ReTHINK INDIA INSTITUTE

SANJEEV KUMAR SAXENA

WHAT MAKES ME A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL

I happen to support progressive educational programs whereby we emphasise on learning by doing-hands-on projects, and experiential learning.  In the primary and middle section we have Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units. Strong emphasis is laid on problem solving and critical thinking. Group work and development of social skills is encouraged at all levels.  Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum is included at secondary and senior secondary levels. 

As a Principal I always feel that if a teacher is teaching in a class he/she should not have any issue/problem that’s why proper support is provided to every teacher. I frequently take rounds of the school during school hours to interact with the students and teachers for first-hand information and on the spot solutions.  As a Principal this is my first and very important duty that my staff members should be upgraded and I personally believe to upgrade the staff as and when post is available. If any staff member is underperforming or is a low achiever, then I counsel him/her with proper guidelines so that he/she may upgrade himself/herself.   

I frequently organise not only departmental staff meetings but give due importance to inter-departmental meetings for better coordination and streamline the education process.  As a Principal I always frequently organised general staff meetings to take suggestions from the staff before finalising any activity. During these meetings staff members are encouraged to bring constructive suggestions for improvement which may be in academics as well as in co-curricular activities. I am a patient listener and have a full confidence in my staff. 

With the permission of a teacher and class, I frequently observe class teaching when it is in progress in such a way the teacher should not feel embarrassed with my presence. I recheck their homework copies and give suggestions to them. They readily accept which make improvement in their copy checking.   

When I joined the school, none of my staff members were computer literate although we had well equipped computer labs in the school. After observing this I persuaded all the staff members to get acquainted with computers and within a few months they all started making use of ICT in making the learning and teaching process effective and enjoyable. Now all staff members are doing all sort of work on computers and using the internet very frequently.   

Drastic changes were made in the examination department and everything related with the examination has been computerised, various software which were required for this were developed by my computer teachers in the school. All these ICT interventions resulted into the drastic reduction of the budget of examination department.  

Lesson planning of our teachers and yearly syllabus break up is done in such a way, that all topics are covered in a very systematic manner with proper time for activities in the school and beyond the classroom. All our students are the members of Newspaper in Education of Times of India and PACE of Hindustan Times. These papers are provided to them free of cost and are used by the English faculty for their teaching.  

In primary classes, full freedom is given to the primary teachers for arrangement of the classroom, activities in academic periods and co-curricular periods, so that students can get maximum benefits of learning without any burden.  

I strongly believe that every problem has a solution. Keeping this idea in my mind I am open minded to the response of staff members for improvement of students.  I frequently organise various types of workshops and seminars for Students, Teachers and Parents. For example – Time management, Stress Management, Examination Phobia, Career Selection, Legal Awareness sessions for students. For Teachers workshops on Stress management, Lesson planning, Reiki, Class Management. For Parents we usually organise awareness program to update them on the  latest changes in education policies by CBSE, Good Parenting, Peer Pressure, Exam Pressure. We invite outside experts who are renowned in their respective fields for these workshops. 

House system is very well placed in school. Houses organise HOUSE wise assembly in which various activities are organised by the students for example G.K. Quizzes, Recitations created by students, Paper reading etc. Different festivals, special dates/days are also celebrated by students in special assembly.  

We train and motivate our students to participate in various Zonal, Inter Zonal, CBSE, Cluster, and District,State/National level competitions. I am the Chairman of Hindustan Scouts and Guide North Delhi and are regularly organising various training activities and camps of Hindustan Scouts and Guides. 

We organise monthly program for parents in which parents also participate as a participants in an informational setting atmosphere. This bridges the gap between Teacher and Parents and develop a friendly relationship in totally different atmosphere.  

I am probably the first and the only person in India who has been given academic autonomy by CBSE for Science Classes in standards IX and X. This gave me freedom to fill the gap between X and XI specially in Science stream. I wrote and publish books for autonomous syllabus when I was in Birla Public School, PILANI (Raj).    

