From the Principal’s Desk ………

23^rd April, 2009

Dear Parents,

Looking Back: The year Gone Past

Another year gone by! We had many successes and we have identified improvements that we need to make. A whole year packed with activity and lots of work too!!

The highlight of the year, in my opinion, was the staging of the well-known play 'The Gentle Giant' by the primary section.  The play became a part of our daily routine. The teachers used it to teach grammar, geography, Science (the seasons), history and values of friendship and consideration. Very innovative indeed of the teachers!

I believe all learning should be done in this manner. Children have fun and learn the basics of 'The Three Rs'! Do we really need to compartmentalise learning? ....

Std 1 students and teachers held an exhibition of all they had learned during the year. It was revision and fun too. Parents were invited and were thrilled to see their children play the role of the teacher, explaining the concepts they had internalized, with great élan. 

The KEM Hospital Blood Bank became the classroom for the Chapter on Blood Circulation for our Standard 7. The teachers even donated blood (to 'oohs & aahs' of the children) to complete the lesson! How real could it get! Will they ever forget such a lesson?

To learn the rudiments of Essay and Story writing our Eights have written individual stories for the younger children. It is a book in the true sense – with pictures and illustrations – making use of all learned in English, History, the Computer class and their creativity.

The Graduating Class, honed their communication skills through interviewing a number of distinguished people from Pune. They learnt to prepare questionnaires, do background research, proper etiquette and the confidence to interview adults. It brought to the fore their writing and speaking skills.

The Ninth, are steeped in writing their Autobiography exploring their narrative skills, finding out interesting family facts and all the time bonding with their parents and grandparents.

You may wonder where I am to leading with this? I want to point out that learning can be effective and fun. Exams are not the only measure of progress and proficiency.

Round-up of Vidya Valley 2009:

I am briefly giving you a calendar that our children of Std 6 put together

Aparajita: Good morning, I am Aparajita.

Vaidehi: And I am Vaidehi. We are going to mention a few important events that occurred during this year. We have tried to cover at least one activity per month.

Aparajita: The year 2008-2009 started in June with usual anticipation and enthusiasm which comes with the re-opening of the school. We had our investiture ceremony in this month on 19^th June, our school’s foundation day.

Vaidehi: July and August were quite busy with various school activities. Independence Day was celebrated with great fervour.

Aparajita: September was a month of celebration, with students showing their love and respect to their teacher by celebrating teacher’s day.

Vaidehi: Latter half of September and the entire October was quite eventful and busy as the whole school was involved in Common Wealth Youth Games held at Balewadi.

Aparajita: School reopened after Diwali vacations in November. Children after rigorous practice put up a very good show at Harsh Utsav. The Marathi drama got selected for the Maharastra Festival of Drama at Beed. We came back with a cash award of 10,000/-!

Vaidehi: With December came the chilly mornings, where we had to search for our cardigans. We had our Sports Day on new ground, where the student’s fitness was put to test.

Aparajita: With January and February we almost came to an end of our co-curricular activities like the grandparent’s day and the musical concert. How can I forget the Science Hands-on Workshop conducted by Dr. Gupta of IUCAA. We are hooked!

Vaidehi: The second marathi drama was held on March 6^th. April is the month where we student’s need to pull up our socks and rack our brain. We need to prepare ourselves for studies.

Aparajita: This year has been really good, by giving us ample of opportunities to outshine and prove ourselves. We really hope the next year is even more challenging and taking our school to new heights.

Outreach Programs          

Overnight at Nilshi for Std 7 & Std 8,  Std 9: Trip to Hyderabad,  Std 10: Trip to Goa (interiors)

Besides all of these, we hosted a number of events at school – Interschool Quiz, Program for Environmental Awareness in Schools (PEAS), Inter school Singing, Games and matches.

Our large playground is ready and we have already started developing athletics. Over and above, children have been engaged in countless other activities through which they practice to apply their learning to real-world situations.

There are some parents who feel that if children ENJOY school then they could not be learning! Education must be synonymous with pain. I am sorry for those parents and their children.

So how good are the Vidya Valley children?

On 18^th April nearly 120 children wrote the entrance exams for classes 2^nd to 8^th. The children came from all over India. Furthermore, about 20 children have written their papers abroad in the US, Dubai, UK, Germany and Singapore. All of them were given only a small part of the question paper that your own children answered for their 2^nd Term Exam. I can assure you that NO child found the exam easy. NO child could complete the test.

We have this data for the past three years. I also have information from children who have moved to other schools across India. They continue to shine and excel in their new environment. Based on this data it would appear that you are underestimating your child’s learning and ability.

Of course I know that we need to improve. That is a continuous challenge. It involves not only the school but also the child and the parents. You will find that we are making many changes next year to make our teaching more efficient and the child’s learning more wholesome.

