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Secretary's Report 2006-07 - Educational section
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Providing education to children is one of the most important activities of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture. The major problem in Education in India is that it is far too theoretical; there is hardly any application of the knowledge that is acquired in the class room.
The school believes that Value Education, co-curricular activities and physical Education are no less important than academic pursuits. Participation in co-curricular activity classes and clubs, where applicable, and Value Education and Physical Education classes is mandatory.
The two schools have been going through a change in educational pedagogy. The educational transaction is divided into three parts viz. Nursery and Classes I and II, Classes III to VII and Classes VIII to XII.
Teachers have been attending study circles on a regular basis in order to implement Sri Aurobindo's philosophy on education.
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Table of Contents
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| Theme-based learning - Nursery, KG, classes I to III |
Children in the Nursery and Primary School - upto Class III - are being taught through a thematic approach. Teachers plan the classes well in advance using resource books and the Internet to incorporate experiential learning and learning by 'doing'. Learning is not compartmentalized into subjects but integrated as a whole including all life skills. Field trips, hands-on working and worksheets are being extensively used. Children up to Class II are not required to use textbooks but learn through the in-depth study of a theme.
Some of the Themes used in this session are :
Class I - All around me and Food.
Class II - My school garden and Food.
Class III - Names, Olympics and Flights.
more details...
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| Project based learning - Classes IV to VI |
Classes IV, V and VI work on Project based methods. Projects are thematic and interdisciplinary. Apart from usual classroom activities children are given projects to work upon where they use the available resource books and the Internet to go beyond textbooks. Projects are carefully planned and presented, for instance:
Class IV - Books, Olympics and Solar System.
Class V - Time, Olympics, Trees, Farming, Animals.
Class VI - Relationships , Rivers
more details...
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| Project-based learning merging with prescribed curriculum - Senior School |
Senior Classes work on projects as per the requirement of the Council for the Indian
School Certificate Examinations. Students of Classes XI and XII take this opportunity to learn beyond curriculum and textbooks.
Practical Classes are held for all Science subjects and Geography.
Children hold Seminars and Group Discussions in classrooms, which train them for future needs.
Skits and role-plays are often used as tools to present learning.
Field Trips are organized to supplement books and study materials.
Teachers often use the Internet to obtain additional study material for their students.
Evaluation is done through worksheets and the formal examination system.
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| Life-skills |
Life Skills classes help children to look after themselves and their basic needs. Children learn to wash and fold their clothes, clean and polish their shoes. Basic skills like table laying, stitching buttons, bed making and packing school bags are also part of the Life Skills curriculum. Children learn to manage time and provide first aid in their life skills classes. Checking Blood pressure, managing an unconscious person etc. are the skills they also acquire.
more details...
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| School trips |
The trips are educative and informative.
April 2006: Adventure Camp at Nainital which is organized by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi Branch- Outgoing Class X.
27.11.2006 - 05.12.2006: Trip to Pondicherry - Class IX.
On 23.11.2006 - 26.11.2006: Trip to Ushagram- Class VIII
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| Workshop / Training Programs |
Three teachers and one student (Rajarshi Banerjee, Cl X B) attended the First International Conference on Integrated Value Education organized by the Art of Living Foundation at Bangalore from
June 26 to June 28, 2006. The Conference was jointly organised by UNESCO & MHRD. It witnessed an unprecedented congregation of educationists, entrepreneurs, social workers and government
representatives from different corners of the planet. The sessions discussed various nuances of imparting
values to young and not so young learners.
From January 2007 to March 2007 a series of workshops were held in the School for teachers to bring about further changes in pedagogical methods in line with Sri Aurobindo's philosophy.
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| Saturday classes |
We believe the child's education is incomplete without co-curricular activities.
Co-curricular activity classes are held on Saturdays. The co-curricular programme includes classes in Western Vocal, Synthesizer, Violin, Chess, Public Speaking, Visual Arts, Dramatics, Photography, Karate and Quiz. There is a plan to extend the working hours of CCA classes to give more options to the children like - Scouts & Guides, Violin, Yoga, Junior Public Speaking, Art & Craft and Western Classical Dance. Participation in co-curricular classes is mandatory.
CCA display was held on December 30, 2006 as a part of Aspiration. Dramatics children staged a play on the political life of Sri Aurobindo. Inter-school chess competition was held on the school grounds. Children played tunes of patriotic songs on violins & synthesizers. An intra school quiz competition was held in the Hall of Light.
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| Interact Club |
The ongoing activities for the Interact Club included visit to Navanir, an old-age home, celebrating 'Rakhi' at Cheshire
Homes, medical camp at Charu Market Police Station and celebrating 'Ratha-yatra' at Atma Vikas School.
more details...
