It has been a hectic beginning of the second term. Is it the SPJ Sadhana DNA to have multiple events at the same time? We seem to live 3 years in one!

Early November saw the Inauguration of the Hydro therapy room. In our efforts to improve facilities, we have become the only school with a Hydro therapy room. It has been adapted to Indian insights, the nozzles/water spouts are placed to stimulate the chakras on the spine. This enhances our holistic methods.

Sports:

8th -14th Nov: National Coaching Camp Handball & Advanced Coaches Training Program-
3 female athletes and Rajashri Ghosalkar attended ACTP for Handball at Andheri Sports Complex, Andheri, Mumbai

18th Nov: Young Athletes Family Day Inter-School Program in our school from 1 to 3 pm. From Jai Vakeel Special School, Sevri Mumbai
Athletes - 20 Parents - 20 Coaches - 4 --- Total 44
From CJM Special School, Byculla
Athletes - 12 Parents - 12 Coaches - 2 --- Total 26
Special Olympics Bharat organized Advanced Coaches Training Program & National Coaching Camp in Athletics & Aquatics at the following venue.
Gachibowli International Stadium ,Hitech city, Hyderabad., Andhra Pradesh
3 Staff and 4 students attended (1 female + 3 male) for athletics, 7 students (5 female + 2 male) for aquatics.

Outside Visitors:

These months have been hectic, exams, corrections, reports. ISO internal audits and concert practice coincided, putting extreme pressure on all staff.

SPECIAL ASSEMBLY, 15TH AUGUST:

Independence Day Special Assembly by OPC. Chief Guests Mr & Mrs Jay Toshniwal & Mr Anil Jain from Rotary Club of Bombay Peninsula were very appreciative of the efforts made to depict this national event.

OUTDOOR CURRICULUM:

• Grades I & II go for Ganpati darshan
• Grade IV Ganpati darshan to Babul Lodhi’s house
• Pre Voc class outing to Vardhman Fantasy Park, Mira Rd

STAFF EMPOWERMENT:

• Sr Gaitonde & Dr Radhike Khanna attend “Change Management in your Organization” for NGOs conducted by Toolbox, India at Dadar.
• Sr Gaitonde, Dr Khanna, Malaika Fonseca & Fionika Sanghvi attend InspirED Conference at the American School of Bombay, Bandra.
• 1 teacher, Avadhut Magar attended a one day workshop “FOSS Adoption in Education” held at CDAC, Navi Mumbai.
• 2 teachers, Malaika Fonseca & Priya D’Souza attended 1 day workshop “Dyspraxia”- disability of movement and development of the intellect at SNDT, Juhu, Mumbai.
• Wyomia Goveya, Music therapist attended Goethe Institute workshop for music teachers held in Goa.
• 1 teacher completed CAT and now studying for Special Ed.
• 4 yoga sessions for staff 2.45pm-5pm – conducted by Charu from Art of Living.
• 18th Oct: Staff meeting.

TEACHER’S DAY LUNCH:

• 24th Aug: PTA organize Teacher’s Day lunch at US Club, Navy Nagar

OUTREACH PROGRAMMES:

 

• 1 student from Kathmandu, Nepal came to our school for audiogram treatment & assessment.
• 1 student visiting school for Speech & Occupational therapy from Bangalore.
• 1 student from Tanzania for various therapies for 3 months.
  

VISITORS

• Shalini Rattan & Uma Srivastava from iGate Patni visited the school
• 5 Swiss students visit the school through Nirmala Niketan. These students have come from Hes-so High School in Switzerland to the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan as part of the College's International Exchange Programme. They will be here for a month and will have exposure visits to different Organisations working on various issues like children, women, the disabled etc. They wanted to stay on as Volunteers, but we encouraged them to go through the programmes they had come to India for.
• 24 NIMH students & 1 Staff visited school
• Aneka Paul & Ria Chakraborthy of Navajbhai Ratan Tata Trust visited school
  

PARENT MEETINGS

• 24th Aug: PTA meeting in our School Hall
• 17th Oct: Open Day

OUTSIDE FUNCTIONS ATTENDED:

• South African Council invited Dr Khanna & Sr Gaitonde for Women’s Day 2011
• Sr Gaitonde & Dr Khanna invited by Consul General of Israel, Orna Sagiv, to attend get together with the Minister of Tourism & Industry organized by FICCI
• Standard Chartered invited Dr Khanna and Sr Gaitonde and the Heads of 3 other NGOs to meet Gavin Laws, Group Head of Corporate Affairs

MID TERM EXAMS

• From 2nd Sept all classes started exams

SPORTS

• Workshop for Parents & Grade I teachers conducted by Sports Teacher, Rajashri.
• 5 students with 2 sports teachers attend National Training Camp organized by Special Olympics Bharat in Bangalore for Table Tennis and Badminton.
• 2 students and 1 teacher attend Athlete Leadership Training in New Delhi.

