International School Awards

Vivekananda Mission School aims at the all-round development of the children. It is in this perspective that we took up the International School Awards project. Since the school lays stress on both curricular and co-curricular activities, this was not a difficult thing to do. During the planning period, care was taken to ensure that it got well integrated into the classroom and field activities. So there was no loss of teaching time.
The Project implementation saw a total involvement both on the part of the teachers as well as the taught. In fact the whole school participated with a lot of enthusiasm. The presentations of the pupils were assessed internally for different subjects. Moreover, the ISA opened a number of windows to the pupils. First of all it enabled them to know about the geographical, cultural and social backgrounds of the countries they involved in their project. This created a better understanding of the people beyond their own national borders. This is very important at a time when technology has brought the world within the periphery of our homes and has transformed it into a global village.
In order to work for the Project, the school had to be registered at the Global Gateway. This gave us the opportunity to find contacts with schools abroad. It is not that all the schools we contacted responded immediately and promptly. This we accepted as the teething – problems we need to face for any first-time activity. Some of the links that we made were developed through our own resources.

Vivekananda Mission School is the proud recipient of the International School Award for three consecutive terms – 2006 – 2009, 2010 – 2013 and 2014 – 2017.

A Report by the Principal, Vivekananda Mission School on the ISA journey, 2014.

Vivekananda Mission School is the proud recipient of The International School Award in the year 2014 – 2017. “The great accomplishment of man has resulted from transmission of ideas and enthusiasm” – The entire journey is the result of a teamwork involving the teachers and students at different levels, imparting the essence of a strong bond and solidarity. The assimilation of our thoughts was projected through the action plans and was materialized through the execution. The journey included our interaction with 8 different countries in the world through exchange of materials, exchange of thoughts via mail, and video-conference through skype. Through the projects our children showcased their multi-dimensional talents. We have been successful in imparting the “I can” spirit in children and in developing an attitude of empathy towards the under privileged children through our community programme. Education got a new dimension beyond the walls of classroom through field trip, visit to old-age home, visit to non-formal school. Through this projects we have been able to get an idea of social, economical, political and geographical conditions of our country as well as other countries in the world. This is just the beginning of our journey to build up responsible citizens of the global village. We have a long way to go – we express our heartfelt thanks to British Council for acknowledging our endeavour aiming for sustainable links with the different parts of the world.

Global Curriculum Project

In June 2006, the erstwhile principal visited a number of schools in U.K. to develop educational links and to explore the possibilities of partnership. One of them was Syndenham Primary School in Leamington Spa. We discovered that there was a lot we could do together. To formalize our partnership and to carry out projects together through exchange visits we applied for the Reciprocal Visit Grant.

On receiving the grant in 2007 we embarked on our partnership journey with a dream and a zeal to provide new opportunities to our students to become responsible global citizens.

The partnership was named Bandhan – A special Bond. The bond of friendship was strengthened as the partners jointly applied for the GCP grants and worked together for three years. The story of our partnership is a symbol of collaboration, harmony and togetherness in the new global world.

Objectives

• Optimum use of technology to enhance the quality of communication.
• Working on global development issues and active citizenship towards a more equitable and sustainable world.
• Re-evaluate and modify the teaching learning process.
• Developing cultural understanding.
• Developing mutually beneficial, curriculum-based projects.
• Celebrating diversity and encouraging community participation in learning and teaching experiences.
• Developing a global curriculum with special emphasis on life skills.

Subjects Covered

• Art and Craft
• Geography
• Science
• Computers
• Drama
• Language

Foreign Visitors

• An expert in Waldorf Kindergarten Education System from Germany was invited by the School to spend a fortnight with the teachers of both Primary & Lower Primary unit, helping their methods according to the Global Education Standards. She conducted several sessions with the teachers of the school where she deliberated on the special features of Waldorf Kindergarten teaching methods.
• An internationally renowned Asian storyteller & also a certified teacher of English as a Second language from the London College of Preceptors, employed by The Coventry Education Society as a part time English teacher was invited by the School to hold demonstration sessions for the teachers of Primary & Lower Primary unit of the school. Her expertise lies basically in imparting her lessons through storytelling methods.
• The Principal of Macleans College, Auckland, New Zealand on his good will mission to India, visited Kolkata between 6th – 13th April, 2007 on an invitation extended to him by our founder Mr. C.G.Chandra. A meeting was held between Mr. Byron Bentley, and a team of teachers and Administrators of V.M.S, Kolkata and Vivekananda Education Society led by Shri C.G.Chandra, Secretary and Chief Executive on April 9,2007 at V.M.S. The purpose of his visit is to explore the possibilities of collaboration, cooperation & partnership between the two institutions, each of which is distinguished & contributes meaningfully to the progress & development of secondary education in its own country. At the end of the visit, it was agreed that there is enough scope to widen the contact between the two schools to facilitate establishment of full scale partnership over a period of years.
• The Head Teacher of Three Spires School in Coventry, UK recently visited our school on an invitation. During her stay in the school from 23.07.07 to 10.08.07 she helped the teachers to develop innovative teaching methods and learning skills which improvised teaching in a Class Room setup in the Pre-primary and Primary sections of the School. Shirley had special training and a vast experience in handling children having moderate to severe learning disabilities. Methods and techniques used by her are expected to augment the imaginative faculty and communication skills of the children belonging to 3+ to 9+ age group. She met Parents at Interactive Sessions dealing with slow learning children and conducted a session of Emotionally Intelligent Parenting on ‘Laws of Communication —a guide to effective Parenting’ in the school.
• Two senior teachers of Macleans College, Auckland, New Zealand had paid a visit to Vivekananda Mission School, Joka from 3rd November 2008 to 11th November 2008 in order to strike a common chord between the education systems prevailing here and there. It has taken the VMS family one step closer to the conceptualization of the ‘global family’ work plan.

The teachers interacted with different sections of VMS faculty at different levels. They gave us a feedback of how they conduct their academic courses and co-curricular activities. Our teachers helped them have a clear idea about the working conditions prevailing in the Indian Educational scenario.

On 10th Nov’08 they visited the Ajanta slum and interacted with the students and parents. They were so touched and moved by the way Vivekananda Education Society, Kolkata has come up to help these needy children that they have been kind enough to sponsor the education of eight children from the slum for holistic development.

This exchange programme has opened up new vistas for Vivekananda Mission School and we can proudly say that we are truly global.