I have been awarded a number of awards few of them are:

• Avantika National Humanity   
• Appreciation letter from Director, Directorate of Census, Home Ministry, Government of India 2001  
• Avantika Guru Dronacharya Samman  
• Peace award  
• Shakuntla Samman  
• Green Earth Award   
• Honoured by Lions club of Rajnandgaon City  
• Honoured by Lions club International  
• Awarded Appreciation letter from Director of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, QATAR
• Swabhimaan Samman Award at Distt. Level by Avantika
• “National Award for Spiritual Education” by 2011 World Spiritual Parliament Delhi Chapter. 
• “2011 Global Human Rights Protection Award” by Indian Institute of Human Rights, on the occasion of 12th World Human Rights Congress held on 10th Dec 2011 at New Delhi  
• “Teaching Award” Excellence in School Teaching by PEARSON   
• “Pratibha Samman 2012”on 12th October 2012 by AVANTIKA
• Awarded in “33rd WORLD MANAGEMENT CONGRESS 2012”    
• Appreciation Letter from ACP, North Delhi Police  
• Appreciation Letter from Commerce Teachers Association, Delhi  
• Awarded in Award Ceremony of 14th National Conference of Independent (Public) School’s Federation of India, New Delhi  
• Education Excellence Award 2015 by Lion Club of Delhi
• “Avantika Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award 2016”  
• Appreciation Letter from Chairman CBSE 2017 for helping CBSE in two stages of the 10th and 12th Exam as CBSE teleconsular.    

As a Principal I have taken various workshop for the Teacher and parents for example Use of AV, Class Management, Copy checking, CCE, Changes in Education Policies, Latest Trends in Education, Changes in CBSE Exam Pattern etc.   

We have well equipped, well stocked Library and Labs in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computers, Maths, Social Studies, Hindi, English & Sanskrit. In these labs students develop their skills, performing experiments and practising concepts/programmes. Children are motivated to use these labs for various research works related to their subjects.

As a progressive principal I look after a lot of non-academic work along with academic work e.g. office administration, budget preparation, cost control, payment of all statutory dues, development of campus, building maintenance, security and housekeeping etc.   

On the rooftop of the school building solar panels have been installed which generate electricity which is more than the required electricity to run the whole school. We are thereby selling surplus electricity to TPDDL and generate revenue. We have installed water harvesting system in our school campus due to which we are charging the underground water.  

In the school we have arranged free of cost remedial classes for economically weak students with the help of existing staff.  In this all staff members happily contribute to remedial teaching. At the same time extra classes are also conducted for meritorious students due to which they are receiving merit certificates form CBSE .  Our school is the centre for CBSE evidence checking of classes IX and X and is the Nodal Centre for class XII Biology, English class X Science.  

I am the Master Trainee of CCE. Centre Superintendent of AISSCE and AISSE. I was the Vice President of District Table Tennis Association, Sonepat; Convener CBSE School’s Principal meeting of District RAIPUR to develop Sahodaya Complex over there; Presiding Officer IIT–JEE, 2002; Sr. Vice President Haryana State Tae-Kwon-Do Association; Member Sports Authority of India (SAI) Selection committee for Basketball; CCE Monitor and Mentor of prestigious CBSE schools of Delhi; Academic consultant of various schools in NCR; CBSE’s Master trainer of CCE; Centre Director of CBSE to organize “Capacity Building Program” of CBSE; Centre Director of CBSE to organize “Cluster XX Kabbadi Competition” of CBSE; Centre In-charge to organize various competitions of Director of Education at Zonal and Inter Zonal Level; Tele-Counsellor for pre and post examination of CBSE.  I am the counsel member of  Consulting Management Platform of Gerson Lehrman Group From Austin TX78701  and am the LIFE MEMBER of INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS. 

