alwis, Palitha and Kamini           curriculum. In 1999 when she went to Sri Lanka, her son             to the community by the Wellington Airport Regional 
           De Silva, Jayantha and Upeksha Gonsalkorale, Nalin and      Lalith De Silva started teaching the subject and continues          Community Awards. In 2019 it was nominated as a 
           Roshini Medagoda, Kamala Rupasinghe, Gamini and             doing so to date. As a result in the ensuing years students         finalist with 9 other organisations under child and 
           Chandrani Settinayake                                       received a good exposure to the practical aspects/ rituals          youth development category.
           The teachers were late Mr.Karu Wijewardena (retired         of Buddhism. These programmes were supported by the 
           Principal of Polgahawela Central College, Sri Lanka) and    Stokes Valley Buddhist Monastery and the Dhamma Gavesi              In 2012 Seedevi De Silva and 2016 Gamini Settinayake 
           his wife Hema (retired teacher of the same school). The     Meditation Centre, Wainuiomata. Interested students have            were recognised for their services to the community 
           setting up process was coordinated by Gamini Settinayake.   sat for the International Buddhism Examination since 2017,          at the North Wellington Voluntary Services Awards 
           At the end of 1991 the class had to be discontinued owing   conducted by the Colombo YMBA.                                      ceremony.
           to the Wijewardena family leaving Wellington to reside      Teacher training and development workshops were                     25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
           in Dunedin. In 1992 Seedevi De Silva initiated a Sinhala    initiated by Seedevi De Silva and conducted by Dr.Kalyani           In 2015 a magazine was compiled and published to 
           Class at Oswald Church Hall in Newlands. This class was     Wijayawardana (An experienced teacher trainer currently             mark the anniversary by a committee comprising 
           supported by:                                               serving as Senior Teacher at Samadhi Vihara Sunday School,          Gamini Settinayake, Chamila Sudusinghe and Nilanga 
           Mahes and Roshanthi Hettige, Shantha and Himali             Christchurch). During the period 2000 to 2008, Gamini               Paranagama. The online version could be viewed by 
           Yahanpath, Lalith and Seedevi De Silva, Chanaka and         Settinayake’s efforts brought in funds from the Multicultural       accessing the WSLS website (www.wslsnz.org). Sumudu 
           Anoja Batuwantudawe and Yashodha Jayawardena                Learning and Support Services (MCLASS) to conduct these             Samarawickrama (a parent/ web-developer) upgraded 
                                                                       workshops.                                                          the school’s website last year.
           Since the beginning of 1993 the two Sinhala classes were    A library (books and videos) for the school was established 
           combined and relocated to Redwood School, Tawa owing        in 2000 by Wimal Herath. The school was granted approval            At the 2015 annual prize giving the following teachers 
           to an increased number of students. In 1995 the classes     as a charity by IRD in 2000. As a result, a constitution was        and parents were recognised for their outstanding 
           were relocated to Paparangi Primary School Hall and then    formalised, creating a formal vision and mission staement           contributions:
           to Newlands College, Newlands. In 1996 the classes began    for the school. An accounting system established by Gamini          Teachers:  
           at Rewa Rewa Primary School, Newlands occupying 3-4         Settinayake. Grants required to fund several school projects        Seedevi De Silva, Geethani De Silva, Hemantha and 
           classrooms and continued until end of 2006. After this      were successfully obtained by Dhammika Muthumala.                   Sumudu Madurapperuma and Lalith De Silva.
           period of 10 years the Newlands Sinhalese School (name      SCHOOL’S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS 
           formalised in 2000) relocated to Tawa College, Tawa and     COMMUNITY LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN NZ                                  Parents:  
           currently occupies five classrooms with over 40 students                                                                        Gamini Settinayake, Wimal Herath, Athula 
           in it’s roll. The school’s name was changed to Wellington   WSLS became a member (in 2003) of the Community                     Wanasinghe and Dhammika Muthumala.
           Sri Lankan School in 2007.                                  Languages Association of NZ (CLANZ) which was                       The school pays tribute to all our volunteer teachers, 
           SCHOOL’S EXPANSION AND RELATED                              initiated by Gamini Settinayake who served in it’s Board of         teacher aides, parents, student teachers and the 
           CHALLENGES                                                  Management for few years and later handed over to Athula            members of the Management Committee.
           The Sinhala curriculum was reviewed and updated several     Wanasinghe. This membership resulted in the school 
                                                                       becoming a part of the national network of mother tongue            I wish the Wellington Sri Lankan School a very 
           times to bring it in line with formal language teaching/    education schools. WSLS teaching staff were afforded the            successful future.