Rooted and Kind · Weekends at the lake
Weekend School
Weekend forest school for founding families: Sri Lankan crafts, ecology and nature arts at Bolgoda Lake.
Plan your visit
Who is coming to the lake?
Programmes
Choose what fits your family.
Not sure which one? See every programme or tell us about your child on WhatsApp.
Safe by design
Wild place. Careful people.
A lake and a forest are the best classroom there is. They also ask for care. This is how we look after every child.
First-aid trained educators
All staff are first-aid and CPR certified, and background checked.
Small groups
Groups are kept small, with a maximum of eight children to each educator.
Clear water safety
Protocols for every lake and water activity, and a risk assessment for each one.
Allergies and care
Tell us at registration and our team plans for it, with emergency action plans in place.
Who lives here
You are a guest in their home.
Kites ride the air above the water. Monitors swim past the jetty. Langurs and macaques watch from the branches, and parrots fill the air with noise. Butterflies drift through the garden, and the boat ride passes lotus, fish and mangroves. Children learn to share this place with every creature in it.
In the sky and the trees
Brahminy kite
Chestnut wings and a white head. Look up over the water.
Purple-faced langur
A monkey found only in Sri Lanka. Groups visit the trees around the campus often.
Toque macaque
Also found only in Sri Lanka, and often watching from the branches.
Green parrots
Flocks arrive with a lot of noise and colour.
Butterflies
Drifting through the garden all day, in orange, yellow and black.
At the water's edge
Water monitor
A strong swimmer and one of Sri Lanka's biggest lizards.
Mugger crocodile
A wetland resident we learn about from the shore.
Cormorant, the water crow
A black fisher that perches with its wings held open to dry.
Egrets and herons
Often called cranes here. White birds standing still at the water's edge, waiting for fish.
In the water
Lotus and water lilies
Pink and white blooms open on the surface of the lake.
Fish
On the boat ride, look down. The water is full of them.
On the farm
Goats of many kinds
Several breeds, including white Saanen goats. They are part of daily animal care.
Turkeys
Big and bold, with plenty to say.
Polish chickens
The ones with the pom-pom crests.
Ducks and geese
Waddling between the pond and the lawn.