I have attended a large number of CONFERENCES like

• CBSE Principal’s meet at VDJS, Hisar;  
• Principal’s meet organized by Hindustan Times and Times of India on “Use of IT in Education”; 
• Principal’s meet by Derek O’Brien on “Know and Grow”; 
• Three day “Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Scheme of Class IX” Workshop organized by Chairman CBSE in Doha, QATAR; 
• Two day Workshop on use of ICT in School Education organized by North Atlantic College, Doha, Qatar;   
• Induction meeting for the private school in Qatar, Organized by Supreme Education Council, Doha, QATAR; 
• Seminar on Professional Licensing system for Teachers & Leaders Organized by Supreme Education Council, Doha, QATAR
• Educational conference on “Education: Paradigm Shifts” organized by Doha Academy and presented by Ms Sara Bubb, a renowned educational expert from the U.K.     
• “CCE Monitoring and Mentoring committee” Workshop organized by chairman CBSE, New  Delhi; 
• “School Education Conclave” organized by Digital Learning, Delhi; 
• “School of Future‘’organized by Xseed and Hindustan Times, Delhi; 
• “National Seminar’’ Organized by Independent School Federation;
• “RTE and Nursery Admission’’ organized by Education Minister of Delhi Govt;
• “K12 Education 2.0, Drawing the roadmap for the class of 2020” organized by Educational   Initiative and Economics Times”  
• Principal’s meets organized by Times of India
• “School’s Leaders Conclave” organized by SMART Technology, USA  
• Seminar on “Cloud Computing-ION” by TATA Consultancy Services, Mumbai   
• Conference “The Integrating Technology & Transforming Education” organized by Bloomberg | UTV  Conference 
• “Times Schoolonomics” organized by Times of India.  
• Workshop on “Mind Power” organized by Mind Power Educational Aids, Delhi.   
• “New Educational Initiatives for Young Achievers and Meaningful Teaching & Learning” organized by “MINE SKILL Foundation & Assessment Tomorrow-DELHI”  
• “Latest Trends & Technologies and Opportunities in Education” organized by VAR India
• “EDVANTAGE – India: The Education Superpower”, conference organized by Economic Times 
• “CCE Master Training Workshop” organized by chairman CBSE, New  Delhi  
• “National Summit of School Principal on Inclusion –Rhetoric to Reality” organized by Institute Of Counsellor Training Research and Consultancy, New Delhi
• “National Conference On Revolutionizing Education : The Technology Outreach” organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi
• Global Conference for Principals by Progressive Principal School Association on Emerging challenges for schools for effective Leadership   
• Annual Principal meet by Hindustan times   
• Maruti Road Safety Programme –Happy Roads   
• Book Release and Seminar by Centre for Science and Environment by Dr. Soumya Swaminathan   
• Seminar on Present Education System ‘’Present Sir’’ by Pruquest Organisation   
• Participated in the “Launch of Values Education Programme by CBSE & Ramakrishna Mission”
• Participated in Two day Training Programme of CBSE Centre Of Excellence for Prospective Resource Persons/Trainers on CCE at Shiksha Sadan, Delhi
• Participated in CCE Mentoring and Experience Sharing Workshop of Mrs Sugandh Sharma Additional Director (R&I), MM Unit of CBSE       
• Participated in Microsoft Cyber Security Awareness and Imagine Academy organized by Microsoft

I am well versed with Delhi School Education Act and Rules 1973 of Directorate of Education Govt. of NCT of Delhi and I regularly organise excursions, picnics, educational tours for various places in and around Delhi for students.   

MY MISSION AS A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL

My personal mission and vision of Education is Learners are active participants, problem solvers, and planners and not passive absorbers of information and authority. The community should not be separate from school it should be an extension of the classroom. Decision-making is shared by all constituent groups and should not be centrally based and administratively delivered. Knowledge is constructed through play, direct experience, and social interaction. Instruction is related to central questions and inquiry, often generated by the children. Disciplines are integrated as children make connections. Skills are related to content and are viewed as tools. Assessment is benchmarked, has many forms, and is progress-oriented. Intelligence is recognised as varied, includes the arts, and is measured in real-life problem-solving and not as a measure of linguistic and logical/mathematical abilities.  I and my colleagues believe students should be empowered in such a way that they are ready to face every challenge of the world to become successful.  We involve parent community quite often for the development of school and students.  

As a principal it was my dream mission to visit and explore the working of overseas schools and I have been privileged  to have been  the principal of an overseas school that is Doha Indian Modern School, Doha, Qatar where for the first time I introduced CBSE along with CBSE curriculum. CCE which was started by CBSE was introduced by me in that school. I organized several workshops to update and upgrade teachers who were from 21 nationalities because I was motivated by my personal mission and vision. 

With the growing use of ICT in education it was my desire that all teachers must be well versed with uses of computer. Keeping this thing in my mind after joining the current school I persuaded, motivated all the teachers to learn computer. Initially response was not encouraging but slowly and slowly with continuous motivation to accomplish my vision, staff members started learning computer and now all teachers are using only computers for doing all sort of school work. Now the whole school is transformed to an e-school. By this we saved a lot of stationery and saving in budget. With the help of our own staff members we developed a lot of softwares e.g. Time table & Teachers Adjustment, Examination System, Generation of Report Card, Software for Parent Teacher communication etc    

LEARNING BY DOING

By implementing the theory of Multiple Intelligences given by Howard Gardner in our curriculum where different methods are followed to teach a topic to children with difference. It is rightly said learning by doing gives a better experience to staff and students and I totally believe in this concept and to stimulate this we create a lot of situations for students as well as for teachers. There are a large number of examples where learning by doing leaves its impression. 

