The Chirag School

We at Chirag School have always relied on the generosity and goodwill of many well intended people to run the school. We believe it takes people with a radical thinking to believe in the idea of Chirag School. This festive season we have 12 such radical people fund raising for us via the Tata Mumbai Marathon platform. One of them is Tautik Das who will be running the marathon in order to fund raise for Chirag School. We urge all you good people who follow our posts religiously to keep the children of Chirag School in your hearts this Christmas and show us the same generosity that you always do. Here is the link to the fundraising page:
https://www.unitedwaymumbai.org/ngo-883

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Narendra Dabholkar, the renowned rationalist, in his book, 'The Case for Reason' said "Scientific temperament is a process of thinking, method of action, search of truth, way of life, spirit of a freeman"

We recently conducted a workshop for our students on building a scientific temperament. The facilitators talked about superstitions and also demonstrated some of the 'tricks' which are passed of as magic to illude the mind. They also touched upon the wonders of science.

Superstitions still abound our country even in the 21st century and cripple the free mind. We hope this will be a first step in building a scientific way of life for our students.

If you ever visit Chirag School, the one thing that will stay with you more than anything else is the narrow picturesque, pagdandi leading down into a valley towards the school building.The incessant rains this season made that approach road unsafe for our students. So, the School Management Committee (SMC) decided to repair the road themselves as part of their shramdan or voluntary contribution. A good school is made not just by skilled teachers led by a skilled school leader, but also by a thoughtful and giving community :)

All of us at Chirag School, are ecstatic to introduce our new school leader Radhakanta Meher. With a background in political science and a masters in education from Azim Premji University, Radhakanta has been an educator for the last ten years in various capacities and in various national and international schools. His values of building trust in children through a fear-free and joyful learning environment, completely resonate with Chirag School's ethos. Radhakanta Da, we are so excited to have you leading Chirag School :)

We are heartbroken that Sumit, our beloved school leader for the past 3 years, is leaving Chirag School. In his words, "It has been the most satisfying, fun and exhilarating time of my life at Chirag School. I have learnt more than I could ever teach, received more love than I could ever give and made some bonds that will be mine forever. Most of all, the children at Chirag School taught me lessons about life and living which I will carry in my head and heart always." We are pleased that Sumit will continue to engage with Chirag School by fundraising for us. We wish him all the love and luck!

Hi everyone! We just reached a thousand likes!! Thank you for engaging with and showing support to Chirag school in the form of funds, asking questions or just sharing our posts! We hope you will continue to shower us with love and support :)

Mentor Magazine is an exclusive magazine on school leadership. In this month's issue Sumit Arora talks about Chirag School and his philosophy of education and leadership. Do give his interview a read!

https://issuu.com/lxl7/docs/april_march_india_web

Mentor - India - Vol. 12 Issue. 11 Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu’s millions of monthly readers. Title: Mentor - India - Vol. 12 Issue. 11, Author: Lxl Ideas, Name: Mentor - ...

As we come to a close on yet another academic year at Chirag School, our hearts are filled with joy and pride. We conducted the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) test for all our students and we could not be more ecstatic about their achievements. The ASER is an oral test that assesses the child’s competency in reading as well as their conceptual understanding in Math.

To start off with, we found that no child in Chirag school was found to be at the Beginner level- Currently at the national level, 36% children in class one are at the beginner level in math which means they do not recognise numbers and 43% in language which means they cannot even recognise letters.

As far as reading fluency is concerned, the ASER tests if a child can read a grade 2 level test. It astonished us to find that 53% of our grade 1 children can read at grade 2 level! We also found that 100% of class 2 children at Chirag School can read at grade level, against a national outcome of only 15% and a state outcome of 21%.

The math test in ASER tests if a child can recognise number, do subtraction with borrowing and three digit by one digit division. 100% of our grade 3 children can do subtraction with borrowing against a national outcome of 28%. In class 5 above 90% can do division against a national average of 28%.

We believe that a child should be provided with an environment which is balanced and develops her entire being. However, we also believe that academic rigour is of paramount importance in developing a child’s cognitive abilities. The entire findings of this test will be published in our annual report.

*The national data referred above is from ASER 2018.

As part of a writing exercise, children of grade 5 were asked to write on the following prompt: If there is one thing or person you could ensure would disappear, what would that be and why?

