ISA Initiatives ...
Blending Borders
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS - 2009-10
Reciprocal Visit from Lillington and Myton schools - UK.
On the 3rd of November Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School welcomed the two visitors - Ms. Amy Hawkes from Myton School and Mrs. Jen Ann Cooper from Lillington Primary school, both from Warwickshire in United Kingdom. They were later joined by Mr. Ben Hooper who is the Director of Education for the Warwickshire County Council. This is a reciprocal visit under the Reciprocal Visit grant - British Council.
The day began with a traditional welcome at 8.30 by the Sulonians. This was followed by the Principals tea and a briefing about the day's plan.
Our visitors first saw the KG section. They moved around class rooms observing the different activities therein. Our young Sulonians left them very impressed with their bold answering skills and their ability to write in a beautiful cursive hand at the tiny age of 4 years.
After meeting the elementary section teacher in the Staff room over tea Ms. Amy and Mrs. Jen spent time with the school HR cell as well as the counseling department. What followed was a very interactive session where a lot of parallels were drawn up. Post lunch was an interesting session too where the visitors observed some of the senior section classes - Geography and Chemistry as well as observed the labs and interacted with the teachers. They made very relevant observations with respect to the classroom transactions and processes.
The first day ended on a very upbeat note - a group of ex-Sulonians interacted with Ms. Amy and Mrs. Jen joined in by Cabral Madam and Mrs. G.Vaijayanthi. Our visitors were very happy to note that students who passed out in 1979 have their children studying in the school currently. It was a wonderful 45 minutes packed with Sulonian passion. The second day was also an action packed one, with the guests attending the senior section classes followed by laboratory visits and the second day ended with the guest visiting the Thane Kala Bhavan: The newly opened art gallery in Thane. They appreciated the art with encouraging words.
The third day also started with the Sulonian zest and the guests were introduced to the school literature by our senior teachers followed by a yoga session and quick visit to the basketball court and both Ms. Amy and Ms.Jen shaking a leg with our young Sulonians in the Music class. Our school senate extended the Indian hospitality by taking the guests for a short Thane Darshan tour preceded by a quick Mehendi session to enable them experience the Indian culture. Both the dignitaries were full of praise for the school captain Shubham Rathi and school vice-captains Mayur Samtani and Darshana Krishnamony for their informative interaction. The three day reciprocal visit ended with teachers from U.K. visiting the Raymond Rehabilitation Centre (RRC), the outreach programme organized by the school imparting vocational education to the economical weaker sections of the society.
There was a lot of valuable exchange in terms of understanding how schools in Warwickshire compare vis-Ã -vis Singhania School given the difference in the social fabric.Ms. Amy And Mrs. Jen visited Singhania school for a total of 3 days. Last week the whole school had been buzzing with the excitement of foreign visitors and the rich wealth of learning experiences that was exchanged.
The focus is on sharing knowledge and understanding of our different cultures, traditions, languages and history, and over the last two years our children have been part of this. Wonderful! Wunderbar (German)!