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| Nature Club (Earth Lovers) |
The following activities were undertaken by the Earth Lovers:
· Knowledge Conclave- Venue: Science City. Children put up a stall showcasing a model of the Rain-Water Harvesting System of our school and posters on Water Conservation. They also made a presentation based on a verse, generating environmental awareness.
· Earth Day Celebrations- Inter House Poster Competition on biodiversity. Children presented themselves as the five
elements of the Earth and spoke on the same. Thereafter they were taken to Nandan to watch a film called 'Earthling'.
· Environmental Awareness Campaign - Venue: Bijoygarh and Golf Green. Posters, street play, songs, dances, and
recitation were organized to generate awareness among local people about the adverse impact of felling of trees and
filling of water bodies.
· Healthy can be Tasty too - Venue: Stall at the school ground during Aspiration. Children prepared various low - fat,
nutritious but tasty food items like Coriander Dumplings, Chilla, Green Idli, Sprout Bhel and Fruits in Date Syrup.
· Wealth from Waste - Venue: Stall at the school ground during Aspiration. Children recycled various articles and
prepared masks, paper bags, paper-weights, decorative items, wrapping papers, vermi-compost, photo frames etc.
These articles were put up for sale. Emphasis was given on the Five 'R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse and
Recover.
· Teachers participated in a Workshop on "Importance of East Kolkata Wetlands" organized by West Bengal Pollution Control Board and WWF.
· Trip to Sundarbans organized by WWF. Visited Lothian Island, Saptamukhi river, Bhagabatpur Crocodile Breeding Centre.
· Children participated in Biodiversity Fair organized by Government of West Bengal and Association for Social and Environmental Development, Venue : Nandan II. Illustrated talk show on "Biodiversity hotspots in Kolkata".
more details...
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| Spicmacay |
On April 28 2006, the students participated in Milaap, an interschool fest organized by SPICMACAY Kolkata, emphasizing on the various aspects of Indian culture.
Virasat, 2006 held in Nov.-Dec 2006: In this month long cultural celebration held under the auspices of SPICMACAY the school hosted the following events:
· Sambalpuri Folk Dance on November, 21 2006
· Talk on Traditional Indian Performances by Prof. Ananda Lal on November, 23 2006
· Animal Mask Dance on November, 28 2006
· Santoor recital by Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya accompanied on the Tabla by Pt. Subrata Bhattacharya on 3 Dec. 2006
Smt. Mala Bhattacharya conducted a workshop on glass painting, T-shirt painting and pottery painting through the months of December 2006, January 2007and February 2007.
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| Inter-school Activities |
April 2006:Frank Anthony Memorial All India Inter School Debate (Category I, Pool B II) where The Future Foundation School
was the Host School and 9 Schools across Kolkata participated. The Best School was Assam Valley School and
Runners Up were La Martiniere for Boys.
July 2006: Jog Biyog quiz contest organized by Doordarshan Kendra.
Pogo Amazing Kids Contest.
Aug. 2006:Albert Barrow Memorial - All India Inter-School Creative Writing Competition - 2006: Aishani Roy, a student of Class
X won the second prize. Her essay, 'My Ideal Woman' was one of the best 10 essays and was
published in the Albert Barrow magazine 'The 21st Century Woman'.
Aug. 2006:The Derozio Memorial Extempore Speech Contest was held and Pratiti Dasgupta of Class IX participated in
the same. These are 3 prestigious events held annually by the Council and many schools participate in them.
Sept. 2006: Inter School Art Contest at DPS (Ruby Park). Clay Modelling by Aneesh Chatterjee, Sambit Poddar both of V B.
Oct. 2006: Drawing Competition organized by CINI. Six drawings were selected for an exhibition at Oxford Book Store.
Nov. 2006: Science Quiz Jigyasa, Participants - Aritra Basu & Souvik Kr. Mitra (XI B)
Nov. 2006: British Council organized a public lecture by Prof Sir Roger Penrose 'Beyond the Big Bang". The seminar was
attended by 8 students of Class XII and 3 accompanying teachers. The overflowing auditorium gave an ovation and in his ninety minute delivery, the seventy year old professor held the audience spellbound. He discussed different theories about origin of universe, vanishing black holes, light cones and expanding Universe. It was an experience of a lifetime to be part of such a rare occasion.
Dec. 2006: The Great TTIS Challenge. Anushka Laha (V B) won 2nd prize in Cartoon Drawing whilst Teesta Lahiri (V B) won the 3rd prize in creative writing
Dec. 2006: Young Author Contest organized by ITC- there were a few lakh participants, Biboswan Bose (XI A) stood 2nd (All
India ranking). Eminent personalities like Ruskin Bond were present at the award giving ceremony.