ISO:

• 19th Sept internal audits started and all non-conformities closed by end of term..

ANNUAL CONCERT:

• Annual Concert, “Mumbai Masala” ...... a concert with a difference. More speech, street drama and less Bollywood!! The audience was most appreciative of the hard work of the staff and choreographers.

STAFF & STUDENTS AWARDED::

• Dr Khanna receives “INDIAN ACHIEVER AWARD FOR BEST SOCIAL WORKER” by “All India Business Development Association” in Delhi
• Results of Babjee Art Competition 2011: Best School Award: SPJ Sadhana School
  
  

  	PAINTING	DOLL MAKING	TOY MAKING
  	1 Gold medal	4 Gold medals	7 Gold medals
  	1 Silver medal	6 Silver medals	6 Silver medals
  	2 Copper medal	6 Copper medals	2 Copper medals
  	2 State awards	2 State awards
  	4 Highly commended certificates
  	4 Commended certificates

  
  

Happy Holidays to you all !!!!

God bless.

In the beginning of June, while assessments and interviews for new students and new Staff continued, we had an Orientation for new staff on “Teaching Format” and the philosophy of our school. They viewed a movie on the school. Staff mentoring is our strength. Our energies were also on “pushing” the workers to complete the 4th floor extension for use.

The School re-opened on 9th June, with 2 days of Staff meetings. There was a short enactment in groups, from Teachers of the same story, which brought out their creativity and teamwork. Planning the calendar of events for the term, especially the concert themes, introduction of / to new Staff & admin. Staff, getting the classes ready to welcome the students. Every class had new students.

On the 13th School re-opened for all.

There was Orientation for every child in the school with Pre-Vocational Class, Work World Skills, Maths department and Skills Enhancement in their new beautiful classes. Workshop for new Staff, teaching our Methods of writing a successful Teaching Format. They were also given a short workshop, “Let’s Talk Maths” programme by Kalpana Kapadia, our Maths Head.

Parents Orientation Classwise : Parents of each class had separate meetings from Thursday 16th June to Monday 27th June, ’11.

They had a Special Orientation of the School. They viewed the film “Breaking Barriers” and were introduced to the philosophy of the school and the rules and regulations in the new A.V. room. Questions/clarifications were answered and the meeting ended with a 5 min. video on the school song – “Born to be a Winner”. Then they walked around the newly made 4th floor.

Sr. E. Gaitonde and Dr. Radhike Khanna attended the IASE 12th Biennial Conference in Windhoek, Namibia – South Africa. Dr. Khanna made 2 presentations. She presented the school on an International panel on Volunteering in India: Grassroots stories and did another hour long presentation on “Teaching Social Skills to students on the ASD spectrum through an out-door curriculum”. The lecture room was full, our “expertise” in training ASD students being recognized internationally, as a pioneering institution.

Sr. Gaitonde and Dr. Khanna jointly did a workshop on “Indian insights for Special Teachers.” This too was very well received, it was experiential.

The United Nations had asked that Mandela Day be celebrated across the world and so the South African Consul General and Consul in Mumbai requested that they celebrate with SPJ Sadhana School. The 3 weeks prior to the function, Nelson Mandela was introduced from Grade-I onwards. The Office Procedures students did a very good
PowerPoint presentation on Mandela and apartheid, a new word in their growing vocabulary. The Hospitality and Catering concentrated on the snacks to be served after the function to the South African Consulate members and friends. Even the Grade-I had painted black and white cut outs, joining in equality for peace and progress. Peace was the theme and celebration was the mood.

The Pre-Vocational students presented a skit and a dance joining hand for Peace. Happy Birthday 93 years old Nelson Mandela, the vibes of our celebration will keep him going for 100+ years!!

The Consul General Mr. Pule Malefane, his wife and the friends of South Africa with Consulate members planned the celebration with Seema as the Co-ordinator and MC. They had painted our general purpose room, the week before, got T-Shirts printed which all of them, our staff and students wore, gave Rs. 10,000/- to the Art department for brushes etc. Drum Café….a trio band was the high light energizing the students and all had a great time, clapping, dancing and just being themselves, the Consul General and others of the Consulate joined the dance to add to the joy of all. A large canvas was created by all dipping their hands in paint and leaving the impression on the canvas.

Sr. Gaitonde, the Consul General Mr. Pule Malefane spoke on Nelson Mandela, Radhike Khanna made a power point presentation on the flora / fauna of South Africa and showed the statues of 4 Nobel Peace Prize Winners in Cape Town.

As it was a birthday, a lovely chocolate cake donated by Patchi was cut to the birthday song, each student was given a small box of Patchi chocolates as return gift.

We thank all of you our friends receiving this update, for your support and add a wish list to it for your active consideration.

God bless you.

