Ashraya Neelbagh School 

Dear Friends and Supporters of Ashraya,

In this quarter children were given various platforms to participate and exhibit their talents in academics, sports and cultural activities.

Academics:

The first monthly tests for Grade 1-10 were held from 22nd to 24th of July 2013. The performance of the students was evaluated and was discussed in the staff meeting to help teachers understand where the children needed more assistance. In the month of August, tests were held from 25th to 27th. The children performed well in both the tests.  The first semester examination for Grade 10 is scheduled to be held on 27th september to 5th October 2013. 

Events:

Ashraya Neelbagh School solemnly celebrated its 18th annual day on 14th August 2013. It was a grand celebration which saw the little stars twinkle on the ground. Chief Guest, Sri Sandeep Chachra, Executive Director - ActionAid, Mrs. Shobha Bannerjee, Mrs. Sumati Satish, Mrs. Christy Abraham, Mrs. Naina Mallika Williams, Ms. Evalin Christabel, parents, friends, well-wishers and over 300 people were present on this occasion. The event commenced with the lamp lighting ceremony by the chief guest and the other dignitaries at 11:15 a.m. 

The Annual Day and the Founders Day are traditionally very important days in the school calendar - management, students, staff and friends - meet to commemorate Mr. David Horsburgh and his contributions in the field of education. Shri. Sandeep honored the founder by offering flowers and lighted the games torch. Sports activities were complemented by a marching band the beats of which infused a sense of pride and belongingness towards the alma mater.

 
Exhibition: showcasing the School’s accomplishment in various other departments was organised.

Mr. Manjunath Reddy the Head Master presented the annual report showcasing the prominent events, scholastic and co- scholastic activities of the school during the academic year 2012-13. Appreciating the conducive learning environment and excellent infrastructure of the school Mr. Sandeep Chachra addressed the august gathering and motivated the parents to strengthen school-home connections and environment. In his address, he stressed upon the importance of education and said that 'One must always aim for higher studies and have perseverance and patience for the attainment of the goal' After that prizes were given to the students for academic excellence. It was followed by the cultural programmes. The programme came to the end with a vote of thanks proposed by Mr. Srinivas Reddy, Asst. Head Master.

Independence Day was observed to educate the children on its prominence in our history.

On September 21, 2013 our senior students participated in the GE Science Fair for educational institutions which was held in GE Campus Bangalore.  This year’s topic was Agricultural Waste Management. It is an inevitable by-product that arises from various anthropogenic activities; it is also considered as one of the major sources of environmental degradation as it causes air, land, and water pollution and contributes to global warming. Different kinds of industries, change of lifestyle, and population growth are assumed to be among the main factors that increase the rate of waste generation globally and locally. Hence, proper waste management options are vitally important in terms of cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability. They competed with 29 schools/ educational institutions and won the First place for coconut waste management. The students fared very well.

Some of the great uses of the coconut waste that were projected are :

• The coconut husk, also known as coir Coir is a natural fibre extracted from the husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes, mattresses, sacks, floor coverings, ropes , pots , coir handicrafts, cleaning scrubs etc.
• Coconut Charcoal - Clean fuel for domestic and industrial use.
• Coconut shell is just waste which can be turned into something unique and cool decorative shell handicrafts like – key chains, baskets, cups etc.
•  The coconut wood because of its distinct grain characteristics is ideal for making wall panels, furniture, doors and windows, show pieces, etc.
• Coconut leaves are plaited and used for thatching houses and sheds , making baskets, headgears and for erection of temporary fences. Midribs of leaves are used to make brooms of different types which are used for cleaning rough grounds and floors.

Activities:

1.  Selection and school enrolment of children from poor and marginalized communities

As always, priority was given to children from below poverty line families. The School, currently, has 372 students studying, and 190 are enrolled in the sponsorship program of which 89 are construction labourers children, 8 are single parent children, 73 are daily wagers children, 6 auto drivers children and 14 are poor farmers children.