Infosys invited our 8^th and 9^th for their SPARC program. At the end the children were given a problem and 20 minutes to solve it, strategize, plan and present. Their assessment was that our children performed superbly. Let me assure you that it was sincerely meant because the children managed to present better than what most adults are able to do. They learnt it all through our activities at school and their keen powers of observation. I cannot tell you how proud I was of them that day

Going Ahead:  Next year

·      We plan to shift to a Grading system (from marks) in the 1^st to 3^rd.

·      4^th & 5^th will have continuous assessments, keeping the children on their toes and yet removing the fear and trauma of exams.

·      6^th & 7^th will continue with the pattern they are following – 4 tests in a term and choosing the best 3 assessments. 

We are working to make teaching/learning more enquiry based and experiential. Teachers and children will have to read more, think more and be more creative. We have tied up with an organization to introduce multimedia-teaching aids in the classroom. I know that our children have a lot of potential and we need to give them the best opportunity.

You must have seen our notice about the change in school timings and working for next year: Next year’s focus is on methods to increase the effectiveness of every class. As part of this continuous process of improvement we are making changes in the daily schedule. You will see many significant changes in the time-table. In senior classes it will evolve from a weekly

time-table to a fortnightly time-table.

School timing will be from 7:55 to 3:30 but Academics will finish at 2:40pm.

i.      All children, Std 1 to Std 10 must reach school by 7:55 a.m. (Jr. KG and Sr. KG will continue to work from 9:15 till 1:00 pm, as they do now).

ii.      Children will leave school at 2:40 pm except those involved in activities listed below.

iii.      Teachers will stay back till 3:30 to complete the day’s work and prepare for the next day. This is the main objective we wish to achieve with the revised schedule.

What else will happen in the 2:40 to 3:30 time?

                           i.      Western Choir will be held twice a week (Std 5 to Std 10) – Selected & Compulsory

                         ii.      Std 9 and Std 10 will have one Math Practice Class every week. - Optional

                        iii.      Std 9 & Std 10 will each have a Science Lecture/Demo every week – Optional

                       iv.      Mr. Pathak will conduct Marathi Drama class for Std 8. (Compulsory)

                         v.      Extra Class for completing incomplete class work – Detention: As and when required

                       vi.      Art Class for Std 7 & Std 8 in preparation for Intermediate Art exam (Compulsory)

                    vii.        (Hobby) Advanced Art Class with Alaknanda Madam (Optional)

                    viii.      (Hobby) Advanced Tabla / Dance/ Indian Vocal class once or twice a week (Optional)

                       ix.      (Hobby) Advanced Guitar & Drum class (Once a week) (Optional)

                         x.      Games: School teams MUST practice when weather is suitable. This is NOT an option. It is every child’s DUTY to make full and sincere effort to represent the school.

Whenever required, we will use this time for school activities like practices and rehearsals. This will help us to minimise loss of teaching periods for senior classes (minimised, not eliminated!). It will be MANDATORY for children to be present on these occasions.  We will not appreciate or accept excuses (like tuition classes or any other excuse) for a student being absent from scheduled activity or games practice.

(Buses will be available for Teachers and Students on most routes at 3:30 pm)

I am also in discussion with some teachers/resource persons to be available in school (in the evening, after school time) for children who need extra help in Maths. I know the problems that parents face as children grow older. I hope we can help – we will definitely try.

TUITION CLASSES:

I have recently become aware that there are ‘coaching rackets’ which are now pushing the start of IIT coaching at Std 7. “Join now or else ….” And there is no dearth of people ready to fall in their trap. I am frustrated by this gullibility.  My advice is to wait till 11^th before your child is thrown into the maelstrom of tuition classes.

I request parents to get out of this TUITION syndrome. If you feel that your child is having a problem that YOU cannot solve, then what about talking to us? Isn’t it our duty to try and help? Please do not think that tuition is necessary. It is NOT. And I am categorical about this. For most of the children tuition is harmful rather than useful.

And if it is absolutely necessary to have a tutor, then please keep us informed. Maybe the tutor and we can work together so that the child is not confused by two different teaching methods.

FEE:

The fee needs to be increased.

This year we are targeting to have slightly smaller class size. A 10% reduction in class size; Much better facilities for the Primary School with the new building; new Library; new computer labs.

And we are making a significant increase in teachers’ salaries. They are our most critical resource and we need to reward them for all they do for us as a society. On this count alone you can expect steady increases till teachers’ salaries become respectable.

The school office will be closed for the first 15 days of May. I am going for a brief vacation and study tour to Singapore to see if I can bring back some ideas that may work for us.

Teachers will be back in harness on the 1^st of June. The new Std 10 has been working till today and they will start again on 2^nd June.

I have to say goodbye to a few teachers. Latha Venugopal, Shubhada Bhate, Kavita Ghosh, Majjom, Sheena Nair. We are losing them to the economy, because of their husband’s jobs they are transferring out of Pune. For Latha, retirement of her husband takes her to Bangalore. I will miss them greatly because they really are excellent teachers.

However, I have the pleasure of welcoming sixteen new teachers, new colleagues, new friends.

On this happy note I will say goodbye.

Nalini Sengupta