WISH LIST - S.P.J. SADHANA SCHOOL AUGUST 2011

• Cleaning Service employed : “MR Clean” cost Rs.11 lakhs per annum
• We plan to re-design the Junior School on the 2nd floor to make it a happy learning space for Grades I to IV. Any amount will be gratefully received
• Contact friends and relatives to build teacher’s salary fund and maintenance fund to keep the school running. Any amount will be gratefully received
• We have put the PA system on the four floors - cost of Rs.72,000
• The CCTV for the 2 new floors need Rs. 1 lakh
• Sponsor a child :
  
  • Grades-I to III : Rs. 4,950/per month
  • Grade-IV : Pre-vocational & Skills Enhancement : Rs. 7,150/per month
  • Polytechnic Classes : Rs. 9,350/per month
• Sponsor the bi-annual concert-October 2011 – Rs.3 lakhs
• Sponsor the 6 Smart Boards needed at Rs. 2.5 lakhs each
  
  MAY GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY

It was supposed to be holiday, winding down months….but as you will see it was “business as usual.”

The Government Pratham exams were held in our School, this was the third time we were a centre – 19 students from other schools and 12 from ours.

The first week was “serious”, all classes in examination mood. The ISO internal audits were also on.

We had a Special Assembly for Easter presented by Grade I, II & Skills Enhancement. Chief guests from Axis Bank Foundation, Mr Babu Joseph and Dnyanada Karnad. They also distributed medals and certificates to students and staff for the educational trips and winners of the Babjee Art competition. This was followed by a Party for the students.

On the 13th – celebrating Baisakhi we had a puja to inaugurate the 4th floor, in our extension, this was followed by “prasad” to all class IV workers in all 4 institutions on our Campus and lunch for all our staff and students.

The Trustees, Mr Dordi and Mr Jagtiani of The Tobaccowala Foundation visited our school. The foundation was studying our real needs and have given us hope.

15th & 18th April were Open Days when parents of every student were given time by each teacher to discuss their child’s progress and the difficulties faced in the home.

On 19th & 20th April we had stimulating staff meetings…on the preparation, joys and stresses of the educational trip and what the teachers learnt from it. Very well done powerpoint presentations were given by teachers. We invited the teachers of Shraddha Charitable Trust to learn what goes into the preparation of outings, they realized where they are lacking on their trips.

From 23rd to 30th April, Dr Radhike Khanna and Fionika Sanghvi went to Shishu Sarothi, a centre for Rehabilitation & Training for Multiple Disability, Guwahati, Assam to help the staff there. This training was sponsored by our faithful supporter Axis Bank Foundation.

The month of May saw assessments of new children, interviews with both parents and admissions. On 7th May, 7 new teachers were given an orientation.

Crossword Bookstore had invited Mr Tony Buzan, the world’s most creative person. Sr Gaitonde, Jasmine Pandya and Kalpana Kapadia attended the session. He autographed his books for us and asked for us to be interviewed on our experience with mind-mapping.

The school extension was to have been finished by 31st May, latest…..the end near and yet so far…… we hope not too distant. With 2 additional floors all the overheads more than doubles. We appeal to you our friends and well-wishers to contribute to a sustainable fund….There must be life after!

SPORTS DAY

The focus was on our first Sports Day held at Priyadarshini Park. It was sponsored by Bank of Baroda. The hard work during the Christmas holidays of staff generously giving up holidays to train the students at Priyadarshini Park & Sports Complex and our small playground, bore fruit on 6th Jan for the heats and 7th Jan ’11 Finals.

It was a terrific performance of all the students of SPJ Sadhana School and special employees of Om Creations Trust and Shraddha Charitable Trust. The chief guests, Mrs Rashmi Bakshi accompanying her, Mrs Nalini Srinath, Mrs Padma Ramani and Mrs Namrata Tiwari. Mr Arun Tiwari very kindly attended the opening and showed much concern and interest. Through the day, Bank of Baroda sent a relay of its personnel to show their support inspite of it being a working day. Mrs Sandra Vaz, Director Special Olympics, Maharashtra, was the chief guest in the afternoon. Credit goes to Sports teacher, Rajashri Ghosalkar and all the teachers who rose to the challenge.The show was well telecasted by Marathi Zee.

January saw Shazneen Limjerwala start trying to understand the methodologies used in the school. She interviewed the staff, sat in on teaching in classrooms and after a lot of reflection decided that the “teaching format” was the fulcrum that made for growth in both teachers and students. Hours spent daily on picking Dr Radhike Khanna’s brain and with “model” training etc for 3 months resulted in a “Manual” on the Teaching Format for teachers. This manual will be available to those who get updated by us.

VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL

On the 4th of January, 30 Religions of the Sacred Heart from Asia visited the School. Sr Gaitonde also presented SPJ Sadhana School to them that evening in the Sophia B.K. Somani Polytechnic AV room.

