The new academic year beginning in June 2023 is particularly important because this is the Golden Jubilee year of S.P.J. Sadhana School. A series of activities/events throughout the year are being planned to celebrate this special Golden Year, and staff and students are filled with excitement!
The year began with a staff meeting in school. Staff members were encouraged to share ideas for activities/events to be planned for the 50th Year of the school. The teachers of the Formative Years, Intermediate Level, and Vocational departments, as well as the Math. Lab, shared the most effective student assessments of the previous term, so that other teachers could learn and imbibe the best practices, thus constantly striving for excellence.
The staff of the Enhanced Intervention Centre Department met with the Coordinator, Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar, to review the design and components of the Session Record Sheets, and make necessary alterations in order to facilitate better recording methods and simplify the process for each therapist. The afternoon session was spent in various preparations for each classroom.
The next day a Capacity Building Workshop was conducted for the staff at Saltt - Oleander Farms, Karjat. The first session was conducted by the Coordinator, Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar, who made a PowerPoint Presentation on the school curriculum which is based on the Multiple Intelligence Model proposed by Howard Gardner, and its application to our students.
The next session was a Meditation Workshop, conducted by Ms. Swati Seth. The session began with a short story explaining how we have to turn our attention within, in order to find peace. This is extremely essential in the current fast-paced life. This was followed by Pranayama exercises involving inhaling and exhaling in specific ways. Participants were then asked to watch their breath, and be mindful of their breath, while expressing love and gratefulness to God. This was followed by meditating on the sound "Aum" till everyone experienced deep peace and calmness.
The next session was a workshop called "Fun with playing cards", conducted by Ms. Kalpana Kapadia. This activity aimed at encouraging teachers to use playing cards as teaching aids, in order to develop cognitive, emotional and fine-motor skills in the students, using skills such as sorting, number recognition, addition, subtraction, multiplication and sequencing, as well as memorization and matching. Above all, teachers were sensitized to the awareness that achieving a goal is as important as learning to handle a loss.
From June 12th onwards, the school conducted Orientation Week for the students with a range of enjoyable activities such as Dance Movement Activity, Breathing and Meditation, Balloon Activity and the Khoi-bag Grab Your Goodies Activity.
On 16th June, we had a unique visitor to the school, Ellie the Elephant, an animatronic elephant, brought to the school by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Ellie is a life-size (6 feet in height, 4.5 feet in width, 7.5 feet in length) animatronic elephant, which helped the students to learn about the need and importance of developing respect and empathy for animals, to be compassionate towards them and to realize that they should not live in captivity.
On 21st June, the school participated in International Yoga Day, with the largest online Yoga activity for children in the 3-8 years age group in association with Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research. The fun-filled session included Breath work, Warm-up, Asanas and Relaxation. The students of Intermediate Level and Vocational sections celebrated International Yoga Day with Mudra Meditation.
The school celebrated 29th June as Gratitude Day, to remember our mentor, Sister Eileen Gaitonde, on her birth anniversary. Students were encouraged to have an attitude of gratitude in their lives. The students made gratitude cards to appreciate significant people in their lives. The term Gratitude was explained to them using different activities such as stories, song, drama, videos, movies, etc. The cards were displayed on June 30th, as the school remembered their beloved mentor Sister Gaitonde and expressed gratitude for her selfless service to the school.
Thus the month of June ended on a very meaningful note, with the students being sensitized to the importance of Gratitude in every aspect of our lives.
The year began with a staff meeting in school. Staff members were encouraged to share ideas for activities/events to be planned for the 50th Year of the school. The teachers of the Formative Years, Intermediate Level, and Vocational departments, as well as the Math. Lab, shared the most effective student assessments of the previous term, so that other teachers could learn and imbibe the best practices, thus constantly striving for excellence.
The staff of the Enhanced Intervention Centre Department met with the Coordinator, Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar, to review the design and components of the Session Record Sheets, and make necessary alterations in order to facilitate better recording methods and simplify the process for each therapist. The afternoon session was spent in various preparations for each classroom.
The next day a Capacity Building Workshop was conducted for the staff at Saltt - Oleander Farms, Karjat. The first session was conducted by the Coordinator, Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar, who made a PowerPoint Presentation on the school curriculum which is based on the Multiple Intelligence Model proposed by Howard Gardner, and its application to our students.
The next session was a Meditation Workshop, conducted by Ms. Swati Seth. The session began with a short story explaining how we have to turn our attention within, in order to find peace. This is extremely essential in the current fast-paced life. This was followed by Pranayama exercises involving inhaling and exhaling in specific ways. Participants were then asked to watch their breath, and be mindful of their breath, while expressing love and gratefulness to God. This was followed by meditating on the sound "Aum" till everyone experienced deep peace and calmness.
The next session was a workshop called "Fun with playing cards", conducted by Ms. Kalpana Kapadia. This activity aimed at encouraging teachers to use playing cards as teaching aids, in order to develop cognitive, emotional and fine-motor skills in the students, using skills such as sorting, number recognition, addition, subtraction, multiplication and sequencing, as well as memorization and matching. Above all, teachers were sensitized to the awareness that achieving a goal is as important as learning to handle a loss.
From June 12th onwards, the school conducted Orientation Week for the students with a range of enjoyable activities such as Dance Movement Activity, Breathing and Meditation, Balloon Activity and the Khoi-bag Grab Your Goodies Activity.
On 16th June, we had a unique visitor to the school, Ellie the Elephant, an animatronic elephant, brought to the school by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Ellie is a life-size (6 feet in height, 4.5 feet in width, 7.5 feet in length) animatronic elephant, which helped the students to learn about the need and importance of developing respect and empathy for animals, to be compassionate towards them and to realize that they should not live in captivity.
On 21st June, the school participated in International Yoga Day, with the largest online Yoga activity for children in the 3-8 years age group in association with Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research. The fun-filled session included Breath work, Warm-up, Asanas and Relaxation. The students of Intermediate Level and Vocational sections celebrated International Yoga Day with Mudra Meditation.
The school celebrated 29th June as Gratitude Day, to remember our mentor, Sister Eileen Gaitonde, on her birth anniversary. Students were encouraged to have an attitude of gratitude in their lives. The students made gratitude cards to appreciate significant people in their lives. The term Gratitude was explained to them using different activities such as stories, song, drama, videos, movies, etc. The cards were displayed on June 30th, as the school remembered their beloved mentor Sister Gaitonde and expressed gratitude for her selfless service to the school.
Thus the month of June ended on a very meaningful note, with the students being sensitized to the importance of Gratitude in every aspect of our lives.