Co- Scholastic
Conference on "Preventing Bio-Piracy: Protecting Traditional Knowledge": Round Table on “Preventing Bio-Piracy: Protecting Traditional Knowledge” was held in India International Centre on 4-5 April 2012.The conference was attended by Prakul Sharma and Shovna of Class-X and Shreya Ganotra & Aakriti of Class-IX . The Conference was organized by the NGO “NAVDANYA” NGO. The Director Dr.Vandna Shiva eloquently raised the issues of Biopiracy & apprised the conference of Navdanya’s successful endeavors against Neem patents in 1994 & Basmati Piracy in 1998.
The different speakers of renowned stature like Sh S.P Shukla( former Indian Ambassador to GATT), Dr. PL Gautam, Director protection of plant varieties & Farmers rights Authority etc. spoke about amendment in India’s patent laws, Biodiversity Acts, Plant Variety protection, Farmers Right Acts & also about the Traditional Knowledge & Digital Library.
The conference also laid emphasis that a lot of traditional knowledge is linked to health & healing practices & food culture which has been in the domain of Women’s Knowledge besides the recognized codified systems of Medicines.
Easter Day Celebration: It was celebration time at S.P.S Afternoon when the students were engaged in festive activities to mark the significant festival of Easter. The Primary students came well-stocked with eggs and decoration material to put their artistic and imaginative skills to test. There was an air of excitement all around with paint brushes being dipped and varied combinations of craft materials being stuck for novelty. The seniors, on the other hand, held a special assembly to enlighten the students about this important day that rejoices the rejuvenation of life.
Fancy Dress Competition: A fancy Dress competition was organized for Classes I-III. The students were given different themes viz- fruits and vegetables for Class I; Fairy tale characters for class II; Cartoon Characters for Class III; My Style, My Statement for Class IV; Freedom Fighters for Class V and they had to dress up in colorful attires based on the above mentioned themes. The students expressed themselves confidently. The competition was interesting and a great learning experience.
Earth Day Celebration: The “Earth Day” was celebrated with a lot of gusto and fervor on 20 April 2012. All the students from Classes VI-IX assembled in the sprawling school grounds. A plethora of activities were organized for the children to do away with routine monotony. Students gave their imagination, wings and gave shape to waste material, while students of Classes VII and IX participated in a Poster Making and Slogan Writing Competition. They also participated in Best Out Of Waste activities in order to follow the logistics of recycle-reuse. The children across all levels made amazing craftwork that left everyone spellbound. There were sceneries with dried paper and wood, dolls and toys with leftover fabric or wool, wall hangings and photo frames amongst others. The students thoroughly enjoyed the activities and carried home with them the message to be more responsible children vowing to take better care of Mother Earth.
Tetra Pack Competition: Arihant Jain (Class Xth) and Nikhil (Class VII) participated in a Craft Competition organized by TERI at India Habitat Centre on the same occasion. They were accompanied by their teacher, Mr. Rohit (HOD Art Dept) The theme of the event was Sculpture Craft using Tetra packets. There was an enthralling range of displays that beautifully exhibited the imaginative creativity of the students across different schools. Representatives from TERI, Ms. Supriya and Mr. Robert, enlightened the students about their visit to Antarctica (which is littered with waste) and also guided the children that it was easier to preach and talk about aspects like global warming and waste management; but quite difficult to actually persevere in implementing the same. This significant date and day highlighted the contribution each person needed to make for saving the planet.
World Malaria
Day:
25 April 2012, a significant day annually, is observed as World Malaria Day.
Salwan Public School Afternoon, being a Face to Faith member school of the Tony
Blair Faith Foundation, was involved with several activities related to the
disease. A special assembly was held and the children spoke about the various
programmes that the school had been conducting periodically like the
Net Bearer Event,
where our school had been one of the net bearers as a part of the
Tony Blair Foundation’s Global
Relay of the Mosquito Net that was travelling worldwide. They
also spoke about the simple measures students could take towards the eradication
of the disease itself. The students were encouraged to contribute mosquito
repellent coils and ointments collectively and these were to be distributed
later at an identified slum cluster.