Other visitors to the school were:
• 19 nurses from Parsi General Hospital.
• 20 students from Wilson College.
• 2 teachers from Sol’Arc, Goregaon.
• 50 psychology students from St Andrews College.

OUTDOOR CURRICULA

January and February are the cooler months in which we plan all our educational trips. The staff had had a grueling time from November, so they all went on a welcome break – a staff day picnic to Alibaug, thanks to the generosity of Kersi Kapadia, who put his property at our service. The Catamaran ride, the games, food and staff interactions formal / non formal were much appreciated. This is was sponsored by the School.
• Grades I, II and III made a very informative visit to Worli Dairy on 9th Feb ’11. The manager was very kind offering the students flavoured milk.
• Grades III and the Skills Enhancement class visited the Funfair of the Rotary Club at the Centre for Child Development at Hajiali on Feb 18, 2011.
• On Feb 21st Grade IV went to Velvet Hills, Khandala for 2 days one night educational trip.
• The Skills Enhancement class and the Pre Vocational went on an ecological excursion to Hide Out Eco Farm, Jhadpoli Village for 2 nights. For Mumbai people it was an eye opener to experience village life. Bullock cart rides, barter system of bazaar, health food,no plastic anywhere, animals that they have never seen before and milking cows were all very educative experiences.
• The students and some staff of Hospitality & Catering, the Office Procedures, the Visual Arts & Crafts and Work World Skills classes, went for a week to Udaipur, Ranakpur and Jaisamand. The students had been prepared for months with the History of Mewar, the Rajasthani food, art & architecture. It was a week of exposure that made for great learning of the students and the staff got to know the students as most students were on their first long school trip.
  

In all these educational trips a lot of monitoring / teaching ADL and Social skills takes place…..the growth in all students after the excursions is seen by family and school. Worth the 24/7 duty of staff!

• On 12th / 13th March Grade III students / teachers / careworkers had an overnight stay in the school. The students had a great time at the Catholic Gymkhana and the Sensory Park at Breach Candy. For all it was a first time away from parents and so the teachers had a lot of reassuring and putting to sleep at night. The next morning was hectic for the teachers as they monitored every ADL skill.
• On March 25th Grades I & II went to the Prince of Wales Museum followed by lunch at McDonalds.
  
  

TEACHER EMPOWERMENT

• The Advanced Coaches Training Programme by Special Olympics Bharat held in Gwalior from 17th to 22nd Jan was attended by our sports teacher‚ Rajashri Ghosalkar.
• “E-learning”‚ a one day workshop at Victoria Memorial School‚ Mumbai was attended by one staff member on 27th Jan.
• On 10th Feb a workshop for coaches was held in Bandra for District level Special Olympics. 2 staff members attended.
• On 11th Feb‚ Dr Radhike Khanna & Fionika Sanghvi conducted an I.E. workshop at school for all teachers.
• On 12th Feb one staff member attended the First Convention of the National Convention of Special Educators workshop at Saifee Hospital.
• From March 16th to 21st, I.E. Basic I workshop was conducted for 20 staff by Prof Louis Falik from ICELP, Jerusalem. The staff gained a lot from it.We are grateful to him.

INTER-SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

• Our students won several medals and certificates in painting, doll making, toy making in the Babjee’s 45th All India child Art Contest.
  
  Painting :
  1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 State award, 3 commended certificates
  
  Doll Making:
  2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Copper, 1 State award, 4 commended certificates
  
  Toy Making:
  1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Copper, 1 State award, 1 commended certificate
• 75 of our students participated in the District level Special Olympics on 11th & 12th Feb. They won 12 Gold medals, 14 Silver medals and 13 Bronze medals.
• On 28th Feb, Prerna, the Annual Inter-School Athletic Meet for intellectually & physically impaired students, of the Rotaract Club of HR College held its meet at Priyadarshini Park. 40 of our students participated.
• 10 students took part on March 8th,9th & 10th in the Special Olympics State level Games (badminton, bocce & athletics) at the School Sports Association Grounds at Dhobi Talao.

OUTREACH PROGRAMMES

We have been in correspondence for a visit and guidance / training from Assam and Manila, Philippines. Neither place can afford our airfare and so we are appealing for donations to help establish the Sadhana Model far & wide. Please support our “outreach” projects.

• On Feb 7th our homeopath, Dr Anita Daswani and 2 therapists attended the ADAPT orientation programme for participation in “Shiksha Sankalp”.
• The TISS interns completed their training period with us this month. They had hoped to end with a Siblings Workshop, for ages 14 to 18, but for lack of siblings response it regretfully did not take place.
  

ON THE IMPROVEMENT CURVE

The external audit for recertification of ISO 9000:2008 took place in January. We are happy to be recertified – our ISO requirements keep us on a continual improvement curve.

