During the summer vacation in May, a fun Summer Camp was conducted at S.P.J Sadhana School. The students spent a delightful time, engaging in activities that promote learning in a fun way.
Some of the sessions conducted included:
The new academic year began with a warm welcome to the Staff by the Principal, Ms Fionika Sanghvi. They were encouraged to share briefly in a few words, how they spent their summer vacation.
An Orientation was conducted for the new Parents by the Principal, Ms. Fionika Sanghvi and Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar, Coordinator of the Enhanced Intervention Centre, to welcome the parents of new students joining the school. The Principal, Ms. Sanghvi, and members of the staff warmly welcomed the parents to the new academic year. An overview of the School’s curriculum was given to the parents through a presentation. The partnership between parents and the school was emphasized.
Another Orientation was conducted for all the parents of each class. This Orientation included a range of activities in order to familiarize parents with the concepts and activities that their children would be working on throughout the year. Activities were conducted with the parents to give them an overview of the group teaching that would be the focus of training in the academic year 2024-2025.
For parents of the Formative Years the class teachers conducted activities for Grades I and II included paper tearing, ear bud painting and use of therapy ball, while the activities for Grades III and IV included pattern beading using two colours of beads, ear bud painting, wooden puzzles and manipulating pompom balls with tweezers.
For parents of the Intermediate Department, there were fun icebreaker activities. For one such icebreaker, parents were asked to divide into smaller groups according to their preference, for instance: English/Math, Right-handed/Left-handed, Football/Cricket/Neither, Introvert/Extrovert, Music/Films, and Dance/Yoga. Another icebreaker asked them to mention two attributes they shared with their child. A third asked them to name two things their child is good at, and a fourth asked them to mention why they chose Sadhana School for their child.
For the senior classes, the Coordinator, Ms. Simida Correia conducted an icebreaker where she asked parents to write all their sadness and humiliation across the acronym SADHANA.
She then asked them to make a paper rocket out of it and throw it all to Sadhana, asking them to focus and think positively for their child's future.
In the VAC class, Mr. Avadhut Magar, conducted a tracing activity where parents were given a tracing sheet stapled to a paper with an intrinsic pattern. The parents had to draw a 10 cm square and trace the design inside it. On completion of the activity the parents remarked that it was therapeutic, almost like meditation. They noted that the activity could build sitting tolerance in the children.
In the OPC class, Ms. Himadri Vyas had the parents work on a crossword puzzle on current affairs, to help the parents realize that the subjects taught in this class would be theoryrelated. Ms. Jasmine Pandya conducted a quiz on identifying the logo of various banks, as an introduction to the subject of Banking. The parents realized their lack of knowledge on these topics and were determined to learn along with their children.
In the H&C class, Ms. Simida Correia conducted an activity on making vegetable sandwiches, involving the culinary skills of peeling, slicing, spreading, assembling and presentation. The activity aimed at raising awareness in the parents and highlighting the importance of hygiene, stamina and teamwork.
In the WAH class the parents were given stringing of very tiny beads. The aim of the activity was to demonstrate to the parents the level of complexity the students would finally achieve at the end of the course. The parents noted that it was indeed difficult, and when they questioned whether our students could achieve it, the teachers displayed products made by previous batches using tiny beads.
A Student Orientation was also conducted, to get the students ready for a fun-filled academic year. The focus of these activities was on fun ways of learning, making friends, adjusting to the school routine, and above all being joyful in school.
As a part of the Student Orientation, a Science Activity was conducted that was very interesting for the students at the Intermediate level. They were asked to make a mixture of baking soda and water, dip their palm and fingers into it and make a palm print on plain white paper. In another bowl, they made a mixture of turmeric powder and sanitizer. Then they dipped a paint brush into this and painted on the plain paper, to reveal the hidden handprint. The students were fascinated to learn the scientific interaction between the materials that explained this occurrence.
For Dance Movement Therapy, Ms. Khushbu Shah taught them graceful dance movements using balloons and scarves.
For the Counselling Department, Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar had them play name games, alphabet line-ups and had them share about their holidays through enactment.
As orientation for Arts Based Therapy, Ms. Dhwani Dhupelia created a drum circle to a rain rhyme in keeping with the season , using dramatic actions.
For Yoga, Ms. Charu Dhotre had students of Grades III and IV plays passing the Parcel and a game of finding objects of a particular colour or shape from the class. For the Skills class she had them blow small balls off the glass top and pick up small beads with a clothes clip and drop them into a bowl, to train them in focus and coordination.
Thus the Student Orientation Activities were a fun way of easing the students into the new academic year.
Yoga is already a therapy being used at S.P.J Sadhana School. International Yoga Day was celebrated in a fun way with Musical Yoga, where students grooved to perform Yoga Asanas along with music.
A talk by Dr. Gayatri Rao on Gut Health for Children with Special Needs was organised for the parents. Dr. Rao described the signs of a healthy gut as well as the symptoms of an unhealthy gut. She outlined the causes and contributing factors of poor gut health. She also suggested ways of promoting a healthy gut, stressing on the importance of a balanced diet, adequate hydration, the use of probiotics and prebiotics, regular physical activity and stress reduction. She highlighted how these were particularly important for children with special needs. She also provided helpful tips regarding the natural food sources of probiotics, how to select the right probiotic, guidelines for probiotic use, and ways of incorporating probioticrich foods into meals.
Thus the month of June ended with this extremely informative and useful session that guided the parents along the path of wellness for their children.
Some of the sessions conducted included:
- Storytelling which encouraged active listening, sitting tolerance and enhanced the attention span.
- Picture Talk, which helped to develop language and vocabulary.
