Campion School, Bhopal
Campion School, Bhopal, established in July 1965, is conducted by the members of the Society of Jesus. Affiliated to the CBSE, this is a boys school, one of the oldest schools in Bhopal and considered among the best schools in the city, ranked First in a 2017 listing. Its campus is spread over of land in the locality of Arera Colony.
History
In July 1965, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Bhopal Eugene D'Souza, Fr. Emmanuel Ferdinand More, a Spanish Jesuit belonging to the Province of Mumbai, established a school which he named Campion School after St. Edmund Campion, a sixteenth-century English Jesuit who would also be the patron of the school.The School moved from place to place to find a location with a proper school setting. It held classes first at Seva Sadan, which had no room for expansion for the increasing number of students. Therefore, Fr. More, the first principal, negotiated with the government for leasing a larger piece of land, about a patch, near No.10 bus stop. He built the school in a "barracks" fashion and extended the classes from Std IV to Std XI. It opened 17 July 1967. These buildings, "Old Campion", were returned to the government in 1974.
On 21 February 1969 Fr. More acquired of land in Shahapura, the present site of Campion School, in the name of Bombay Xaverian Corporation. "The Campion School Society" was registered on 1 April 1972 and construction of the building began.
Campion School was moved into an incomplete building on the present site in July 1974. In the same year classes from KGI to Std. III were added. St. Mary's School, run by the sisters of PSOL, Mumbai, merged with Campion and its students both boys and girls were admitted to this school. Sr. Eleanor, PSOL, was the headmistress of the primary section. The girls studied at Campion for a year or two before they were admitted into St. Joseph’s, Idgah Hills, or Carmel Convent School, BHEL.
In 1979, the Bombay Jesuit Province handed over the administration of Campion School Society to the Ranchi Province. When Madhya Pradesh became an independent Province, Ranchi handed over Campion to the Madhya Pradesh Jesuits. When the Poor Sisters of Our Lady, who had been co-workers with the Jesuits from the year 1974, decided to have their own independent school, St Mary’s' School at Seva Sadan, the M.P. Jesuits invited the Sisters of the Mercy of the Holy Cross to work with them in the primary school, which they have done since 1982.
In 1994 the school changed from the M.P. Board of Secondary Education to the Central Board of Secondary Education. In 2017 Campion was listed among the top ten CBSE schools in Bhopal.
Fr. Alphonse Tirkey, S.J., as principal started a Hindi medium section of the school in July 1993, for those who find instruction through English difficult.
School Badge
The school badge is in the form of a medieval shield with three major divisions, each with a different colour background, and a scroll containing the school motto “Joy in Truth”. This motto is symbolically expressed by each of the three main divisions on the shield.On the left side, against a red background is a rope shaped like a noose. It stands for the death of St. Edmund Campion, professedly for the love of truth. On the right side, against a white background are three birds that stand for joy while the star stands for truth. Finally, at the base of the shield is to be found the logo of the Jesuits. It consists of the first three letters of Jesus' name in Greek, Contrary to the popular belief, the background colours do not represent the colours of the four school "houses".
School anthem
Campion calls, Campion calls to courage and high chivalry Campion calls, Campion calls to shared responsibility To peace, love and charity; To honour truth and loyalty Campion calls, Campion calls, Campion calls to You and Me.Fair school, thy gracious gifts for mind and soul let me not miss We pray that all thy sons may reach their goal eternal bliss There is a challenge every man must meet who walks by day But Campion steers me, lest my wandering feet from grace should stray.
Campion calls, Campion calls to courage and high chivalry Campion calls, Campion calls to shared responsibility To peace, love and charity; To honour truth and loyalty Campion calls, Campion calls, Campion calls to You and Me.
A special song was composed for the school's 50th Jubilee.
Facilities
The school is housed in two separate buildings. The primary or elementary section runs from Pre-K to grade V. The secondary or high school section runs from grade VI to XII. Upgrades and renovations were done in the primary section in 1994 to accommodate more classes and facilities.The campus is interspersed with lawns and tree-lined playgrounds, and many trees and shrubs are planted throughout the campus.
The school has an auditorium located in the primary section and a canteen in the secondary section. Sports facilities include a games room housing sports and other equipment, four basketball courts, one soccer field. Students are also coached in roller skating and have won gold medals in the sport. The school organises an Annual Sports Meet, in which all 4 houses compete.
In addition to computer labs in both sections, there are labs for physics, chemistry, biology, in the secondary section. There are libraries only in the secondary sections of the school
Annual Function, festival celebrations, and various inter-house and class-level competitions are regularly held. The school annually elects its student leaders. Anyone in 11th or 12th grade meeting the criteria to hold the respective posts can run for office. Campion also publishes its annual school magazine, The Campionite.
Academics
Since 1994, Campion School has been affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Besides the compulsory study of English, Hindi, General Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, and a number of other graded subjects like moral education and computers, students from grades 6 to 8 have to choose between Sanskrit and Urdu as a third language. All subjects are compulsory until the 10th grade, after which students have the choice between Maths or Biology Stream.The robust education system produces a number of outstanding students each year. Vineet Buch who achieved the 1st Rank in IIT-JEE in 1989 is among 50 or so who can claim this achievement on one of the world's toughest entrance examinations. An alumnus of Campion Bhopal, he resides in the United States.
By far, Campion School has yielded many famous personalities like Congress Leader and MP Assembly Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh, Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Dr. JS Pandey, Shayaan Raza Khan and several other famous personalities.
Uniform
Grades I to V: steel gray shorts, white half-sleeve shirt, blue cotton tie with red and white stripes, black shoes and blue socks. Sweaters of checkered blue and dark blue colour with pink border are worn during the winter.Grades VI to XII: steel gray trousers, white half-sleeve shirt, blue cotton tie with red and white stripes, black shoes and blue socks. Black blazers with long sleeve white shirts are worn during winter months.
White shorts/trousers and white T-shirts with the house symbol are worn during sporting events.
Violet shorts and steel gray shirts with the red scouting scarf and the scouting mono are worn on scouting days.
Houses
To keep the competitive spirit alive in the students, there are four houses:- Gandhi, color red, motto - Unity is strength
- Ashoka, color blue, motto - Never give in
- Tagore, color white/green, motto - Now or never
- Nehru, color yellow, motto - Service before self
The first marching band in Bhopal