THE BUILDING

This has taken a lot of energy. We are looking for donors for the A.V. Room and for some equipment. We need to build a corpus to meet the maintenance of the building, so that we can continue to give quality education to this most marginalized section of society.
Please read here, dear friends, a heart felt appeal for any amount small or large. Counting on a positive response……

God bless you.

It has been a very busy time, when is it not?.

CREATING AWARENESS

...Of the Giftedness of the mentally challenged through appropriate training is one of our aims.
• Dr Radhike Khanna gave a presentation on our FACE programme to the Rotary Club North on Oct 7th 2010
• On 14th Oct four teachers from Holy Cross Special School visited to see how we train for employment
• The Annual Exhibition on 2nd & 3rd Dec ’10 showcased the first year work of the students of the 5 year Polytechnic Course. The level of work was very creditable. The formative wall was on the training of the senses and the “mini Snoozelen” area was a great draw. The “Sadhana Times” was released by the Chief Guest. The Exhibition was sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank.
• On 27th & 28th Oct ’10 Dr Radhike Khanna & Rajashri visited Ropar District to assess special educator needs in the Narottam Seksaria Foundation Special School. A report has been submitted. It has very committed staff.
• Axis Bank did a photoshoot on 22nd Dec. They hope to have a film on all NGOs they support so that awareness can be created. We are grateful to Axis Bank for their vital support to some teachers’ salary.

TRAINING PROGRAMMES

From Nov 14th – 20th we had a training programme for 3 teachers from Manthan Apang Kanya Seva Sankul, Ahmedabad. It was a new experience as we had to train in Gujarati / Hindi. It was a challenge that was worthwhile as the teachers in their feedback seemed to have gained a lot.

From 29th Nov to 8th Dec we had a child from Ghana to assess and both his parents to train in teaching him, as he was a hyperactive and autistic boy.

STAFF EMPOWERMENT DAYS

• On 22nd Oct the staff shared their achievements, frustrations and plans. In the afternoon Dr Kersi Chavda spoke on “Behaviour Modification” techniques.
• On 8th & 9th Nov staff had sessions by Dr Khanna on the different ways a child can “perceive”. Perception exercises led to enlightening findings. On the second day, staff armed with cameras boarded the hired open-air BEST buses and happily clicked their unusual pictures of Mumbai from Gateway to Bandra via Sea Link and back. Their pictures were on a panel on Staff Perception for the Exhibition.
• On 9th & 10th Dec two staff attended the “Applied Behaviour Analysis Seminar / Workshop in Bangalore.
• On 15th & 16th Dec our mathemagician from Israel returned to fill the gaps in teacher’s understanding of the “Let’s Talk Maths” programme.

There was a rash of birthday parties resulting in outdoor social skills curriculum.
• 13th Oct: PreVocational at Relish – Churchgate
• 14th Oct: Grades I & II for Dandiya at a Volunteers house
• 14th Oct: Grade IV for Durga Darshan at Tejpal Hall
• 15th Oct: Visual Arts at Phoenix Mills with a visit to Big Bazaar for a shopping experience with limited budget!
• 18th Oct: Grades II & III had a tour of Taj President Hotel Kitchen and a grand birthday party
• 18th Oct: Pre Vocational class went to a movie “Ramayana”. The students were able to relate to it as they had done the Special Divali Assembly on the subject, last year.
• 22nd Oct: Rocking Divali sponsored Party. Food, gifts and a magician closing the term on a happy note!!
• 12th Nov: Unfortunately a beautifully planned football party at Hindu Gymkhana was washed out by floods due to unseasonal rains. Grades I to IV disappointed!
• 19th Nov: The PTA postponed party was a great hit with generous prizes of chocolates for games won at the Willingdon Club.

• 25th Nov: Grade IV & Office Procedure class visited INS Vikrant. The highlight of the excursion being interaction with the officers and visiting the museum.
• 7th Dec: 70 staff / students attended the “Ability Unlimited” by wheel chair and crutches artists from other special institutions.
• On Dec 14th the Special Assembly on Christmas was beautifully choreographed, conceptualized by the teachers of Grade IV. There was a lot of “dialogue” spoken by the students. This was followed by an Israeli Band by Nir Brand and then the PTA took over for the Christmas Party lunch, a magician and a juggler complete with Santa and gifts.

PARENT MEETINGS

• On 14th Oct the parents of those students who are under Minoo Kapadia met for the morning, being oriented in his methods.
• 18th – 21st Oct parents received the term report from class teachers / therapists.
• 2nd – 3rd Dec parents of Hospitality & Catering helped at the Exhibition counters with their children and Mrs Shroff did Herculean work with coupons without a break. We are grateful to our parents for this support.
  
  
  
  

VISITORS FROM ROME

The Mother General Sr. Kathleen Conan and Sr. Catherine Llyod, assistant, visited all the classes, interacted with teachers and students. Over special tea there was interaction with a number of staff. They were duly impressed, as they have visited special schools around the world.