Our students participated in various Zonal, CBSE, State and National activities organized by various other private and government organizations. For example during the preparation for Inspire Awards students contacted various institutions like Hospitals, DRDO, PUSA etc. directly under the supervision of their teachers for exponential and experiential learning.     

Annual Exhibition of various department is the unique feature of our school where student show their talents in the form of exhibits which may be live, static or working. For this exhibition, teachers and students do a lot of research work for integration of various subjects.  During teaching teachers use various types of live examples for better understanding of concepts for example Dramatization, Role play, Mock Parliament etc. 

Different types of Worksheets and Assignments are prepared by all subject teachers. Our staff and students are divided vertically into Six Houses. Each House is on duty to manage the school for a fortnight in which students counsel Prefectorial Board Members of that house to help the teachers and principal in managing the school. At the end of fortnight student counsel discusses the shortcomings as well as excellent work done by the house and accordingly points are allotted to the house on duty by teachers.   

INTEGRATED CURRICULUM 

An integrated curriculum is described as one that connects different areas of study by cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration focuses on making connections for students, allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful activities that can be connected to real life. Students not only connect and create more real world connections in integrated classrooms, but they are also more actively engaged. Creating an integrated curriculum means that teachers are charged with having to create challenging, fun, meaningful tasks that help students connect to information. Creating a Solar System Unit that also requires oral language development and practice, reading comprehension skills and mathematics, can engage students far more than just a lesson on the solar system alone. Integration helps to achieve retention and engagement in classrooms, which yields higher mastery of content standards.   

Key benefit of an integrated curriculum is the ability for students to see skills multiple times. Instead of teaching comprehension strategies in just reading, teaching those strategies across multiple disciplines can give students an opportunity to see and implement it more often. The repetition of the skills being taught creates a higher level of understanding and retention of information for students in the classroom. To create multidisciplinary integrated curriculum, a central theme is developed which focuses on social studies and teach history, geography, economics and government in that thematic based unit. 

We also create a mathematics thematic unit that teaches the relationship between fractions, percent, decimals and ratios. This helps students in making connections to many disciplines. We take current affairs and socially meaningful topics such as Theme of Dengue whereby Maths is used in calculating blood count, Physics explains as to how oil reduces surface tension and makes mosquitoes eggs sink, Biology explains all about micro-organisms and pathogens, History of Disease and Geography includes landforms and climate. It enhances social awareness where students organize rallies and go door to door to spread awareness about the disease and its prevention. 

We organize theme based rallies in the school on subject like Ganga, Five Elements, Girl Child, Relevance of Ramayana in present scenario etc. In the preparation of each theme lots of integration between various subjects like Social Science, Languages, Science, Maths, Art & Craft, Dance & Music and research work is required and students end up doing all this happily. 

We also organize Fancy Dress shows of different states/countries so that students are able to understand various cultures of that area. Assembly talk on various global issues give an in-depth knowledge of the subject like Languages, Sciences, History, GK, Social Science etc. 

KIDZANIA is a safe, unique, and interactive indoor theme park that empowers, inspires & educates kids through real-life role-play activities. Thus KIDZANIA is a very good live example of learning by doing. Our students are regularly visiting KIDZANIA.  

INTEGRATION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTO EDUCATION THROUGH FACULTY

In the present scenario, education should be such which generates employability. Even our Prime Minister stresses on skill development by which students can start their own business/industry. Keeping this in my mind we also lay a lot of stress on skill development for which various types of clubs have been organised in the school where students are given training in different types of skills for example Handicraft Club, Embroidery Club, Meal Planning Club, Best Out of Waste Club, Art & Crafts Club, Clay Modelling, Needle & Thread Club, Electronics Club, Repair & Maintenance, Woodwork Club, Environmental Club, Metalwork Club and so on. In these clubs students learn various skills and at the end of session these clubs organise a very big exhibition cum sale programme where they sell their items to the parents and earn money for their club. This effort of the students is highly appreciated by parents. In these clubs students learn various skills which they can utilize in selecting the profession and business in future, after doing some short term advance course. In primary section students are sent to various vendors like canteen, book shop, uniform shop etc to learn the entrepreneurship right from childhood.

