| The Holy Family Welfare Society was established in 1960. Membership is open to parents or legally appointed guardians of the students, past students and members of the teaching staff. The affairs and business of the Society is controlled and administered by a Committee of Management elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Society. The Committee of Management also includes two appointed members representing the Archbishop, and two representatives each from the Past Pupils Association and the Parent Teacher Association of the School. The Committee of Management works in close cooperation with all stakeholders for the development of the school. To effectively administer its functions, the Committee of Management works through sub committees which meet regularly addressing the specific needs of the School. HISTORY
In the year 1960 under the Schools Take Over Act, Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya opted to ‘go private.’ However since the Act required all private schools to be “Non-fee Levying” the school had to come up with ways and means of raising funds to carry on its work. The idea of a Welfare Society for the School was mooted by the Irish Reverend Mothers, (as they were then called) the parents and the past pupils who, with this end in view formed a Welfare Society. The inaugural meeting of the “ Welfare Society” was held on the 18th of November 1960 at which an Executive Committee was elected and a Board of Trustees appointed to manage the financial affairs of the school. First Honorary President - Mrs Bredgid Abhayaratne First Honorary Secretary - Mrs Kyrle Phillips First Honorary Treasurer - Mrs D L A de Fonseka Members of the Board of Trustees (1960): Mr. J.A.L. Cooray Mrs. N.S.O. Mendis Mr. J.A.P. Cherubim Mr. Bertram Fernando Mr. P.C.S. Fernando Mr. W.A.J. Langenberg Dr. (Miss) R. Muthumanie Mrs. Maurice Perera Dr. Hector Perera The first Welfare Officer was none other than Ms. Millie Dabrera, who had taught many generations of Familians. The main objective of the Welfare Society was to ensure that there were adequate funds to meet the Upper School teachers’ salary bill. At the time there was some uncertainty as to whether the Lower School could opt to function as Private and Non-Fee Levying. Subsequently the position was cleared and in April 1961, the Primary School also became Private and Non-Fee Levying. This however presented a problem with the funds being inadequate to meet the combined salary bill of the Upper and Lower schools. The Reverend Mother Superior however always made up the shortfall and the salaries of the Reverend Mothers on the teaching staff were always excluded from the salaries bill. In spite of the financial constraints the school continued to maintain very high standards in teaching and discipline to the satisfaction of the parents. Gradually, with the wise management of the Board of Trustees, the hard work of the Executive Committee and the unstinted co-operation of the parents, the finances of the Society got onto a sound footing. Rev. Mother Superior no longer had to supplement the teachers’ salary bill. Soon the Society was able to meet the salaries of the Rev. Mothers as well and eventually paid the arrears that had accumulated, albeit in installments, as and when funds were available. The School also contributed to the fund raising efforts by staging concerts, and selling pin-prick cards and raffle tickets. The teachers’ salaries were kept in line with that of the teachers in Government Service. The Society also provided for annual salary increments and a cost-of-living allowance. This, as well as staff expansion necessitated through an increasing number of students and the introduction of new subjects in accordance with Department guidelines, resulted in a gradual escalation of the teachers’ salary bill. The Society was however able to meet these commitments due to its sound financial position and even made substantial contributions towards the construction of new school buildings. Here special mention should be made of the contribution of Mr. Herman Cooray who assumed duties as Secretary of the Welfare Society during the early turbulent years and for several years thereafter. His commitment and dedication gave the Society a solid foundation from which to expand into other areas of activity. The school was expanding very fast and its requirements kept growing and the Society encountered fresh challenges almost on a daily basis. Early in the 1990’s the idea of constructing an auditorium for the school was mooted and in 1996 construction of the School Auditorium was completed. Given the varying duties and responsibilities of the Welfare Society it was decided to draw into the Committee of Management, parents and past pupils with expertise relevant to the effective management and development of the school. To facilitate effective management the Committee of Management was thus grouped into five sub-committees which at the time were: 1. Education 2. Technical and Maintenance 3. Security 4. Computerization 5. Fundraising The Society was also cognizant of the fact that we live in turbulent times with changes on many fronts. These developments naturally affected the School too. To meet these growing challenges we needed to rethink our statute – we needed new thinking, and a fresh perspective. The original Constitution of the Welfare Society drafted in 1960 needed to be revised. The Year 1999 saw the dawn of a new Constitution under the stewardship of the President Mr. Richard Ebell, ably assisted by Mr. Keethi Jayaweera, the Immediate Past President. Mrs Mano Ramanathan, the then Vice President played a key role in drafting the new Constitution, which governs the activities of the society today. |