STAFF & STUDENTS AWARDED

• The Mother General awarded certificates to Jasmine Pandya and Ranjana Mahadevia for service beyond the call of duty.
• The Mother General also gave a certificate to the students of the best holiday project in each class. A special award to Neha Pradhan – a scholarship for six months for her seriousness of purpose and being a model Sadhanite!
• The Chief Guest at the Exhibition awarded Kashmira for service beyond the call of duty.
  
  

SPORTS

From 10th Dec through Christmas holidays there is Sports practice at Priyadarshini Park. We begin the New Year with Sports Day…

Wishing each of you every Christmas Blessing through 2011.

God bless you.

The rain Gods continued to batter Mumbai through August delaying our building extension work and causing great inconvenience with floods and water seepage in many places. Staff and students valiantly accepted the inconveniences. September saw sunny days, but the building work could only resume after 8th September as the College festival, Kaleidoscope took precedence.

A new curriculum in Dance Therapy was started on Saturday mornings. 14 students from the Polytechnic Courses registered.

OUTREACH

Sr Gaitonde & Dr Khanna went to Chennai on August 18th to attend some meetings with personnel of Alpha and Omega and on to Pudachery to observe the educational system of the Aurobindo Society.

Dr Radhike Khanna and Jasmine Pandya visited Muni Seva Ashram, 30 kms out of Vadodara at the invitation of the Trustees. An excellent Cancer Hospital and a “normal school” for the Tribals together with a residential centre for the mentally challenged girl. There are about 100 inmates. It was to improve activities of the mentally challenged part of the Trust, that we were invited. A report has been sent on the first visit and we will follow up according to the schedule given by us.

The students of our school again “sacrificed” snacks for the Joy of Giving Week and we couriered Muni Seva Ashram 110 pencil pouches for the girls of the Ashram.

OUTDOOR CURRICULUM

To orient the students with the upcoming Ganesh Chaturti festival, the students of Grades I & II visited a Ganpati at one of their colleague’s home.

Grade III had several outings. They, along with Grade IV students saw a 3D movie at the Nehru Science Centre. On another outing they also visited Gateway of India, where they ate corn on the cob. The highlight of the excursions was the experience of sitting in a first class compartment of the Rajdhani train in a Railway workshop. There they were given snacks and soft drinks and were given a tour of the different compartments of the train including the pantry car.

Grade IV visited Mani Bhavan after learning about Mahatma Gandhi. One of their outings was to the Iskon Temple to learn about Lord Krishna. There they also ate a meal at the temple’s restaurant, Govinda’s. A very enjoyable outing for them was to Hobby Ideas, a birthday treat from one of the students. Here they spent a very creative afternoon making greeting cards and painting on bags.

The Pre Vocational class walked to a nearby supermarket, Nature’s Basket, to acquaint the students with a supermarket and the products that are available there. They then continued from there to Mahalaxmi to see a Ganpati pandal so that they could be oriented for their Ganpati Special Assembly. They also went to see a 3D movie at Inox as a first time experience.

SPECIAL ASSEMBLIES

On August 13th we celebrated Independence Day with a Special Assembly done by Visual Arts Dept and Grade II I. The Chief guest for the occasion was Anurag Basu and his wife. Besides, the historical fact, students modeled today’s Heroes/Heroines.

On September 1st we celebrated Janmashtami with the students trying their hand at “Handiphod”.

The Pre Vocational put up a wonderful show for a Special Assembly for Ganesh Chaturthi on September 21st. We had Mr Chetan Mehrotra, from Cheree Pvt Ltd as the Chief Guest. The story of Parvati and Shiva was very interestingly depicted.

TEACHER'S DAY CELEBRATIONS

The PTA Committee came around and gave roses and chocolates to all staff. They had earlier made a collage of parents contributions of gratitude to their child’s teachers. These creative contributions were very touching.

The CEOs of 3 LIC Departments visited school to honour our teachers. They gave a small gift and a rose to each teacher present. They explained their choice of our school as they wished to honour “special teachers” more than normal school teachers, because of commitment in challenging situations.

OTHER CELEBRATIONS

On August 17th the staff and volunteers of SPJ Sadhana School, Om Creations and Shraddha Charitable Trust celebrated a belated 70th birthday party at Joss for Sr Gaitonde. It was lively and entertaining and everybody had a wonderful time.

On August 23rd students learnt about Rakhsha Bandhan and tied rakhis on each other.

On September 23rd, the staff and students gathered in the Hall to celebrate the birthdays of 3 Admin staff.

VISITS FROM OTHER INSTITUTIONS

In order to create awareness of the training and giftedness of the mentally challenged, we allow students of other institutions to visit our School.

From 2nd August two students from TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) started their internship for the year.

On Friendship Day, August 3rd, students from Sophia Polytechnic came to tie friendship bands on our students.