2.   Provide residential facility to children - The total hostel strength is now, 100 children.

Construction Laborers – 49 boys and 40 girls

Single Parent – 3 boys and 5 girls

Daily Wagers – 1 boy and 2 girls

Total strength - 53 boys and 47 girls

3.    Provide educational courses - This quarter all children have been attending classes regularly.

4.    Provide vocational training courses and workshops (carpentry, pottery and tailoring) -  All 372 children attend dance classes and 306 children from Grade 1- 10 attend computer and pottery training classes and from High School (Grade 6- 10) 80 boys attend carpentry and 69girls attend tailoring classes. 

5.   Organize cultural and sports activities

June 12th – Ms. Sunitha Kulkarni, volunteer from Self Organized Mediation Environments visited the school and organised Fun at learning. These activities encouraged children of all ages to read and enact short English stories.

June 21st – Drawing competition

June 22nd – Cultural program by 10th grade students – Drama - Health is Wealth, Folk songs and dance were appreciated by all.

July 2nd – Mr. Mohammed Khalil (B.E.O) and Mr. Padmanab Rao (DDPE) visited the school to review the Primary school files and the Renewal of Recognition for primary school has been extended for 6 years (2013 - 2019).

July 5th –Sports competition, Kabadi for boys and throw ball for girls.

July 21st – Cultural program by 4th grade students- songs, dance and drama were appreciated by one and all.

July 25th –Inter school sports competition was held and in the primary level, the school is qualified to the Taluk level in the following events: 100,200,400 mts ,400 mts relay, Shuttle cock, Kabadi, Cricket, Volley ball, Basket ball and Yoga. On spot pick & enact competition was organized for juniors and seniors in the school.

August 2nd and 3rd – Yoga workshop for seniors and juniors was conducted.

August 14th – Founder’s Day and Annual Sports Day was observed.

August 15th – Independence Day was celebrated.

August 16th and 17th – Taluk level sports competition were held in Srinivaspur Taluk and qualified for District level in the following events: 100,200,400 mts race, Shuttle cock and Yoga.

September 21st – seniors are participating in the GE Science fair, the topic given is Agricultural waste management. 5 models and posters were prepared on Paddy, Silk worm, vegetables, sugarcane and coconut garden waste management.

6.   Maintenance of a computer lab - All children from Grade 1-10, i.e. 306 children, have been attending computer classes. The computer lab is used by each child for two hours a week

7.  Orientation meetings with families - Parents belonging to below poverty line families (migrant construction workers, petty traders, domestic workers) are actively supporting the right to education of their children. 26 children who passed out of 10th grade are pursuing their higher education

8.   Sensitization meetings with community’s representatives - We have a good relationship with the community representatives and they are more than willing to extend their support. The Local Member of the Legislative Assembly has promised to get a 50 thousand liter overhead tank for Ashraya Neelbagh School as a token of appreciation.

Workshops and Enhanced learning opportunities provided by the School:

1. Yoga workshop - Mr. Raja Manickam, an experienced yoga teacher from Raja Yoga Centre, a non-profit organization, where every member involved, is working towards building a better society by inculcating divine virtues, through meditation, knowledge sharing & self-volunteered community services conducted a very inspirational  yoga workshop for the seniors on 2nd and for juniors on 3rd August 2013. The session covered some very useful yoga postures, sun salutation and breathing techniques to keep mentally and physically fit.

1. Teacher’s Training Program - : An Effective Training Techniques - training workshop was conducted by Ms. Indira Ganapathy on 6th and 7th of September 2013. It was a way of celebrating Teachers’ day  productively.  The workshop introduced teachers to creative ways and methods of teaching, addressed common problems faced by teachers such as dealing with limited attention span of  children. It also involved group activities and games for the teachers  which helped team building. Overall, the workshop was a fun experience coupled with lot of learning.

