One of the oldest co-educational residential schools in India, the Lawrence School is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It was founded in 1847, by British soldier and statesman, Sir Henry Lawrence as a charitable institution for the orphan wards of British soldiers of the British Empire. The school is consistently ranked among the top schools in the EducationWorld India School Rankings every year.
The Lawrence School is situated at a height of 1750 meters at Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh in a forested campus spread over 139 acres. The school aims to groom the students into well-developed personalities -refined, disciplined, possessing high moral values, capable of feeling at home in an intellectual environment and capable of contributing positively to society.
The school is an international member of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, based in England.
In the forested campus of Lawrence School, dormitories, classes, dining hall, hobby and game locations are spread over the 139-acre site at different levels.
Walking around the campus, a mixture of colonial buildings can be seen, many of which are over a century old, nestling side by side with more modern facilities which have been added to enhance both the practical needs of the school as well as the existing physical environment. One of the oldest buildings is the 149-year-old school chapel with its exquisite stained-glass windows; it is the spiritual centre of the community and regular assemblies are held in which all students and staff take part.
Amongst the new buildings is the central dining hall, which provides over 3,000 meals a day, an indoor sports complex with solar heated swimming pool and squash courts. The School is constantly upgrading its facilities. Parker Hall, now the school’s learning resource centre, provides easy access to archival memorabilia, up to date library resources for enhancing learning and teaching, and computer with internet facilities. In this building alone fifteen computers are installed.
The main teaching block is called the ‘Birdwood’ which also contains the Barne Hall. Plays, shows, films, lectures and other cultural programmes are regularly conducted here. Around the campus are numerous playing fields supported by quality equipment for students to participate in a variety of games and sports such as cricket, hockey, soccer, basketball, squash, tennis, badminton, table tennis, athletics, swimming, gymnastics, rifle shooting and boxing.
The Academic Council (AC) has been established to monitor teaching and learning in the school, to set appropriate standards, formulate policies based on the best practices and to develop and improve curricular and co- curricular activities in the school. The AC is an advisory body focusing on academics, sports and extracurricular activities.
The Lawrence School teaches students from classes V to XII. the tutorial system is in place and each child is a part of a “Tutorial Group” looked after by the teachers.
Class V & VI have three sections each. From class VII onwards each class has four sections. Each section consists of 25 to 28 children.
The Academic year is divided into two terms; the Spring Term (20th February to 15th June) and the Founder’s Term (25th July to 11th December).
Four assessments are conducted for all classes in a year. The UT1 and half-yearly exams are conducted in the spring term while the UT2 and the final exams are conducted in the founder’s term. For classes X & XII, the final exams in December are treated as their pre-board examination.
For classes V to X, CBSE’s recently published “Uniform Assessment Format” is strictly followed while for classes XI & XII, CBSE’s existing Curriculum & promotion policy are followed.
The school offers humanities, commerce, medical & non-medical subjects in classes XI & XII.
The institution prepares students for the examinations conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi. The All-India Secondary School Examination is taken at the end of class X and All India Senior School Certificate Examination is taken at the end of the class XII.
After a student has satisfied the conditions for the award of Certificate in the AISSCE (Class XII), he/she will be eligible to seek admission in any college.
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SportsAdmission to the school is open to all boys and girls between the age of nine to 16 irrespective of social status, religion or nationality. Applications are usually accepted up to 31st October from the children seeking entry into Classes V (about 20 girls and 45 boys), VI (about five girls and 10 boys) and VII (about 10 girls and 15 boys) for which the child has to be registered. Entrance test for these classes is usually conducted on the second Sunday of November at Sanawar, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kathmandu and Dubai. These tests will be conducted for English, Hindi, mathematics and science. The revised syllabus and sample question papers for the common entrance tests to these classes are available on the school website. Each test will be of 50 marks and for a period of 30 minutes duration. The online tests will be of MCQ type. These tests and personal interactions are held in Sanawar. No admission is made in Classes X and XII. Registration for any particular year is not transferable to any other year.
Students are admitted to the Lawrence School Sanawar in February each year, at the age of nine and 10 years. Class V is preferred as the entry point.
Applications are received in December and children called for an entrance test/ personal interaction on the second Sunday of February (for class XI in April after the Class X Board Examination) only if there are vacancies.
The age criteria that must be followed for admission of students are as follows:
The age criteria for admissions to these classes are as follows:
| Class | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | XI |
| Age (as on 1st March in year of admission) | 8 years 9 months to 10 years 3 months | 9 years 9 months to 11 years 3 months | 10 years 9 months to 12 years 3 months | 11 years 9 months to 13 years 3 months | 12 years 9 months to 14 years 3 months | 14 years 9 months to 16 years 3 months |
The school has been ranked among the best residential schools of India.
In May 2013 The Lawrence School, Sanawar created history by becoming the first school in the world to send a team of seven students and climb Mount Everest, keeping with the motto of the school “Never Give In”. These teenagers ranged between the ages of 15 and 16 while one of the climbers became the youngest Asian and the second-youngest person in the world to scale Mt. Everest.
The Tribune described The Lawrence School Solan as one of about half a dozen elite public schools in India in 2003, catering for “an upwardly mobile landed and commercial elite”. It is an international member of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, based in England.
The school honours its original purpose by continuing to offer a reduction in fees for the children of military families. As part of its annual Founder’s Day celebrations, attended by many Old Sanawarians, the school continues to troop the royal colours.
The Lawrence School, Sanawar is divided into four houses called Himalaya, Vindhya, Nilagiri, and Siwalik.
It has a strength of 141 children which is divided in three dormitories. Girls, 49 in number, are housed in two floors and the boys in two dormitories of 36 and 42 children each. As an independent unit it has its own classrooms, games, hobbies, meals and study time.
