Bishop Cotton Boys' School

Infobox high school

|right|frame|The School Arms or the Shield
image_caption = The School Arms
imagesize = 150 px
name = Bishop Cottons Boys' School
motto = Nec Dextrorsum Nec Sinistrorsum
established = 1865
type = Private School
faculty =
principal = Col. John Ellis
enrollment = approx. 5,400
students = LKG - 10th (ICSE) and 12th grade (ISC)
address = St. Mark's Road
city = Bangalore
state = Karnataka
country = India
colors = Green and Gold color box|greencolor box|gold
publication = The Cottonian, The Cotton Mill
mascot =
information = [phone]
website = http://www.cottonboys.com/
footnotes =

Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders as well as day scholars in Bangalore, Karnataka, India; admitted students without regard to race, religion, gender or national origin even before Indian independence.

The school is named after Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton the son of an Army Captain, who died leading his Regiment in battle. He was a scholar of Westminster School, and a graduate of Cambridge. In 1836 he was appointed Assistant Master at Rugby by Doctor Thomas Arnold, o­ne of the founders of the British Public School System. It was the young Mr. Cotton who is spoken of as the 'the model young master' in Thomas Hughes' famous book 'Tom Brown's School Days'.

The school is bordered by Residency Road, St.Mark's Road, Lavelle Road and Vittal Mallya Road, and is spread over 13 acres of land in the heart of Bangalore.

Prominent school heads in the early days included Rev. George Uglow Pope, Bishop Pakenham-Walsh, Rev. Pettigrew, Canon Elphick, Rev. Lowerth Thomas & Mr. A. T. Balraj. Notable alumni (Old Cottonians) include William Leefe Robinson, Colin CowdreyFact|date=February 2007, General K.S. Thimayya, Dr. Raja Ramanna, Brijesh Patel, Nandan Nilekani, Pidathala Vijayakumar Reddy (ex-MLA Andhra Pradesh).

The sister school Bishop Cotton Girls High School is located across the street on St. Mark's Road.

Origins

The Bishop Cotton Schools past extends back to the British Raj and the Victorian era. The School had its humble beginnings in a house on High Grounds. It was started in the year 1865 by Rev. S. T. Pettigrew, the then Chaplain of St. Mark's Church who had a vision of starting a school for the education of children of European and Anglo-Indian families. In his own words, he wanted to "establish a day and boarding School for the Children of Christian residents in the station and its vicinity." The school was given the name Bishop Cotton School in honour of Bishop Cotton of Calcutta, under whose stewardship a scheme of education was organized for the Anglican Churches in India. The School maintains its close ties with the Church of South India amongst other Indian organizations..

The first five years of the School could be termed as turbulent period during which time school had three principals. It was only with the arrival of Reverend G. U. Pope, a distinguished Tamil Scholar acquired the present site and shifted to these premises. The Boys' school and the Girl's School functioned in the same campus but under different administrative heads. Under the stewardship of Rev. Pope, the school grew from strength to strength. A collegiate section was started and the School obtained recognition from the University of Madras. He gave the School its motto - 'Nec Dextrorsum Nec sinistrorsum'. But when Rev. Pope left India in the year 1892 to take up the post of Reader at Oxford University, the standard of the School began to decline. By the year 1906, closure of the school was contemplated.

It was Reverend Whitehead, Bishop of Madras, who as the Chairman of the Board of Governors, as a last resort to save the School from closure, invited the members of the Saint Peter's Brotherhood to prevent such an eventuality. Rev H. Pakenham-Walsh, of the Brotherhood of St. Peter, later to become Bishop, took the initiative to revive the school. The School is indebted to the yeomen service rendered by the brotherhood of St. Peter, the School till today celebrates St. Peter's day amongst other traditions such as Guy Fawkes bonfires. A lot of improvements took place under the stewardship of Brotherhood of St. Peter. There was remarkable increase in the student strength and several buildings were constructed. In 1911, the Girls' School was moved across the road. One who worked sincerely for a quarter of century for the growth of the Institution was Rev. Canon Elphick (it was hard to forget the sight of him cycling around).

The last living member of the Brotherhood of St Peter in India, Father David, died a few years back of natural causes (old age). He lived & worked in the school as the school chaplain.

The School Song

The Bishop Cotton school song was penned by Rev. H. Pakenham-Walsh, of the Brotherhood of St. Peter, Warden of the school from 1907 to 1913, later to become Bishop. The words were set to music by N.M. Saunders, Esq..With its refrain "On, Straight, On", it follows the spirit of the School Motto, "Nec Dextrorsum Nec Sinistrorsum", Latin for "Neither to the Right Nor to the Left". The verses to the song are:

"On! Straight on!
""On, Cottonians, On!
""Muster on the side of right,
""March like warriors to the fight,
""Mark the foe, and strike with might,
""Nec dextrosum Nec Sinistrorsum.
""On! Straight on!
""On, Cottonians, On!
""Keen alike in work and play,
""Keen right through the hottest day.
""Keen until your hair turns grey.
""(Chorus)
""Driving through the foaming main,
""Buffetted by storm and rain,
""Answering to the helm again,
""(Chorus)
""When you leave the good old school
""Be no coward, knave, nor fool;
""Yours be still the grand old rule,
""(Chorus)
""See this motto on your scroll
""Point you to a heavenly goal,
""Seek it body, mind and soul,
""Nec dextrosum Nec Sinistrorsum." [ [http://www.cottonboys.com/static/general-schoolsong.php The School Song] ]

The Houses

The House system is a feature common to Public schools. The House systems have great advantages of breaking a large community into smaller, more personal units, and thereby building a sense of loyalty and competition. A house is much more than a building (equivalent to the fraternities and sororities in American Colleges) in which boys have their habitat while in school. It is a way of life. Loyalty to House often surpassed loyalty to school. Parents, sometimes, prefer the choice of the house for their children, based on their own loyalties, whether they attended school or not.