We received an array of responses- some truly touching, some reflective while some others which made us realise how the right education is of paramount importance. Here are two of the many responses- the first made us proud about the thoughtfulness the child put in while writing about unemployment. The second one did not surprise us but made us profoundly sad- the effect of media influence on children is very real and very pronounced. Sumit, the school leader of Chirag school, did have a conversation with children about the hatred that was reflecting in their writing. It is not easy to have these conversations, but they are necessary especially in today’s divisive times.

The wonderful outcome of this exercise were the many reflective conversations that the teachers and students had over the responses.

Running is like meditation for Tautik. He started running a few years back and realised he could go on for a little more, and a little more and a bit more. Officially a long distance runner, Tautik has completed over a dozen full marathons and a couple of ultramarathons. He ran the 2016 Mumbai marathon to raise funds for Bubbles Centre for Autism. When cancer caught up with his mother, he ran the 2017 Mumbai marathon to raise funds for Cancer Foundation of India (CFI), a voluntary organization dedicated to cancer prevention and control in India.

Tautik recently moved to the Kumaon hills and has decided to raise funds for Chirag School by running the full Tata Mumbai Marathon in January 2019.

This festive season, show your generosity to the children of Chirag School and some love to Tautik! You can make your contribution by following the link to Tautik's fundraising page:

https://www.unitedwaymumbai.org/tmm-fundraiser-5661

Wish you a Merry Christmas from all of us at Chirag School! ❤️

What does a fear free education actually look and sound like? Read this heartwarming account by one of our parents Chetan Mahajan on his blog UnCity:

https://uncity.blog/2018/11/13/dad-whats-a-report-card-and-other-questions-from-the-fear-free-school/

Dad, what’s a report card? (And other questions from the fear-free school) “Dad, why is being sent to the Principal’s office a bad thing?” Asks R Mahajan, my daughter, a fifth grader at the Chirag School. “Where did you hear that, R Mahajan?” “I read it in Calvin &a…

Google India invited Sumit for their to fundraise for Chirag School. The employees choose the cause they want to donate to from among the selected 5 NGOs and eventually the total amount collected is matched by Google :)

Alexander Den Hiejer said, "When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower"

At the Chirag School, it has always been our greatest focus to ensure an environment free from any kind of fear for each person in the school- teacher and student alike. We truly believe that real learning can only take place in the midst of fearlessness and happiness.

Contribute this toward helping us to continue providing this place of safety and joyful learning for all our students. Donors in India can directly donate on this link:

https://thechiragschool.wordpress.com/donate/

Alternatively, if you wish to make a direct bank transfer, or if you are an international donor, please write an email to [email protected] and we will get back to you.

We also request you to spread the word to your friends and your larger network!

Wish you all a very happy and safe Diwali!

Like each year, the students of grade 4 and 5 went on an overnight camp where they participated in various activities like rock climbing, rappelling, flying fox and hiking. All the teachers, Sumit Dadda and Suraj Dadda accompanied not only accompanied them but also participated along with them. It was heartening to see the introverts of the group leading the way in most of the activities ☺️

We have been running the Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) program for the past 2 years now. The deal is that during DEAR time, everyone- students, teachers, school leader, support staff alike- literally drops everything they are doing and starts reading a book of their choice. This heart warming photograph shows Champa Di, one of our oldest teachers reading along with her students. Like most Indian women, Champa di too is expected to manage the house, raise her two daughters, look after her in-laws, and work in the family farm. Despite these daily chores, she shows up in school every single day with an infectious smile on her face! When we asked her what she thinks about the DEAR program, she grinned and said, “Reading is my second love after knitting!”

As part of the weekly science club, children of grades 4 and 5 made a potato battery. While the concept of how a potato can be used to conduct electricity comes in much later grades, the children enjoyed observing this phenomenon! Special mention to arvindguptatoys.com for providing a free resource on this and to our science club teacher Suraj Dadda :)

With the rains in full swing, the sports classes have shifted indoors to playing chess. The kids defeated some of their teachers today and it was a sweet defeat!! Happy Teacher's Day to all the wonderful teachers of Chirag School as well as the world over :)

The Chirag School and Sumit have been featured in the 10 most unique schools in India!! 💕

https://www.thebetterindia.com/156107/learning-india-most-unique-schools/

Learning Out-Of-The-Box: Check out 10 of India's Most Unique Schools! These schools in India encourage alternate learning, sustainable living & getting close to nature. From Ladakh to Tamil Nadu they are India's unique schools

As is customary with every Independence Day, this year, too, the children put up a play for the community. However, this year was special because of Jiya*.Jiya is a child who has different needs. She enrolled in school at age six and hadn't spoken a word until then. With persistent support from her teachers and a lot of love and care from her classmates, she slowly started adjusting to school. She spoke her first words after a couple of years of joining school.Today was a moment of pure, unadulterated emotion for all of us when Jiya performed on stage for the first time despite her social anxiety. But what was more heartwarming was the applause she received backstage from her teachers and friends.