On August 26th, twenty five B.Ed. students from NIMH visited the school followed by B.Sc/M.Sc Nursing students from Bombay Hospital in September.

SOUTH ASIAN FUND RAISING GROUP (SAFRG)

(SAFRG) conducted a workshop in Agra. The Axis Bank Foundation that gives us vital help by sponsoring some salaries of staff, very kindly sponsored Dr Radhike Khanna for this meet. It is their way of empowering us with new ways of fund raising to meet expenses on just staff salaries.

Exams, Assessments of the 1st term have begun. The internal Audit was conducted through the end of September / beginning October.

We are happy to announce that 2 of our most recent Graduates have been employed by the Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai. We wish them a bright and prosperous future in their new jobs.

We wish you a Very Happy Divali !!!!

We began the new academic year, empowering staff for 2 days on “Change in your belief system.” The staff development programme was much appreciated by both new and old staff.

School reopened on Monday, 14th June 2010. It was very stressful with 46 new students, 56 old students also new in their classes, with water leaking everywhere and a construction environment.

Inspite of great inconveniences we courageously went through the month of June. Some 4 classes visited the Jehangir Art Gallery – East African and Indian safari photographs of wildlife.

On 21st June – Akshay Sarin and his team from MTV spent the morning on dance and drama with our tudents. It was mutual education for all. From 24th June to 1st July, orientation for parents classwise was conducted. They were much appreciated as there
are so many new parents.

With the monsoon in full vigour and due to the construction work, keeping safety in mind, we closed the school for 3 days in the first week, taking in the National Bandh too. Teachers came in overtime, changing lessons they had planned so that the student’s holistic progress would be at the expected pace. We had staff meetings assessing the situation, orienting staff to safety measures needed to be put in place so that the students were supervised every moment out of the class. The curriculum for the month was modified to have at least 2 outdoor trips per week to ease congestion in school. This led to additional expenditure for the school on hiring the bus.

Various outings undertaken:

• Grades I & II - Hanging Gardens,
• Grade IV - Breach Candy fruit market
• Grades I – IV - Railway workshop in Bombay Central

Pre-Vocational Dept visited:
1. Parle biscuit factory
2. Nirmal Lifestyle and Twin Spice
3. Worli Sealink
4. Indian Express Press

Vocational Dept visited:
1. Big Bazaar
2. Nehru Planetarium
3. Birthday party at Sun Restaurant
4. Birthday party at student’s residence in Lokhandwalla

Visual Arts Dept visited:
1. Big Bazaar
2. Nehru Planetarium
3. Wildlife photography exhibition
4. Newspaper press
5. Birthday party at Phoenix Mills

Office Procedures & Hospitality & Catering visited Big Bazaar on Friday 16th July.

L-R : Railway Workshop, Breach Candy - Fruit Market, Wildlife Photography Exhibition.

On 8th July ’10, some of our students were part of the entertainment for a fund raiser for Ashraya at Taj Mahal and Palaces. Their performance was much appreciated by the donor guests.

On the 15th of July, a young college student entertained 2 classes with a superb magic show. A number of students want to be magicians!

On Saturday, 17th July, we had a full day training workshop on ISO conducted by Mr Sunil Verma and Mrs Subhadra Verma at the school This added 9 new auditors making a total of 14 internal auditors.

We had an outreach Medical camp, courtesy Ranbaxy, Dr Anita Daswani (our homeopath), Om Creations Trust and Om Medicare. Blood sugar fasting and lipid profile were done for staff and students of our school, staff of the The Sophia B.K. Somani Polytechnic, the Sophia Nursery and SHEWI trust office on 13th & 14th July ’10.

NIMH-BED students visited the school and were very inspired by the commitment of our teachers. The TYBA (Psychology) students of RD National College, Bandra also visited the school.

We have 2 new students of TISS placed here for their internship.

The Special Assembly for Guru Purnima was presented by the Office Procedures and Hospitality & Catering classes. Neelu Kapoor was the appreciative Chief Guest. We had some students do a skit on Guru-shishya relationships.







On Friday, 30th July, we had a much needed and very appreciated Parents Orientation in the Sophia Bhabha Hall. Sr Gaitonde situated the school in a global network of Sacred Heart Institutions and delineated its spirit and philosophy. Dr Radhike Khanna went into curriculum, introduced every teacher/therapist and led the audience in a meditation on the positive effects of “sankalp”. Nishit andVahishta Major, ex-students, spoke on their experiences and Mr Naresh Alreja and Mrs Shobha Godbole, both ex-parents, spoke on the SPJ Training for their sons. There was interaction with teachers over a cup of tea in the hall foyer.

We had made an appeal to you to sponsor 44 students. I want to thank six of you who have each sponsored a Polytechnic Course student and two of you who have sponsored the Junior class students. One of you has given a quarter fee. To each of you a big thank you…..slowly we will cover all the students needing support.

