Delhi Training

There were 10 trainees came for the end classes in May 2016 - two of whom only joined the course in December 2015!  In this batch we had two teachers from a school in Srinagar, Kashmir where the SEN department now caters for 75 children with 30 Special educators and other professionals. The school has a Resource Room where children come for intervention classes from their regular classes and a Special Unit where children with more complex needs have all their classes. 

There were also three trainees form a school in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan who have set up a SEN department and are now sending teachers regularly for training as they know of no other courses from where to get their SEN teachers trained. One lady heads up the SEN department in a school in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, which was started by a trainee from four years ago.

We also had trainees who are looking at how to develop awareness in their area- one lady is in a town near Corbett National Park where her family owns the school and it is the only school willing to take in children with SEN. She found the contact days very refreshing as she was able to discuss needs with others who understood what she was asking!

The SENCo training is equipping teachers in both urban and rural settings, who are looking to introduce  catering for children with SEN and those who are developing their staff! The next classes will be in Delhi in November 2016!

Onesimus Annual Review

April 2015- April 2016
by Sam

The month of April marks special month every year with most people up here in most northern part of India. It’s not because about the weather nor about having more special holidays in it. It is just simply becomes important as it stands for the month which begin a year of academic. So, same as to  Onesimus home for every year.

Our kick start of the year: Trying to meet some portion of the financial needs for boy’s school re-enrollment, Onesimus home boys and staff engaged a number of days giving physical work services to people as we shared the need. Work services done were room painting, Car washings, blankets washing, etc. And then school begins and goes on till mid of May.

May/June: As part of summer holiday; It was last week of May boys had wonderful opportunity joining about a week trip summer camp held up in Solan, near Shimla (H.P). According to their reports it was time of refreshing, spiritual input, and enjoyed the ride a little part of Himalayas. The month of June was a complete holiday from school. As usual for every year it is a time for boys to re-connect with their roots; brothers/sisters, mothers/fathers, or whoever relatives to spend a time of their holiday’s month with them till end of June. (All boys done this, except Shankar)

July 2015 - March 2016: Time of regular classes for all local schools except a short break in winter. Boys were engaged fully with daily schooling and busy with tons of school works to be done at home which includes,  preparing exams, class tests, projects, and also participating in school organised sports and others events. And this goes on till the school year gets over in March.

Fun activities: Throughout the year, national/weekend holidays falls in between in which the boys usually utilized for playing their favorite games of Cricket and Soccer with their local friends enjoyed the days, otherwise mostly evenings.

Chubarenla's Experience at Good Kidz School

Working in Good Kids School has been an amazing experience. SinceI didn't have much experience with working with the children or in any schools before I thought I would feel uncomfortable at times but it was contrary.

The children were disciplined, smart and active. They were very cheerful and adorable. They were enthusiastic in learning new things which was one reason in the list that kept me going and encouraged myself everyday to teach them. Along with the children even the teachers showed alot of interest in learning the songs which was another positive point in the school.
I was nervous in the beginning to teach but this internship has help me break those barriers and give myself that confidence I needed. This internship has also given me a lot of experiences of working with the students of pre-school too.

Through this internship, I learned a lot about the education profession.  I was able to see the effort and time that needs to go into each day’s lesson plans, as well as the passion.  The teachers I worked with showed how much they love their job, and how much time outside of school they put in to teach their students.  I learned that it is tough in all sectors.  Interacting with children all day, every day can be exhausting, so I’ve really seen the love and commitment that we need to have.  We really need to enjoy our job in order to work with children, especially young children.  The children are constantly active, so we need to adore being with them and teaching them.

 The experience I gained by interacting with the children in my class is an experience I’ll never forget. Interacting with them gave me skills that I’ll forever have.

This experience showed me how it would be to have a profession working with children each day.  I’ve learned how much energy goes into working with children, and how alert you have to constantly be.  We must be adaptable, flexible, and readily alert, to handle many situations of varying difficulties.  I’ve learned that when we work with children, we need to constantly expect the unexpected.  Children say and do the craziest things, and we need to be able to have a response for each scenario.  It is fun and active, and definitely a dynamic workplace. 