Happy Independence Day to everyone! Hope this year is truly special for our country and our children.

*Name of child changed

A foremost ingredient of discovering and engaging with science is definitely curiosity. However, an arousal of curiosity must be accompanied with lots and lots of resources! For this very reason, our hearts are full of gratitude for IBM India CSR who have very generously donated for the purchase of science lab equipment for the Chirag School. Thank you

The best thing about spring is the abundant growth of the better known fruits from apricots to peaches to the more local varieties like the 'kafal' and the 'hisalu'.

Each year, during the months of spring, the kids bring fruits from their respective homes everyday and have a fruit gala in school! At any point in time, you will always meet a child carrying around his humoungus bag of peaches, plums and apricots ready to share it with anyone who crosses their path.

However, like all things good, the spring too is ending.

So, in order to have a fruity experience throughout the year and to teach the kids skills of planning, process oriented thinking and methods of preservation, our volunteer Gita taught grades 4 and 5 how to make apricot jam this week.

Scroll through the pics to see the end to end process of jam making from the cutting of the fruits to the eating of the sandwiches savored by the whole school! What a wonderful experience it has been ☺

You ask any experienced kindergarten teacher, the one challenge they will all unanimously agree on, is transitioning toddlers from the comfort of their home to the routine of school. The first couple of months in nursery are usually the toughest on all- school leader, parents, teachers and children alike! However, this year we were in for a pleasant surprise- Govind Da who has always been a primary teacher, decided to give teaching in Nursery a go and not a single child cried beyond week 1! Is it the warmth that he exudes? Is it the ease with which he forms relationships with children? Is it his humility to know that teaching requires more learning on the part of the teacher than the child? We think it is all of this AND the magical twinkle in his eyes ☺

This photo reminds us of the song strummed enthusiastically by The Beatles : "One two three four, can I have a little more? Five six seven eight nine ten, I love you! All together now! "

Childhood with all its adventures, glory and play are best enjoyed with loved ones :)

PC: Srishti

As part of their environment studies, students go on nature walks every week. On these walks, they not only learn to appreciate the wide variety of flaura and fauna that is indigenous to them, but they have also started learning the end to end processes related to farming. The other day children made pakoras using the spinach and aloo that they had grown, and in the process exhibited skills of critical thinking and problem solving. It was such a proud moment for us :)

Ever since Suraj Da became the music teacher at Chirag School, there is a different kind of vibrancy in the school! Here we see a John Lennon in the making :)

The kids performed a hilarious take on the 'Snow white and the seven dwarfs' called 'Suzy and the forest people' 😂 Not only was the actual script hilarious, but the whole situation got out of hand when a dog ran up on stage and instead of mouthing the dialogues, some of the actors began to pet him! Things went south from there and the kids giggled uncontrollably throughout !

Chetan Mahajan, a writer and a parent at Chirag School has written about his experience with the school on his interesting blog UNCITY.

Do give it a read!

https://uncityblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/a-joyous-unafraid-childhood-and-the-school-that-allows-it/

uncityblog on WordPress.com Once city dwellers, we moved to a little village in the Kumaon Himalayas for a simpler life. In this blog we and others like us share our stories.

The school is shut for a winter break and last night we had heavy snow fall. Life is tough without electricity and slippery roads but the beauty around us is unparalleled :)

The Chirag School students, staff and volunteers, wish each and everyone of you a very happy new year! It has been a busy end to the previous year with our fund raising drive, but the amazing response that we have received from all our supporters has overwhelmed us! Moving into the new year, we are still continuing with the drive so that we can reach our goal at the earliest possible! Please support us by contributing and spreading the word! Here's the link to the website and donation gateway:

www.chiragschool.org

Have a great year ahead.

A school in the mountains - Chirag, Kumaon The story of a wonderful school that's lighting up mountains with knowledge. http://www.chirag.org | Film by- http://www.filmkaar.com