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End of Term Letter

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Dear Parents, Namaste! Exactly a year ago, we formally moved to the digital platform for teaching and learning.   Advancing the new session was a tough call we took. However, today, when we look back, as educators, we are more mature, more equipped and empowered, more knowledgeable and trained, more empathetic and compassionate.   As a school, we   stood up to the challenge and have gone beyond our promise of imparting quality and holistic education to our learners. The biggest lesson learnt during the pandemic is ‘Despite all odds, the show must go on’.   And here we are, gearing up for another eventful and memorable year.   We may have to begin the new Academic Session for Grade I-VIII in June virtually as we did for Grade IX, X and XII in April.   As the situation gets better, we will all go back to campus gradually. To help us and our learners get back to school, we urge every parent and the above 18 members of each and every Billabong family to get vaccinated.   This is the

To Learners with Love

                       To Learners with Love                              26 th March, 2020 Beloved Learners, Hope all of you are keeping well.   This advance closure of school and forced confinement is probably the most trying time in your life.   Believe me, I have never experienced anything so unusual in my lifetime.   But I know, being Billabongites, you have the resilience to overcome this 21day CCC (Combat Corona Challenge) successfully. When the going gets tough, the tough get going I was reading about Scott Kelly, the NASA astronaut who spent a year in space.   Also, the submariners who are under water for months, live in isolation as a regular way of life.   They had some simple points to suggest: ·          Have a mission to keep oneself healthy ·          Have a daily routine and stick to it ·          Create one’s own space in your shared house ·          Try new things ·          Don’t look too far ahead i.e. don’t count days ·          It’s o

Creating Consumer Awareness in Students: A Review

Consumer Awareness in Students : A Review Have you e ver been overcharged for a product and let it go, because of no kno wledge of consumer rights guidelines?   How about a book that introduces you to this topic through storytelling? Interesting isn’t it! Well ,  the Council f or Fair Business  Practice (CFBP)  has i ntroduced an informative book  titled  “Jago Grahak J ago” . ‘Council f or  Fair  Practice s in Business’  is an organization created by t ycoons such as Mr. JRD. Tata, Mr. Ashok Birla, Mr . SP Godrej among others.      “Jago Grahak J ago’’ can be  translated  as 'wake up consumer wake up'. It is an  il lustrated book  on different  malpractices committed by  shopkeepers through stories and comic - s trips .   The  book begins  with  a story  of how a trusted shopkeeper sells expired medicines  especially  to a little girl whose mother depended  on the se  medicines for survival .  The second s tory is about misleading information about brands  on  their

A Village of Possibilities

The lanes are dusty,  the homes thatch-roofed. The earth parched, wells filled with slime, as though from the cauldrons of hell. Welcome to the Zila Parishad's school - the asbestos covered singular brick structure in the village. There are many things to learn from these scrubbed little children in much-worn school uniform. Their teachers' word holds sway. The classroom is spick & span as are the tiny areas leading up to separate buildings. Of course,  they do not have unlimited supply of notebooks to tear & make aeroplanes or chits out of. They lack the steady supply of chocolates, chips and other taste bud entertainers.  Hence no wrappers. This is the real India, the other India. It is our selfie point, a hashtag to show our generosity to the less fortunate (and a good thing too). Watching them perform, I saw them as the fortunate. Having been forced to contend with life, they have learnt to appreciate the small joys. They have a mother more interested in them th

Teachers as Leaders and Learners: Know as you grow

Published by VIVA Education as a Prize Winning Article for Teachers' Day Contest- 2016 A leader is made, not born.  A teacher too. In my career span of twenty years, I feel what I am today is the outcome of my innumerable interactions with some thousand plus students ,colleagues and my mentors. My journey as a teacher started from the grass root level- the kindergarten. Having observed these tiny tots enthusiasm and unconditional love towards their school  and teachers ,  and at times their unwillingness and struggle to drag themselves or being dragged by their parents to school, I learnt my first lesson in leadership. The first and foremost intention in these classes would be to make these kids cheerful at any cost so that they forget why they had been showing reluctance.  Everyday is not the same, but one needs to be resilient, cheerful and find strategies to make learners happy as a result of which the outcome is always positive.  If we are able to touch their hearts, our

Be a Leader

Who is a leader? L - loving E- empathetic A- astute D- dynamic E- erudite R- righteous If you possess all of these, you are a leader. Leaders are not born, they are  self made. Let me share with you the story of a 15 year old leader... she has won the international children's peace prize . At the age of 8 she founded an organisation called Green Hope as she felt that she was born to be an eco warrior. Her sole objective is to mobilise and involve children and youth to create a sustainable and green future around the world. Now, she is a member of the World Future Council. Another young leader the Nobel peace prize winner says...one pen, one book, one child and one teacher can change the world. What motivates a leader?  The courage to rise up against wrong...be it destruction of the environment or deprivation of education.  Their actions speak louder than words. They walk the talk.  Are leaders born or created? I believe all humans are born with ce

Warm Wishes

To My Students With Love Each one of you is a super star  In your own special way  ‎We love you for who you are  ‎As you make our day! Scholar, artist, singer,designer, We Know you will create a world of your own And spread love and goodness around With the pure thoughts that your teachers have sown. Remember, the more you give,the more you get Amidst the humdrums of life Never let your mind forget. May you all reach the pinnacle of success And create a world like never before Where stories of  honesty and truth, empathy and care Row the boat of life as the oars. Lamp Lighting Ceremony  Grade X & XII  31st January, 2018 By Kalyani Chaudhuri