design. When the building was nearing completion Bawa commissioned Lydia Duchini, an Italian sculptress, to create a sculpture of the bishop. The life sized gold leaf encrusted statue stands at the foot of the main staircase. The school opted to be a free-levying private school and had to find its own financial resources. The school passed on after 19 years to the principalship of Gwen Dias Abeysinghe, a past pupil. She added to the standards inherited, and Bishop's College came to produce theatrical performances; including The Gondoliers with a combined cast of girls from Bishop's and boys from the brother school at S. Thomas' College. The Past Pupils' Association, which has grown in strength, has always been supportive and assisted with money raising for buildings. Since the school hall, impressive in its day, was totally inadequate for present needs, the PPA was anxious to gift an auditorium to their Alma Mater, and with land leased out from the Government, laid the foundation in 1985. With the rising costs in construction, the project was spread out longer than envisaged but was commissioned for use in 1994. The school, the PPA and Parent-Teacher Association all contributed to make this a reality. This last decade has seen the school steered by Lindley Jayasuriya, earlier vice-principal. Hemamali Bibile was the principal from 2003-2011. Sharmila Gunatilleke is the current principal. Houses The house system is an integral part of Bishop's College. Every student and staff member is placed into one of the four houses. Students who aren't first generation Bishopians get placed into the same house as their kindred. Each house elects a Captain, Vice Captain and Games Captain at the start of the year both in primary and secondary school. The four houses compete throughout the year in various sports and arts categories, with the main competitive event being the Annual Inter-House Athletics Meet (also known as, The Annual Sports Meet), which is held in February. House points are marked throughout the year based on discipline which are then added or deducted during the Athletics Meet. The four houses are: Notable alumni Notes References Bishop's College, 1975-2000, History, with an introduction by Rt. Rev. Kenneth Fernando, Bishop of Colombo, editorial committee of Bishop's College (2000) Bishop's College, Hand Book (2002). History of the Diocese of Colombo (1945) External links 1875 establishments in Ceylon Educational institutions established in 1875 Geoffrey Bawa buildings Girls' schools in