Leadership Camp to Pratapgath Farm: A day trip to Pratapgarh farm was organized for the students of Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12. In this camp students learnt about:
· Functioning of rural local government (Panchayat) - Students interacted with the heads of Panchayat. (Sarpanch)
· Principles of personal leadership through adventure activities like Burma Bridge, Trampoline, Sack Race, Blind fold, Gullel, Shooting
· Students actively participated in various activities like-Farm yard manuring, Grain grinding, Air gun, Archery, weaving, mud bath, Tube well bath, Camel cart, Tractor ride,
· Students enjoyed playing different games like Cricket, Soccer, Table Tennis, Badminton, Volleyball,
· Students Learned Pottery, Weaving Charkha
Workshop On School Health Policies: National level Multi-stakeholder meeting was held with the help of HRIDAY, an NGO, AROGYA world, a US based NGO and Public Health Foundation of India. The meeting was held to refine and develop a set of comprehensive, implementable guidelines for the ‘Healthy School’. CBSE and WHO have made the guidelines for Health promoting schools in which Dr. Sadhana Parashar , director(Training) CBSE, Dr. Amarjit Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of human Resource Development emphasized on integrated Health policies for schools. They added that a school can be given a seal of Healthy school which provides quality nutrition, integrated physical activities and teach children about the importance of healthy active lifestyle. Dr. Damodar Bachani, Director, Professor, Head Of Department Community medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College discussed about the Non-Communicable diseases risk factor amongst school children in India.
Workshop Tobacco Day:
A workshop was held on
‘SAY NO TO
TOBACCO’ for the peer leaders of classes 9, 10 and 11 on
13 May 2012. As WHO has selected
‘Tobacco
industry interference’ as the theme for
World No
Tobacco Day this year. Despite a complete ban on direct and
indirect advertising of tobacco products, tobacco companies are able to
advertise their products and youth are still being influenced by such
advertisements.
The peer leaders will monitor violations and associated photographic evidences
of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship with the vicinity of school
and home. The compiled evidences from 10 schools and 10 colleges of Delhi will
be reported to the
“Parliamentary Forum on Children” for quick action against all
direct and indirect industry tactics targeted at youth, for needful action.
Workshop on Life Skills: An interactive and educative workshop on Life Skills was held for Classes VIII to X by Zeinth Leadership Programmme on 7 May 2012. Students were given tips to manage their time effectively and overcome the stress they face in adolescence. The programme aimed to make students self-reliant and confident human-beings. The resource person spoke on the importance of channelizing their energies in a positive way. Students thoroughly enjoyed and participated in the interactive session.
Hindi Divas: Just before the children geared up for their well deserved summer break, the school children put up a show to culminate the term with a cultural fiesta celebrating EARTH DAY. The evening saw children contributing from all classes. Primary students recited poems on Environment. A Nukkad Natak presented by students of Class X set the gray matter ticking. Students presented a wide variety of programmes from Sholokas in Sanskrit to songs in English, all addressing the same cause of concern. The students’ enthusiasm and zest was infectious as everybody vowed to contribute their mite for the betterment of our Environment.
Preserving Our Rich Heritage- Spicmacay National Convention , Mangalore: In its continuing endeavour towards bringing every generation closer to its cultural roots, SPICMACAY, a movement of the students, by the students and for the students, has grown from strength to strength. The convention is an annual ritual and the week-long assembly entails a packed schedule of interactions with the who's who of the art world, intensive courses, orientation programmes and more. After a week, another successful batch of converts is ready to enter the world with a mission. This isn't a religious conglomeration. It is more cultural evangelism at its best and the National Institute of Technology at Surathkal was a buzz as it played host to the 27th SPICMACAY National Convention.
A typical day at the convention began with an exhaustive session of yoga at 4.00 a.m. to keep the participants fit. Throughout the day, intensive workshops were conducted in classical music, dance, crafts such as leather puppetry, block printing, papiermache and clay dolls, Kalamkari and Rajasthani tie and dye work, Madhubani and Odisha paintings under the supervision of experts and senior craftsmen. Our students enthusiastically participated in various dance forms such as Bharatnatyam,kuchipudi,koodiyattam and odissi and gained useful knowledge in their respective dance forms. The noon sessions included screening of films, talks and seminars screening of the movie “Dweepa” an amazing movie directed by ShriGirishKasaravalli proved to be an enriching experience for the students as they had an interactive session with the students about the concept of the movie after the screening.
