The first batch of 4th graders graduated from our school in the last academic year (2011-12). All of our graduated students found admission in area schools of high repute for their next year very easily. It was quite heartening to see how these children flourished over the six-year period that they spent in our school.
Ms. Suchitra Akhil was appointed teacher supervisor this year. Under Ms. Suchitra’s guidance there was greater focus on improving the teaching methods and overall quality of education. The school has already set high standard in academics in its short period of existence. In the coming year, we intent to focus on improving the quality of our extra-curricular programs – Children’s literary club, daily Yoga and Meditation practice, story time and music and dance classes. As it happens every year, we celebrated Onam festival and Independence day, conducted arts and sports competition, and took the children for the ever-popular field trips. The 1st to 4th graders visited Malampuzha dam this year, which is located about 4 hours from the school.
Art has the capacity to bring about social and spiritual awakening. With that goal in mind, we started the Prabhat Music School in April 2012. We offer classes in vocal music (Hindustani and Carnatic), instrumental music (Violin, Guitar, Piano, Keyboard, Tabla), pencil sketching and water painting. We saw a lot of interest in guitar and painting classes. We hope to build on that in the coming year and attract students for other classes as well. The much awaited annual cultural day celebration is scheduled for the last week of January 2013. The children are fully immersed in preparing a variety of songs and dances for the program.
We continue to improve the infrastructure facilities in the school. We purchased a new school van and it is being used extensively for the daily long distance transportation of the children. A second computer was added in the school for the use of 3rd and 4th graders. The surface of bathroom and toilets used by the children was changed to vitrified tile. This is much more hygienic than the concrete finish that we had previously.
A brand new pre-school program was added this year for children between 2 ½ to 4 years. An old residential building was completely renovated and made into a beautiful space for the children. There was a very good response from the community as we reached the capacity of 18 enrolled children this year. A new teacher and an assistant were hired to handle the pre-school program. A variety of learning activity materials are available for the children. The little ones are introduced to English alphabets and nursery rhymes, as well. We recently installed new outdoor play equipment. The wave slide, swing, merry-go-round and spring rider will be certain to bring a lot of smiles from the children. This kind of play equipment is a rare sight in schools in this area of Southern India. We are planning to open up the outdoor play facilities to all children in the community during non-school hours.
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