Sushila Birla Girls’ School
Thirty students of the school sat for the National Achievement Survey (NAS) recently conducted by the CBSE on the school premises. NAS aims to measure the learning competence of the students of classes III, V, VIII and X as against what they have been taught in school. Sushila Birla Girls’ School was selected as a ‘sample school’ for Class V. On the day of the survey, all Covid protocols were followed. Only fully vaccinated staff members were allowed entry.
Students entered the premises after getting their temperature checked and hands sanitised. The subject teachers made the students practise sample questionnaires on OMR sheets for better understanding of the process.
The children were excited to be back in school. Around 108 out of 119 reported to school by 8am, glad to meet their friends and teachers after a long gap. “It was indeed a wonderful feeling to see the little ones back in school. It was as if life had entered the school building. The survey went off smoothly while maintaining all safety norms. Children were looking around in awe at the school building, their friends and their teachers. It was an emotional day for all of us,” said principal Koeli Dey.
Akshar School
As the school completed 100 days of online teaching in the current session, children celebrated the occasion. The theme of the day was, We Are 100 Days Smarter.
Class I students learnt about the number 100 by several means such as they made hats and depicted numbers on it. Everybody joined to make 100 sentences using their favourite 100 words from English; they were even made to learn a poem that talks about various ways of deriving at the number 100, with the help of Bengali language they represented the number pictographically and so on. Other than celebrating 100 days, several other activities such as T-shirt painting and the likes kept the children involved during the online classes. “Activities that run-up to the 100-day celebration were designed for junior kids to teach them more about the number 100. Subjects such as English and Bengali were brought up to connect with the number 100 which is mathematics. T-shirt making was also a part of the method of teaching in a creative manner,” said principal Kavneet Khullar.
Abhinav Bharati High School
Teachers of the primary section of Abhinav Bharati High School put up a live programme for the students on Children’s Day. It began with headmistress Moumita Rakshit greeting the kids on the occasion. Other events were also presented by the teachers. It was a fun-filled day for the students where they sat back and enjoyed the programme. The celebration ended with the virtual distribution of chocolates. Kids too expressed gratitude through their thank-you messages. “A teacher’s role is never fulfilled without the students. They are the light of our lives. Their innocence, love, warmth, playfulness and endless queries keep the child alive within us. We are because they are with us. Thanks to all the children for loving us, believing in us and keeping faith in us. We were glad to present some moments of happiness to them on their special day,” said headmistress Moumita Rakshit.
Asian International School
Honouring the Olympic journey of our heroes, the school celebrated Children’s Day with much grandeur and fervour. Regalia, the theme of which was Tokyo Olympics, is the event where children showcased their talent on various fronts and received accolades for their achievements. Neeraj Chopra, the golden boy of Tokyo Olympics, was the chief guest. Manpreet Singh, who led the Indian field hockey team to the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and Kamalpreet Kaur, the first Indian woman to breach the 65m barrier in discuss throw, were guests of honour.
“Since last year we have have plunged into the global arena. It was intriguing to watch young talent bloom so beautifully,” said headmistress Simran Sanghera. Principal Vijaylaxmi Kumar said: “Regalia is our school’s signature event and even more precious to us when we combine it with the commemoration of Children’s Day — as children are the most important agents of change for the society.”
St Augustine’s Day School for Girls, Barrackpore
A book on building a strong parent-teacher team for better online education was launched recently. Parent Teacher Team: Co-creating Child’s Destiny, A Nation’s Future by educator Marie Gasper gives readers a peek into a new kind of collaboration.
“Over the past year and a half, children have been attending online classes at home with teacher on the screen and parents sitting beside them. It’s the parent-teacher team that is educating the child. This is the core essence of this book,” said the author, who is also the principal of St Augustine’s Day School for Girls, Barrackpore.
After the launch, the author was in conversation with Janet Gasper Chowdhury, president of The St Augustine Education Society. From uninvolved parenting to over-indulgent parents the conversation took the audience through various types of parenting and teaching techniques that the author has witnessed in her career.
“It is my daughter who inspired me to write this book. While I spent many days with her during the lockdown, she heard me advising others online and suggested I write it all down,” said the author.
Shri Shikshayatan School
The school recently initiated an educational outreach programme for its Class V students. The virtual event was put up in two phases. First, headmistress Poushali Mukherjee, teachers of the junior section and students of Class V attended an interactive session with Nicole Walcunas from The Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development at the University of Connecticut, the US.
The second phase saw an interactive session between some students of Class VI and their mentor Sarah Cheney from Hartford, Connecticut, the US, and the girls of Class V of Shri Shikshayatan School.
The kids formed a book club where they discussed two books, namely, The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank and I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai also co-written by Christina Lamb. “There is a lot of learning that can be done through diversification. Such events enable a student to land up as a global citizen, so for the first time we conducted this for our junior students,” said the Shikshayatan Foundation’s secretary-general Bratati Bhattacharyya.
Mukherjee said: “The outreach programme has sensitised our students about their counterparts in another country and boosted their confidence.”
“We have ongoing international exchange programmes with schools in France, Scotland and the US. With the help of these online sessions, children learn through discussion on environment, pandemic and several other global issues,” said principal Sangeeta Tandon.