PROBLEM SOLVING & CRITICAL THINKING AMIDST THE FACULTY 

Here are 7 steps for an effective problem solving process which are to be followed by all 

1. Identify the issues. Be clear about what the problem is. …   
2. Understand everyone’s interests. …   
3. List the possible solutions (options) …   
4. Evaluate the options. …   
5. Select an option or options. …   
6. Document the agreement(s). …   
7. Agree on contingencies, monitoring, and evaluation.  

The skills that we need in order to be able to think critically are varied and include observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem solving, and decision making.  

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analysing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments that are logical and well-thought out. It is a way of thinking in which you don’t simply accept all arguments and conclusions you are exposed to but rather have an at the term “informal logic” is often used to mean the same thing as critical thinking. Sometimes it is used to refer to the study of reasoning and fallacies in the context of everyday life. “Formal Logic” is mainly concerned with formal systems of logic attitude involving questioning such arguments and conclusions.  

As a part of school curriculum all the students are exposed to PSA (problem solving assessment). For this worksheets and assignments are given as per their class and age learning level. We organise peer to peer teaching which gives confidence to the students that they can solve the problem of their friends and can think critically.  We organise Vedic Mathematics class in the school so that mathematics phobia can be removed. 

GROUP WORK AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS AMIDST THE FACULTY

As a principal of the school and having contributed a lot in terms of accentuating group work and development of social skills amidst the faculty members, I organise subject wise, inter-subject wise staff meetings where they discuss about teaching strategies and methodologies along with teaching aids.  Interdisciplinary sharing of material is also worked out.  For example material prepared by Science teachers on pollution, population is used by Social Science faculty for various classes. A presentation on nature prepared by Social Science faculty is used by Science or English Language teacher. A Grammar presentation is used by all faculty members with a slight variation in degree of difficulty for various classes.  

Department wise grouping has been done under the supervision of a senior teacher for a better output. All teachers are grouped into 6 different houses which effectively perform their duties with the help of their Prefectorial Board of Students & School Council.  Our school has various committees as in House System, Examination, Time Table, Discipline Committee, Syllabus Committee, Book Selection Committee, Class Coordinator. Teachers are assigned to each committee keeping their field of expertise, area of interest and skill. Teams of teachers visit other sister schools and share their knowledge and resources for the benefit of students of both the schools.  

Every month on the last working day, we celebrate the birthdays of staff born in that month & a get together is organised.  Quite often we motivate students and staff members for community lunches whereby everyone brings one or the other eatables, which are enjoyed by all.  

UNDERSTANDING & ACTION BASED LEARNING

With the change in technology and change in teaching methodology a lot of changes have been made in the teaching learning process. There is a tremendous reduction in rote knowledge with a substantial increase in understanding and action/activity based learning. The Curriculum is so designed that every topic is followed by an activity or an experiment. Teachers are using various laboratories for better understanding and sharing knowledge. 

Excursions to various places like historical places, banks, post offices, hospitals provides first-hand information to the students. Various seminars and workshops are organised for students and teachers with the help of outside agencies like Delhi Legal Service, Transport and Police Department, Educational Experts, Fire Fighters etc.  We invite experts, professionals from various fields like Medicine, Engineering, CS, Defence, Entrepreneurs who share their experience with the students and staff.  

For better understanding rallies are organised on various burning issues like pollution, population, safe driving girl child, say no to crackers. Students are given handout worksheets for better understanding and revision of topics. Short Videos, PPT, Drama, Role Plays are also organised for better understanding and knowledge. Practical knowledge of Water Management is given through water harvesting system of the school. Students are sent in various installations to inspect and interact with experts of that organisation. To develop more curiosity different higher order programmes are organised where students develop a lot of innovative ideas as in punctureless tyres, electricity free fridge, home ac, digital cities etc.  Visits to old-age homes are conducted to understand the problem of old age persons, rules of society and government. EVS club organises various mock drills for preparing the students and staff against any natural calamity or disaster. All members of the school donate woollens for poor and needy with the help of Hindustan Times.  