In following days our students saw mesmerising performances of Dastangoli, PungCholom and a colourful folk form from Karnataka. After an early dinner at 5 p.m., the evenings used to end with music and dance concerts by the by renowned artists like legendary Hindustani vocalist BegamParveen Sultana ,VidushiMalvikaSarukkai and PanditRajan and Sajan Mishra to name a few. The hectic week concluded by a presentation given by all the intensive groups in the noon and an astounding overnight musical concert which alleviated and transcended the audience into a different world when the maestros of classical music such as Vidwan U Shrinivas , Ustad F WasufuddinDagar and PT. Venkatesh Kumar performed. On the last day of the convention a quick tour of the heritage sites near the venue was organised and our students enjoyed the scenic beauty of the Manglore and Udupi beaches.
Building Bridges: “This is our first time at SM and our heart reaches out to them. They are doing unbelievable work, which is highly motivating. We hope to start a Karachi chapter of SM soon,” said Arshad Mahmud, programmes and administration director of the National Academy of Performing Arts from Karachi. SM could easily take the credit for building new cultural bridges between the two neighbours. Our students met students from Pakistan and discussed their respective cultures with each other. The visit to the National Convention of SPICMACAY turned out into a conducive learning experience for both the teachers and students as they experienced the rich and varied culture of Indian Arts in that short span of time.
Workshop at National Science Centre: During summer break from 28 May to 1 June students of SPS – A attended the following workshops in National Science Centre:
1. Astro Lab
2. Exploring Nature
3. Science Toy Making
4. Basic Electronics
5. Fun with Physics
Students learnt various activities related to their clubs. Students were also trained on making different scientific gadgets for example in astro-lab students made gadgets like sundial, telescope, etc. The workshop was for five days and the students were taught different modules on each day. It was a great learning experience which enhanced the scientific knowledge and aptitude of the students.
TOI Journalism Training Programme: The Times of India organized Times NIE Summer Training Programme for students from Delhi and NCR at Daryaganj. Bharat Sharma of Class XII was amongst the 40 students who qualified for the two week training programme. It was an enriching experience for students wherein they learnt the nuances of journalism by working under eminent journalists of TOI. It was a platform for students to express their views on important issues and hone their writing skills. They learnt to write reports, reviews and edit stories and news features. They also experimented on designing colorful reader-friendly pages. The students had the golden opportunity to visit the TOI press at Sahibabad where they witnessed the designing and printing of TOI newspapers. Bharat Sharma also received a Certificate of Honour from The Times Group for participating in the Training Programme.
Conference on ‘Beeja Swaraj’ ---seed Sovereignty: ‘Beeja Swaraj’ ---seed Sovereignty ---A round table conference was held at India International Centre. The conference was organised by the NGO Navdanya and was chaired by Navdanya’s chair person Dr.Vandana Shiva. Dr.Vandana Shiva along with other enlightened people from different walks of life ranging from legal background (Pinky Anand) ,Govt. scientists, farmer activists and leaders addressed the gathering about the importance of seed sovereignty.The gathering was sensitised on the issue of patenting of seeds by MNC’S like Monsanto ,Syngenta etc. Dr.Vandana Shiva stated that in order to save the rights and plight of common man one needs to join the ‘Beeja Satyagraha’.
For non-cooperation against laws that create IPR monopolies on seed, Biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. The conference concluded on the decision of taking out a ‘Delhi March’ for Beeja satyagraha on 2 October –the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (the father of the nation).
Video Conference with Bradley Stoke Community School , Bristol , U.K. : Salwan Public School Afternoon had the opportunity of interacting with students from Bradley Stoke Community School, Bristol, U,K. in a Video Conference. The students shared their views and experiences related to school life, community, faith, religion and festivals. They learnt about the similarities and differences in each others’ cultures. The students from SPS Afternoon were curious to know about the preparations going on in London related to the forthcoming Olympic Games. The UK students excitedly told their counterparts about the stadiums getting face uplift and the cheer spread all around. On being asked about the changes they would like to see in their city, the Indian students expressed their concern over the high-rise buildings, rising pollution levels and lack of free space in Delhi. The UK students hoped to have an improvement in their transportation system and a pollution free environment. Children from both the schools explained the various festivals they celebrated in their countries and the significance attached to them. It was an enriching experience wherein the students enjoyed the novelty of dialogue in a live discussion across nations.