School Notes

At Kalka Public School,health means success

‘“A healthy mind in a healthy body” was the adage in mind while holding a workshop for teachers at Kalka Public School. The workshop was on “School health programme focussing on anaemia and other health problems among children” A team of doctors — Dr A K Sushila,Dr P Sethi,Dr N K Mandal,and Dr M Tripathi — from Fluorosis Foundation of India,Delhi,enlightened the teachers about the basic care necessary to keep diseases away. “There is nothing more important than learning about what we eat,drink and breathe. One of the most vital life-sustaining actions we must do every day,is to ensure a good balance of food and exercise (at least 30 minutes a day). The best six doctors anywhere are sunshine,water,rest,air,exercise and diet,” the doctors said.

The doctors divulged an alarming fact,i.e.,60percent to 80 per cent of school-going children in Delhi are anaemic. It was pointed out that teachers have an immense responsibility of ensuring that their students do not fall victim to this dreaded condition,which stalls both mental and physical growth. In order to make the children health-conscious,the teachers themselves must know the pros and cons of maintaining good health.

The workshop provided practical tips on how to combat anaemia and other basic health issues. It came to an end with an haemoglobin check-up drive.

Embarking on a journey to the USA

A group of 26 students of St Mark’s Sr Sec Public School,Meera Bagh,accompanied by the Vice Principal Veena Wahi and two teachers— Sudha Chand and Shubhra Rana — embarked on a journey to the USA on May 18,2012. Their first destination was the Empire State Building and Times Square in New York. Later, at the Niagara Falls,the students took an amazing boat ride till the Maid of the Mist. The students also took techno rides at the Epcot Centre/Disney World. One of the main attractions was the Epcot Character Spot where they met Disney characters. The next two days were a true learning experience for the students as they visited the Kennedy Space Centre which is the NASA launch site. At the Space camp,the students had the opportunity to explore and understand the space discoveries and technological innovations.

The students learnt about NASA and its missions. There were hands on-activities and workshops at the Space Camp for them. They had lunch with astronaut Robert Clyde Springer. He shared his experience about his space shuttle missions with the students. The two-day scientific adventure helped spark curiosity among students which motivated them to learn and discover more in the field of science and technology. The next stop was Universal Studios and the Harry Potter Island of Adventure. The group flew back to New York to visit the famous Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

As every good thing comes to an end this wonderful trip also came to an end with lots of memories to treasure for a lifetime.

BC Unbox 21 PROJECT at St Mark’s,Janakpuri

Anupam Ganesh of St Mark’s Sr Sec Public School,Janakpuri,along with four other teachers from West Delhi schools represented the SMS cluster in the BC Unbox 21 project. This educational research project was initiated by British Council in collaboration with Science Learning Centre,University Of Brighton,Imagine Education,and others. The delegation of science educators of various schools of India along with the British schools became a part of the programme . The goal of the project was to develop a teacher’s capacity to embed digital game-based learning in classrooms to support 21st century skill development and thus enhance student engagement.

The programme was held at the National Science Learning Centre,Bristol,UK,from April 22 to April 28. The group visited Writhlington School at Bradstock to understand the UK education system as part of a cultural exchange programme. A delegation of British school teachers will visit India in October.

Students watch transit of Venus

On June 6,students of Banyan Tree School assembled at 5 am on the school premises in to watch the phenomenal event of the decade – transit of Venus.

The students and teachers prepared a projection box and placed a refractor telescope (given by Vigyan Prasar) to capture the image of the Sun with Venus moving along its face. It was indeed a spectacular show to see planet Venus as a small speck moving across the Sun. The students also performed an activity to find the size of the Venus using the size of the Sun as a reference point. As a run-up to the activity,Nehru Planetarium had conducted a workshop to train students.

Teachers’ enrichment Programme

From June the faculty members at R D Public School had enriching workshops,presentations,group activities that would enable them to scale greater heights in their profession. Sunita Malkhani a reputed psychologist and educationist,conducted a workshop on “Interpersonal Relations” on June 29. She touched upon the need to empathise,avoid personal prejudices and to be careful about body language in class. Loads of group activities made the session fun. A workshop on creative teaching was conducted by Dr Swati Pal,eminent professor-author of the Department of English,Delhi University. The group activities brought out the latent potentials and creative expressions in teachers. She discussed creative ideas to engage students. Interesting and effective strategies to make teaching fun were discussed. The concept of discipline was well presented by school principal Alka Kshatriya. This was followed by an interactive session on “Coping with Failures”. Not too many films are made for children but the impact of audio-visual presentations on the minds of students and teachers was well projected by School Cinema. A short movie “The Finish line” had was shown to teachers. Awareness regarding sex abuse,gender bias,partiality and other such issues were well portrayed by School Cinema. A training workshop organised by Educomp on June 28 was an on-hands training for teachers as technology and education today are inseparable. Role plays,presentations and aerobic sessions formed a significant part of the teachers’ enrichment programme.

Inter-house competition in singing at Springdales

Springdales School,Pusa Road,hosted the annual inter-house song competition recently. The competition saw the eight houses of the school rendering some of the best regional songs of all time like “Bedu pako baro masha”,“Lal pahade deshe za” and “Kutta nadim punja ele”. Students from Class VI-XII participated in the competition.The chief guest for the occasion Sushmit Bose was delighted by the students’ performances. He complimented them on their renditions. The competition was judged by Harbhajan Singh,Shraboni Bahuguna and Sunita Dutta.The house that rendered “Galyan sankli sonya chi”,a goan song,was declared the winner.

Mount Carmel celebrates 40th anniversary

One of the leading public schools in the Nation’s Capital recently crossed a memorable milestone,and they celebrated it with a wonderful event at the Talkatora stadium. Mount Carmel School,started in 1972 with just 12 children,is now counted among the top schools of the Capital. On July 10,Mount Carmel School celebrated its 40th Founding Day. In tones that marked their simple beginnings,the function was called “Celebrating God’s faithfulness”. The programme began with the longest serving board member of the Society,Allan Luther,offering a prayer. The audience were treated to songs by the Mount Carmel choir. The Chief Guest,Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne honoured the Founding Principals,Dr V K Williams and Dr N M Williams with a special plaque. Foreign Secretary to the Government of India,Ranjan Mathai (IFS) honoured the Board of Directors.