COLLABORATIVE & COOPERATIVE LEARNING PROJECTS FOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

As a principal, I send my staff for various subject enrichment programs organised by CBSE, Private Publishers, Government Agencies and different Associations/Institutions like FICCI, ICAI, Action Committee of Delhi School, Directorate of Education of NCT, Delhi Legal Service, Times of India, Hindustan Times etc. 

We use this approach of collaborative & cooperative learning projects for faculty development quite often when we switched to digital transformation. Many faculty members required a lot of motivation besides learning from beginning in the nuances of ICT.  We use this method to Integrate Curriculum Focused on Thematic Units by synergising the inter-disciplinary expertise of our faculty members. The teachers use their subject knowledge to integrate the theme.  

JOSH which is a unique inter and intra class/house talent hunt programme of the school whereby students display their talents not only in academics but also in co-curricular activities.  

Model Teaching Practice by all faculty member is again a unique programme of the school whereby one teacher teachers a topic to the rest of the faculty members act like students. In this way they share their good practice with other faculty members.  

Every year selection of books and syllabus breakup is done by all teachers under the supervision of HOD of that subject. Various personality development programmes conducted by experts from outside agencies are a regular feature of our school. 

EDUCATION ACCENTUATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SAFEGUARDING DEMOCRACY 

It’s my desire and dream to use education to safeguard democracy and empower the students to become global citizens and solve their challenges themselves. In our school very-well developed house-system is working in which each house is on duty for a fortnight. They organise regular house meetings where constructive suggestions from the students, school council members, prefectorial board members are invited in a very democratic manner, things are finalised.  I also organise regular school-council meetings for first-hand information for necessary actions. In all the above mentioned meetings students take part enthusiastically.  

The Class monitor diary is a unique feature of our school where monitors continuously send suggestions, problems of the class after discussing with other classmates along with activities held in the class.  Staff meetings are also organised before and after the activity so that planning as well as shortcomings of the planning can be worked out for further improvement. In the staff meetings, I remain a passive listener and all the staff members are active participants. 

Canteen committee gives regular feedback to the Principal after collecting feedback from students about the quality and hygiene of the food items served over there.  I organise adult education classes whereby I teach adult labourers and Group-D employees, maids etc. Highly encouraging result are obtained due to which they are able to safeguard themselves from cheating & fraud and they started living a better life. This way we empower the students and masses for their better future.  

DESIGN & DELIVERY OF A LEARNING ECOSYSTEM WHEREBY HIGHLY PERSONALIZED LEARNING ACCOUNTING IS DONE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONAL GOALS

We regularly organise PTMs at the end of the month in which scholastic and co-scholastic details of every child, which were maintained by the group of teachers, are put up to the parents for their perusal. This way each parent is able to understand scholastic and co-scholastic development of their child and practical suggestions given by their teachers are happily accepted by them. In the same way parents write down their constructive suggestions for the teachers which are in turn accepted whole-heartedly as well.   

We have appointed a clinical child psychologist who frequently interact with the students and staff for their social, emotional, psychological, problems and solve them by way of continuous counselling sessions & guidance.  Throughout the year each student of the school is under the supervision of a group of teachers who observe and evaluate the children and give suggestions for better understanding and improvement especially in the co-scholastic areas. These advices are highly personalised as per the requirement of the individual.  

INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE LEARNING PROJECTS INTO THE DAILY CURRICULUM

Our curriculum is so designed which integrates community service and help to under-privileged students. We have a good number of students from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged group which are taught along with the mainstream students without any discrimination as nobody knows about their group. They are provided special care free remedial classes so that they can easily come up.  

Our students learn a lot by doing community service. For example, along with Hindustan Times woollen clothes in good condition are donated to the needy, used toys are donated to a toy bank, old books to a book bank. Our students are the members of Hindustan Scouts and Guide through which they do a lot of community service related to health, hygiene, population, pollution, girl abuse etc.   Every year during monsoon season we organise Van Mahotsav to make our campus greener. Students and staff members plant and maintain their saplings. Every month we organise an informal programme for parents, maternal and paternal grandparents, relatives and other family members in which students and invited guests jointly perform various educational/recreational  activities which are appreciated by one and all. 