Training workshops enhanced learning opportunities and required teaching aids are provided to teachers in a timely manner. These boost their confidence and motivate them to continue as effective teachers

PTA Meetings:

Periodic PTA meets are organised to raise awareness among parents and provide them with an option to enrol their children in a good quality, easily accessible residential school. This would act as an enabler for holistic child development that engages children themselves in their learning by using classrooms and cooperative learning methods. This equips children with 3 Ls - learning, life skill and livelihood skill to secure a better future.

On behalf of the entire Ashraya staff and Board Members I would like to thank you for your support. Your support and positive comments are the fuel that keeps us moving forward to make Ashraya Neelbagh School a sustainable Project.

Appreciate all your support!

Thanks and Regards,

Evalin Christabel

Project Head – Ashraya Neelbagh School

Dear Friends and Supporters of Ashraya,

This quarter has been a time to celebrate, it gives me immense pleasure to share that, Ashraya Neelbagh School, a Kannada medium rural school secured 100% results consecutively  for the 5th time and this year with 100% first class, out of 280 schools in Kolar District, despite having several problems.  

On 18th of June 2013, Ashraya Neelbagh School won the “State Best Environment -Friendly School Award” or “Parisara Mitra Shale Award” out of 7,324 schools, from the Government of Karnataka and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

This milestone was achieved only because of the dedication of students and teachers. There were many people, who strived for the success. On behalf of the entire Ashraya staff and Board Members I would like to thank you for your support. We hope that the school would continue this performance in future too.

The majorities of our students are first generation literates who belong to the most vulnerable groups – Migrant construction workers, domestic helpers, daily wagers, single parent, auto drivers, poor farmers and also belonging to SC/ST communities.

While all 26 students, who appeared for the examination, were successful and secured first class marks, 3 students - Karthik, Poojashree and Sandhyashree bagged Distinctions. Jayashree scored 99 and Narendra scored 98 in Social Studies and are the toppers in Kolar District.

Due to the high standard of education attained, the 26 scholars from Neelbagh have won various scholarships from the State Government, Individuals, Ngo’s and other institutions, to pursue their university studies. All 26 students’ i.e 14girls and 12 boys are continuing their education and 3 girls have moved into the Ashraya hostel facilities to continue their higher education in Bangalore.

The school hostel reopened for old boarders on 15^th May 2013 and the School reopened after the summer break on 16^th May 2013.

 On June 5^th, the new admissions list was finalized. Forty three students were shortlisted and thirty three were admitted for LKG, 20 new students for senior classes. The school made no difference based on caste, religion or ethnic group. Currently, with the new admissions, the School has 372 students

The School received a total of 209 and 143 applications for LKG and other class admissions, respectively, where the number of seats available was only 30 and 16, respectively. This is a significant indicator of the need, the performance and the reputation of the School in the District.

During LKG admissions, as always, priority was given to children from below poverty line families and the School continues to give impetus to ‘girl child’ education in the rural area. About 50% of the applicants, who were granted admissions in LKG and senior classes, are girls, thereby ensuring equal opportunities to girl children to access good quality education. Improved access to education for girl children from most vulnerable groups ensures that children are not exposed to situations of trafficking, sexual abuse or forced into a marriage or child labour. Further, 50% of children attending the school are girls.

The school ensures that no child drops out of school and they have the support to ensure that they get high quality of education along with opportunities to develop their overall personality and achieve significant learning improvements within a short span of time, To ensure that there are no girl children dropping out of the school,

• The community is sensitized on regular intervals about the repercussions of early girl child marriage would result in,
• There are separate hostels and toilets for girls.
• 40% of the teaching staff is women and 60% are Men.
• Children from nearby villages are picked and dropped by the school van.

On behalf of the entire Ashraya staff and Board Members I would like to thank you for your support. Your support and positive comments are the fuel that keeps us moving forward to make Ashraya Neelbagh School a sustainable Project.

Appreciate all your support!

Thanks and Regards,

Evalin Christabel

Project Head – Ashraya 

Links:

• http://ashraya.net/