The formation of Houses in Bishop Cottons may have occurred during 1910 since the Cottonian magazine of that year has reported "Puchi teams! Puchi marks!" . Puchi means flies. There were 125 students in school then and six teams were formed. The Puchi teams were named - Jerrimangalams, Bloodsuckers, Scorpions, White ants and Cobras. Each team was led by a captain, and boys were grouped as 'big', 'Medium sized' and 'little'. The puchi teams were in place till 1933. New houses were formed by combining -

* The scorpions & cobras as Pettigrew House (Shoot straight and true...)
* The white ants & jerrimangalams as Pope House (There is a house...)
* The blood suckers & mosquitos as Pakenham-Walsh House (Purple and Red forever...)

These names were assumed after the three pioneers of the school. Each team had a "Head" and a "Captain of games". In 1956, a fourth House was added which was named after canon Elphick who was Warden from 1930 - 1955. Many boys volunteered to join the new House and all new admissions to the school automatically were added to this House. In 1996, a fifth House - Thomas House was formed to increase competitive spirit

* Pettigrew House The House was named after the Rev. S. T. Pettigrew, Chaplain of St. Mark's Church and founder of the school. Pettigrew House was formed in 1933.Song:
"Shoot straight and true"
"House of Pettigrew,"
"Forward our best endeavour"
"Aim for the right,"
"Keep it in sight,"
"Soiling our honour never,"
"What though the struggle be long"
"this be our watchword and song"
"Viva Pettigrew and"
"The good old green and black"

* Pakenham-Walsh House The House is named after the Rt. Rev. Herbert Pakenham-Walsh in 1933. The Rev. Pakenham-Walsh left the wardenship of the School in 1913 and became the first Bishop of Assam in 1915.

Song:
"Purple and red forever,
"Colours the best of all
"Making our best endeavour
"Smiling we fight or fall
"So we'll all pull together
"With nothing untrue or false
"And we'll work to the end of our tether
"For the honour of Pakenham-Walsh!

* Elphick House Elphick House was formed in 1956 and was named after Canon Elphick , Warden from 1930 - 1955. Canon Elphick came to the School from Oxford Brotherhood in Calcutta, India and his Wardenship was the longest of any since the founding of the School.

Song:
"Elphick House come rally around
"Loyal to the core,
"Play the game with body sound
"Heroes to the fore,
"In all we do let's do our best,
"Carrying our colours high always
"Knowing it's all for the blue and grey,
"Honest is our endeavour,
"Onward with a smile,
"Upward we must steer,
"Striving all the while,
"Elphick House forever!

* Pope House The House is named after Rev. G.U. Pope, the first warden of the School, 1871 - 1882. He came to the School from The Nilgiris and is remembered beyond the bounds of the School as a great scholar in Tamil.

Song:
"There is a House, a grand old house,
"In mind and spirit strong,
"Its cause is good, its motto bright
"To cheer its sons along
"Tally ho! Pope House!
"Tally ho! Pope House!
"Pope House on forever!
"The yellow and White
"Our colours so bright,
"Are unfurled forever."
* Thomas House This house is the latest which was formed in 1996 - 1997 in the memory of the late Rev. Lowerth Thomas who was the Warden from 1956 to 1970.

Song:
"Thomas House awake! Arise!
"Upward let your banners fly,
"Let heart, mind and spirit soar
"To reach heights beyond the sky.
"We'll do our best for the green and red
"With faith in ourselves and God o'er head.

Academics

The School, administered along the lines of Junior, Middle & Senior School, works through three school terms, each ending with examinations. At the end of the 10th standard, every student sits for the Indian ICSE Examination. The ISC Examination is taken by all students after Class XII.

Subjects taught include English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Accountancy, Economics, Commerce, various Indian and European languages, History, Civics, Geography among others.

Inter School Games

Organized games includes the inter-school games competitions.

* Cottonian Shield Cricket tournament
* Hockey - St Josephs High School
* Football - Baldwin's Boys School

Then and now heads

Rev. S. T. Pettigrew & Messrs Reynold, Bamforth, Dubois, Pope, Hildesley, Parker, Williams, Watling, Burton, Smith, Barry, Ainley, Miller, Pakenham Walsh, Durry, Dawkin, Durry, Scipio, Hodges, Elphick, Thomas, Balraj, Samuel, Ebenezer and Col. John Ellis (the present incumbent).

Old Cottonians Association

There are Old Cottonians (OC's) all over the known world with associations which are active in India (ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು), Australia and the UK.

Competitions held in the school

The School boasts of hosting many competitions every year. Annual Inter House competitions include:
*Swimming
*Debate
*Elocution
*Dramatics
*Music
*Spelling Bee
*Eureka (Quiz)

In addition the school also hosts the following prestigious Inter School competitions every year:
*Exquizite (Quiz)
*Cottons' INXS (Music)
*Spelling Bee
*Swimming

References

External links

* [http://www.cottonboys.com Official Website developed by the students and Information Technology Department of the school]
* [http://www.bishopcottons.com Unofficial Website- Maintained by a Parent Since 1998]
* [http://www.genthimayya.org General Thimayya Memorial Lecture (Old Cottonian Lecture Series)]

Trivia

* In Mehmood's movie Kunwaara Baap (single father) his son attends Bishop Cotton Boys School; scenes of the school in the movie.