FUTURISTIC SELECTION OF SUBJECT CONTENT 

Our PM believes in skill development and as a principal I also promote this concept among the students for which we have developed a club system whereby students actively participate and undertake a lot of manual work. Value Education, Moral Education, Life Skills are an integral part of our curriculum for teaching and practicing. By dint of all these skills, students develop a lot of moral values and life skills to face the challenges in future. It encourages the students for their holistic development and focusses on their all-round development.  

Our students from class IX to XII are the members of transgender club SPACE. They participate in their meetings and social upliftment programmes. Regularly awareness meetings are organised to discuss issues related with the transgenders. The SPACE Organisation promotes the ideas of equality, inclusion and acceptance which is also promoted by our students. They interact with the elite group of society to share their problems for reaching  productive solutions.    

Hindustan Times Scouts and Guide and Bulbul also interact with the various groups of society for their community services especially during camps. All these activities of the school affect the students locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Till date our school has organised 2 National, 3 state level camps of Hindustan Scout and Guide and currently one of the state level camp is in progress.  We are happy to note the action of our students and staff are affecting the society. We generally donate for Red Cross, Cancer Patients, Armed Force Flag Day, Leprosy Awareness, Help Age Society, HT Pace Woollen Clothes Donation etc. Our students have donated a good amount in PM’s relief fund at the time of natural and man-made calamities. We organise various awareness workshop for students and teachers with the help of Times of India, Hindustan Times, Aakash Institute, Singh study circle, Takshila, PNG, Sony pictures network, Delhi legal service, Commerce teacher Association, Geography teacher Association.  

In my previous school all my students and staff members were doing TM (Transcendental Meditation) developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi which gave a lot of positive results among the staff and the students. Seeing results a lot of parents also approached and they were also given proper training.   We tied up with a Ramakrishna Mission Ashram for various spiritual moral aspects of the students. Disciples from the Ashram visit our school for conducting sessions with the students.   We also participated in the World Culture festival 2016 of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar Ji with him our students and teachers learn Art of Living specially to control for anger, and stress management.  

LIFELONG LEARNING AND SOCIAL SKILLS OF  FACULTY MEMBERS

We are lifelong learners and learn various skills throughout life from all sections of society like a baby to an adult. We regularly send our teachers for various upgradation programs. The teachers which are giving the best academic results or who have done innovative teaching project work are rewarded.  We nurture the school atmosphere like a family and in such an atmosphere staff members can work without any stress or strain and accomplish their tasks assigned to them from time to time.  A lot of programs are organised in the school in which sufficiently good amount of remunerations are involved like CBSE copy checking, coordination reference/umpire, invigilation etc. The teachers who are doing remarkable work are given preference in these remunerative duties, so that they perform duties as well as they can earn sufficiently good amount of money. These remunerative duties motivate the others to go beyond the normal confines of their academic duty. We organise various in-house seminars along with outsource seminars for the social skill development and broaden their horizon. When I joined the current school no body was computer literate. But slowly and steadily with continuous persuasion and motivation they all learnt the computer and started using it in making their teaching learning process colourful, attractive and effective and this ICT training gave them a lifelong learning skill.  

FACULTY ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION OF THEIR INNOVATIVE PROJECTS & PRODUCTIONS

A structural system of teacher appraisal is well placed in our school, which is pressed into action twice a year and for this not only academic part is taken into consideration but a lot of other things are taken into account for example arrival and departure time, leave record, syllabus completion, dealing with the students both belonging to the remedial category as well as that of bright students, participation in sports and co- curricular activities, dressing sense, team spirit, behaviour with students and staff etc.  Their classes are observed homework copies are checked and reports are prepared with suggestions for further improvement.  A teacher is a role model for the students. He/ She should behave in such a manner that if students are copying them then the students should learn some good and constructive thing. At the end of the session, the academic result is also taken into consideration for their appraisal. Parents are also invited to give their feedbacks about the staff members. Due to weightage is given for innovation and creativity.  

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY TO FACULTY EMPOWERMENT

Faculty empowerment includes playing for the success of the school and the pupils. If teachers are properly empowered they can discharge their duties in a more appropriate manner. Each faculty is headed by a faculty head who is one of the senior teachers who guide the new teachers who join the school.  We have a class coordinator system in our school which comprises of the senior staff members who guide the newly joined staff so that they quickly fall in place with the system and norms.  Distribution of responsibilities is done primarily to enhance and streamline the system. This empowers the faculty and increases accountability of each individual.