Clubs and Societies
Conservation and Adventure Club
The Conservation and Adventure Club at Stafford International School aims to spread awareness of the earth’s problems to the younger generations with the intention of building a brighter, more ecofriendly future ahead. We hope to use adventure to make it more thrilling and memorable for students.
Due to the pandemic, we have not been able to get out as much as we’d like to, so for the time being we are working on raising awareness through posters for our social media platforms. In July we held a poster competition on Instagram for the members of the club, the aim being to design the best poster possible for a given topic on conservation. This was a great success as we reached hundreds of people with these posters which were elegantly designed by our own students. We hope to have more competitions and posters as such until we are able to get the members out and about.
Aringan Varatharaj
President
The Culinary Arts Club
The Culinary Arts Club of Stafford International School is a club focused on inculcating artistic talents via the kitchen. The club aims to encourage students to cook, bake and eat healthy. Students will learn about the importance of planning and preparing balanced meals, reading and understanding food labels, learning about food hygiene and food safety skills, and above all, discover the wonders of being a culinary professional.
The CAC held their first workshop on the 12th of July 2021. The workshop was carried out by the senior students of the Lower Sixth batch and supervised by the Teacher in Charge, Ms. Michelle Herft. It was a major success; students were taught how to make cookie doe. They were also taught about safety tips when using a microwave – what to do and what not to do.
Another project the club carried out was the District Cookbook. The club hopes to release a cookbook with all the members’ recipes from the 25 Districts. This will allow students to be creative with their recipes and learn new recipes from other students. Students will also learn how to read and write up recipes which will be helpful for them in the future.
Aneek De Mel
President
The Culture Club
The Culture Club is a newly formed society hoping to help recognize, appreciate and understand various cultures. The club opens up avenues for members to learn about traditions, religions, languages, arts, food, music, and especially people. The club’s primary motto is, ‘Bringing culture to you’. Therefore, all our projects and events aim to achieve this motto.
For the academic year of 2020/21, the club organized numerous events, beginning with our inauguration meeting which consisted of an introduction to the club’s objectives and board members. Additionally, a fun cultural quiz was held where the winners were gifted Christmas-themed prizes.
Following the Christmas spirit, the project ‘Cooking with a Cultural Twist (Christmas Edition)’ was initiated. A cookbook made up of recipes created by the members of the club.
Upcoming months’ cultural celebrations were celebrated through colorful and attractive posters. A video was also created to celebrate Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.
The club initiated ‘The Lantern Competition’ to commemorate Vesak. Members were asked to submit their Vesak lanterns. The best ones were picked as winners.
With the academic year coming to an end, the club held one of its last events for the year, ‘Cultural Lives’. It was an Instagram live with renowned artists, questioning the topics of culture, art, and inspiration.
Overall, all these well-informed projects and events were only made possible because of the highly enthusiastic executive board of The Culture Club.
We thank our dedicated Teacher in Charge, Ms. Roshanara Fernandez for all her support.
Dithni Perera
President
Debating Society
Amazing. One of the best words used to describe Stafford Debating’s achievements in 2020. It’s safe to say the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of our teams have successfully earned us a reputation as one of the best teams in the Sri Lankan debating circuit.
I’m proud to say that through the first half of this year we have not only held onto this reputation but have gotten even closer to the top. At the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship 2021, hosted by the Faculty of Law, our Team A consisting of Christian Fernando, Humaid Saleem, and Jahan Cader, made it to Quarter Finals, beating their achievement as Octo Finalists at the same tournament in 2020. Humaid Saleem was also placed 5th in individual speaker scores out of 200 participants from all over the island. At the tournament held by RIC in January, Stafford A, consisting of some of our junior debaters, Vithushan Varatharaj, Keyathra Jayasekara, Osheen Martus, and Siyath Anandasiri, made it to Octo Finals in their very first tournament.
However, the first half of this year has been challenging. With physical school attendance not being possible, the ability to conduct in-school practices for many clubs and societies including Stafford Debating has been taken away, forcing them to adapt and change to fit these conditions. The Debating Society has been at the forefront of this change, switching to online practices on Zoom, creating a safe medium through which debating practices can occur. The loss of the familiar, comfortable environment of the school has taken minimal effect on our practices, the personalities, and the spirit of our members, making practices feel right at home.
We have an eventful year ahead of us, with Humaid Saleem having been selected for Team Sri Lanka, taking part in the World Schools Debating Championship happening later this year, and many more tournaments ahead of us. With the track record of our teams and the rapidly rising proficiency of our junior debaters, it’s safe to say our future looks promising. If you’d want to be a part of this future, drop Chris a message on 076 784 4153. We hope to see you there!