- Fun with Craft which helped to develop fine motor skills by making interesting craft items like Mother day card, Fridge Magnets, Paper folders, Pencil stand, Origami, Paper Diary.
- Let's Talk Math, which helped to enhance Maths concepts in a fun way using animal puzzle worksheets.
- Computer and Interactive Board which developed skills crucial in today's world.
- Instrumental Enrichment activities to promote abstract thinking and cognitive skills.
- Sports Activities to develop gross motor skills and encourage group play.
The new academic year began with a warm welcome to the Staff by the Principal, Ms Fionika Sanghvi. They were encouraged to share briefly in a few words, how they spent their summer vacation.
An Orientation was conducted for the new Parents by the Principal, Ms. Fionika Sanghvi and Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar, Coordinator of the Enhanced Intervention Centre, to welcome the parents of new students joining the school. The Principal, Ms. Sanghvi, and members of the staff warmly welcomed the parents to the new academic year. An overview of the School’s curriculum was given to the parents through a presentation. The partnership between parents and the school was emphasized.
Another Orientation was conducted for all the parents of each class. This Orientation included a range of activities in order to familiarize parents with the concepts and activities that their children would be working on throughout the year. Activities were conducted with the parents to give them an overview of the group teaching that would be the focus of training in the academic year 2024-2025.
For parents of the Formative Years the class teachers conducted activities for Grades I and II included paper tearing, ear bud painting and use of therapy ball, while the activities for Grades III and IV included pattern beading using two colours of beads, ear bud painting, wooden puzzles and manipulating pompom balls with tweezers.
For parents of the Intermediate Department, there were fun icebreaker activities. For one such icebreaker, parents were asked to divide into smaller groups according to their preference, for instance: English/Math, Right-handed/Left-handed, Football/Cricket/Neither, Introvert/Extrovert, Music/Films, and Dance/Yoga. Another icebreaker asked them to mention two attributes they shared with their child. A third asked them to name two things their child is good at, and a fourth asked them to mention why they chose Sadhana School for their child.
For the senior classes, the Coordinator, Ms. Simida Correia conducted an icebreaker where she asked parents to write all their sadness and humiliation across the acronym SADHANA.
She then asked them to make a paper rocket out of it and throw it all to Sadhana, asking them to focus and think positively for their child's future.
In the VAC class, Mr. Avadhut Magar, conducted a tracing activity where parents were given a tracing sheet stapled to a paper with an intrinsic pattern. The parents had to draw a 10 cm square and trace the design inside it. On completion of the activity the parents remarked that it was therapeutic, almost like meditation. They noted that the activity could build sitting tolerance in the children.
In the OPC class, Ms. Himadri Vyas had the parents work on a crossword puzzle on current affairs, to help the parents realize that the subjects taught in this class would be theoryrelated. Ms. Jasmine Pandya conducted a quiz on identifying the logo of various banks, as an introduction to the subject of Banking. The parents realized their lack of knowledge on these topics and were determined to learn along with their children.
In the H&C class, Ms. Simida Correia conducted an activity on making vegetable sandwiches, involving the culinary skills of peeling, slicing, spreading, assembling and presentation. The activity aimed at raising awareness in the parents and highlighting the importance of hygiene, stamina and teamwork.
In the WAH class the parents were given stringing of very tiny beads. The aim of the activity was to demonstrate to the parents the level of complexity the students would finally achieve at the end of the course. The parents noted that it was indeed difficult, and when they questioned whether our students could achieve it, the teachers displayed products made by previous batches using tiny beads.
A Student Orientation was also conducted, to get the students ready for a fun-filled academic year. The focus of these activities was on fun ways of learning, making friends, adjusting to the school routine, and above all being joyful in school.
As a part of the Student Orientation, a Science Activity was conducted that was very interesting for the students at the Intermediate level. They were asked to make a mixture of baking soda and water, dip their palm and fingers into it and make a palm print on plain white paper. In another bowl, they made a mixture of turmeric powder and sanitizer. Then they dipped a paint brush into this and painted on the plain paper, to reveal the hidden handprint. The students were fascinated to learn the scientific interaction between the materials that explained this occurrence.
For Dance Movement Therapy, Ms. Khushbu Shah taught them graceful dance movements using balloons and scarves.
For the Counselling Department, Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar had them play name games, alphabet line-ups and had them share about their holidays through enactment.
As orientation for Arts Based Therapy, Ms. Dhwani Dhupelia created a drum circle to a rain rhyme in keeping with the season , using dramatic actions.
For Yoga, Ms. Charu Dhotre had students of Grades III and IV plays passing the Parcel and a game of finding objects of a particular colour or shape from the class. For the Skills class she had them blow small balls off the glass top and pick up small beads with a clothes clip and drop them into a bowl, to train them in focus and coordination.
Thus the Student Orientation Activities were a fun way of easing the students into the new academic year.
Yoga is already a therapy being used at S.P.J Sadhana School. International Yoga Day was celebrated in a fun way with Musical Yoga, where students grooved to perform Yoga Asanas along with music.
A talk by Dr. Gayatri Rao on Gut Health for Children with Special Needs was organised for the parents. Dr. Rao described the signs of a healthy gut as well as the symptoms of an unhealthy gut. She outlined the causes and contributing factors of poor gut health. She also suggested ways of promoting a healthy gut, stressing on the importance of a balanced diet, adequate hydration, the use of probiotics and prebiotics, regular physical activity and stress reduction. She highlighted how these were particularly important for children with special needs. She also provided helpful tips regarding the natural food sources of probiotics, how to select the right probiotic, guidelines for probiotic use, and ways of incorporating probioticrich foods into meals.
Thus the month of June ended with this extremely informative and useful session that guided the parents along the path of wellness for their children.