Inter School/Inter House Competitions were organized twice a year in September and March. Activities included Dance, Music (Vocal & Instrumental), Drawing, Craft, Maths Quiz, General Quiz, Sports Quiz, Antakshari, One Act Play, Elocution, Chess and Physical activities.
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| Games |
Classes were taken to enhance physical development, concentration, neuro-muscular skills, breathing skills.
After school, games were organised in the school compound. These included Basketball, Football, Kho-Kho, Volleyball, Badminton, Table-tennis etc.
The children have been involved in Inter House Table Tennis Tournament, Inter-House Patterson Memorial Table Tennis Championship, Inter-House Kho-Kho Tournament, Inter-House Badminton Tournament and Inter-House Volleyball Tournament.
An important event was the Inter-School Mini Olympic Khelar Mela from December 12 to 31, 2006. The Kho-Kho teams under 16 years and under 13 years (girls) won the 1st position. Aparajita Bhattacharya won the first prize in "Article writing on sports".
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| Career couselling for seniors |
Career Counselling is an important part of Senior School. The objective of career counselling is to identify the aptitudes and interests and to suggest career options. A programme was held in April 2006 where the students went through an aptitude test, seminar and individual counselling. A career identification report was submitted. The students have benefited and have managed to assess and choose their career accordingly.
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| Psychological support through the school cousellor |
A Counsellor visits the school twice a week to help children with learning difficulties and adolescent problems. 120 students were given various counselling sessions out of which 40 children had supportive counselling. 26 students showed good progress. There was a group discussion session with senior students regarding sex education. Parents and teachers were also counselled whenever the occasion arose.
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| Scholarships |
Scholarships were awarded for excellence in academics and integral excellence for the ICSE and ISC outgoing batch.
BANDANA SEN MEMORIAL AWARD
ICSE-Deepasri Bhattacharya -1000/-
ISC-Hiran Mayee R. -1000/-
This award has been instituted by Dr.Sankar Kumar Sen in memory of his wife. It is awarded to two girl students, one from the outgoing ICSE & the other from the outgoing ISC batch. It is awarded to girls who were not only good in academics but also excelled in extra-curricular activities and whose conduct was good. They should have been a student of this school for a minimum of three consecutive years.
KRISNABANDHU DAS MEMORIAL AWARD-600/-
Shubhagata Das _Highest in ICSE Maths & Science
SUSHILA BALA DAS MEMORIAL AWARD--600/-
Juhi Dutta -Highest in ICSE Maths and Science amongst girls.
The preceding two awards have been instituted by Shri Soumen Das in memory of his parents
PRADYOT KUMAR BHATTACHARYA MEMORIAL AWARD
Sruti Bhowmick-Best all-rounder
This award has been instituted by Shri Rathin Mitter in memory of our Founder Chairman Shri Pradyot Kr. Bhattacharya for the best all-round student of ICSE-2006.
BINAPANI MEMORIAL AWARD-1000/-
Siddhartha Mukherjee-for topping ISC
Sm. Bithika Guha has instituted this award in memory of her mother for the student topping
ISC.
DEEPAYAN DUTTA MEMORIAL AWARD
Shubhagata Das-for topping ICSE
This award has been instituted in memory of Debayan Dutta, an ex-student of our school by his parents.
DYUMANBHAI MEMORIAL AWARD -1000/-
Kaushik Suresh-ISC for Integral Excellence.
Prof.Chamanlal Gupta and Smt Shipra Gupta have instituted this award for a student of outgoing class XII for Integral Excellence
AMITABHA ROY MEMORIAL AWARD
ISC Topper - Humanities among boys - Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya -----1000/-
ISC Topper - Humanities among girls - Jayanti Talukdar ----1000/-
This award has been instituted this year by Mrs Sushmita Sengupta in memory of her late brother.
AWARD FOR STUDENTS STUDYING FRENCH
1. Moitrayee Sengupta- Class VI
2. Prasenjit Chanda - Class VII
3. Sourav Ghosh - Class VIII
This award has been instituted this year by Shri Srijit Bhattacharya as an encouragement to students learning French. They are given to the best student from classes VI, VII & VIII respectively.
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| Joya Mitter Challenge Trophy |
The trophy is awarded to the best performing house where students' performance in games and curriculum activities are taken into consideration. In 2006, Green House was judged to be the best performing House.
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| Alumni |
The Alumni met twice, in May and December. There were games, cultural programmes, and lunch. At the meeting, they were briefed on the various activities of the school. Some of the alumni also spoke about their lives and achievements. The alumni also took a resolution to be ever supportive of their School.
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