The experience I gained from this internship has sparked an interest with working with children that I did not previously have. It has been an exciting journey.
And lastly but not least, I would like to thank Good Word Trust for giving me the opportunity to do my internship at  Good Kids school and Mr. Rajan and his wife for their endless support.  

Reflection given by Chubarenla T Longkumer
Intern from Union Biblical Seminary

Billy's Visit to Good Kidz School

Billy is our new intern who is with us for a month. Billy is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Divinity at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune

 

Having already worked in rural North Indian mission school I was excited to visit Good Kidz School (GKS).

Bro. Rajan picked me up from the Badarpur border bus stop and the journey to the school situated in Harkesh Colony had many firsts  - first time I wore a helmet riding pillion, first time seeing hundreds of cyclists on their way to work, first time I saw 2 canals running parallel to each other – the water was filthy though unlike the Pampa Irrigation Project running across my ancestral land in Kerala which is really clean and first time entering a school running from a rented home! It's a feat when the space is completely utilized by Bro. Rajan for the running of the school.

Bro. Rajan took me around the classrooms and briefed me in how the school came into existence. It seems initially Bro. Rajan and his wife Biji first started at Ali Vihar - 10km from the current location in 2004 (now our Community Development project) and saw the impact that primary education would bring to the students and their families. 

The Good Kidz School started functioning in Harkesh Colony from a 2 room place in 2012 and now they have taken the adjacent building's first floor too. Students from GKS score very high in entrance tests during the admission process to other prominent schools in the city. One such example is a student who finished Class 4 got admission to Class 6. Such is the level of knowledge that GKS students have!

This academic year Bro. Rajan had to reject the admission applications of more than 50 students as they don't have space to accommodate more students. The need of the hour is to find a bigger place or construct a school building as CBSE affiliation requires certain infrastructure including land.

From a both mission and business perspective – investing in Good Kidz School will sure yield not only a good harvest and but also good returns as well. 

- Billy

Billy with Rajan and Bigi

Billy with Rajan and Bigi

GWEC - Vellore Kingston School

Our third visit to the school saw the teachers completing several practical assignments to assess their understanding of the topics covered through the year. There was a dramatic improvement in some of the teachers’ work and willingness to try newteaching methods and styles of learning.

The sessions focused on the classroom environment –and teachers had the opportunity to create an activity based learning aid and a bulletin board that can be used to aid teaching at the beginning of the next academic year.

Teachers also completed classroom layouts, lesson plans and posters that will help them manage their classes and encourage healthy discipline.

- Christine

 

More about previous visits

A Rural Visit

I got to travel along with the Grace Babies team (Wendy and Gerry) last week. We visited a rural hospital in a town called Chhatarpur, located in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. It was a whole day's worth of travel just to get there from Delhi. We took a 5 hour train ride to Jhansi and then a 2 hour drive to the Hospital itself, which is located in the city of Chhatarpur. Now, my initial idea of this rural place was that there was going to be about 2000 people or so with not that many cars etc, but that was not the case. First I learnt that a small village in Chhatarpur has about 2000 people and there are about 154 villages in Chhatarpur itself, not taking into account the whole Chhatarpur district, which has about 1200 villages so this was all a little mind-blowing to me.

I stayed at the student nursing quarters (located at the hospital itself) which was very cool in a sense that everything I saw told me I was in a rural place. I spent the week with Wendy and Gerry learning about how hospitals in India work, and also attended a few meetings with head doctors of the hospital and staff discussing about protocols that can be put in place to improve services within the hospital. We visited a few wards where we gave out woollens brought in from New Zealand and America. It was wonderful to be able to see them on the new borns! I also got to visit the ward where neonatal babies at risk were kept and monitored, and learnt about them alongside Wendy and a few other doctors. Winters are so harsh in North India so it is important that these babies are kept warm.

At some point during the week I got a chance to visit a village where the hospital runs a disability development program. Again, I thought this village would have about 50 people but it turned out to be around 2000 people and they had their own lake they caught fish from. It was overall a surreal experience and I can't wait to share more pictures and videos from this trip but honestly, I am so glad to be back in Delhi where there is cleaner water. 
- Merlissa