This update is to thank all of you for collaborating in this challenging work - you can take pride in all that has been, because of your support.

For three months energies were given to preparation for the Graduation. The team working on the Coffee Table book “See Beyond” headed by Geeta Gopalakrishnan, was in and out of the school, on photo shoots and on capturing the spirit of the school. They did a great job and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, released it at the Graduation Ceremony. The book is being sold to augment the Staff Salary fund. The FACE programme, in its four phases, was also released by Dr. Abdul Kalam. The brochure of Graduating students was compiled simultaneously. Details of the Graduation Ceremony will be sent separately.

INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH

Sr. E. Gaitonde and Dr. Radhike Khanna visited Kenya and Tanzania after the Graduation Ceremony – from 13th to 27th March 2010. The visit was mainly to assess needs at the invitation of the following challenged schools – Oshwal Academy, special needs department, Nairobi & Jaffery Academy (Primary special needs Section) Arusha, Tanzania. They also visited the Chekalini Sophie Home for the Multiply handicapped.

East Africa has a great need of vocational education. We will help these schools as we did in Nigeria three years ago. SPJ Sadhana is committing itself to Capacity Building of teachers in India and abroad.

OUTDOOR CURRICULUM

A great many breakthroughs occur on the educational tours.


• The Vocational and Skills Enhancement classes went on a successful trip to Goa from 2nd to 6th February, 2010.
• On 14th February, 2010 a private screening of “My name is Khan” at Inox for our students, Om Creations & Shraddha Charitable Trust was organized by Shaina N.C. Karan Johar addressed the students with dignity and self respect.
• Grade IV went on an overnight trip to Panvel in the first week of February, 2010.
• Grades I –III went for a day trip to the Mahim Nature Park and on the open Bus trip to South Mumbai.
• The Pre Vocational class went to  Panhala, near Kolhapur from February 22nd  – February 26th , 2010. They had many firsts to their credit on this trip.
• The Skills Enhancement class visited the Fun Fair organized by Centre for Child Development, Haji Ali, Mumbai  on February 26th ,  2010.
  
  

INTER-SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

• 28 students from various classes participated in the Talent Festival organized by the Rotaract Club of Churchgate on Feb 4th at Our Ladies Home, Dadar. Our students won 4 gold (1-Dance, 1-Painting, 1-Clay modeling, 1-Paper folding) and 1 silver (dance).
• Prerna Annual Athlete Meet at Priyadarshini Park on 16th February, 2010 our students won 2 gold medals: 200m Run & 4X100m relay
• 8 Students of Grade IV attended the “On the Spot Art Contest” conducted by Nehru Centre on February 24, 2010.
  

TEACHER EMPOWERMENT

• One therapist attended a two day IACP workshop in Mumbai on  2nd & 3rd January, 2010.
• Sr Gaitonde & Dr Khanna attended Sam Pitroda’s lecture on “India in a Globalized World” on 15th January, 2010 at Nehru Centre.
• Tamar’s Workshop in Mathematics was conducted at the school on Saturday 16th January, 2010 and from Monday to Wednesday - 18th-20th  , January, 2010.
• Presentation for teachers by TISS interns, Victor & Akrutee on “Home Visits”  January 18th  , 2010.
• Four teachers and one volunteer attended the “Brain Gym & other Sensory Motor Strategies” 2 day workshop  Jan 27 & 28 by Shoshana Shamberg from the U.S. of A.
• “Mathematics with a Humanistic Approach” workshop conducted by Kalpana Kapadia for new teachers on 16th February, 2010.
• Tamar Apel – Mathemagician, conducted a workshop for all teachers on Friday – March 12 and Saturday March 13, 2010.
• Capacity Building Day – Since the academic year 2010 was coming to a close, Staff Interaction Day was held on 13th  & 15th April 2010. Baisakhi was the mood of the day and all staff ware requested to come to match the celebration of Baisakhi Day.
  
  Day one – April 13, 2010, saw staff share their learning’s and breakthroughs… it made for awe and bonding as challenges were faced.
  
  Day two – April 15, 2010, they were shown the film Dil Bole Hadippa! And as they watched were to make a matrix of rainbow learning using the concepts. It was wonderful to see how staff have grown in alternative methods of learning and creativity.
  
  

ACTIVITIES

 

• Special Assembly was held on January 25, 2010 to celebrate Republic Day. Grades I – III performed skits on the theme of National Integration. Babul amazed all with his power point presentation on Republic Day. Sr. Ambuja and Sr. Geradette Philips from Indonesia were the Chief Guests.
• External Auditor, Mr. Subhas Biswas, spent a fruitful day on the ISO systems & processes on January 25, 2010.
  

VISITORS

We had a number of visitors to our school and had to stop visitors as a number of times we were too busy to meet them.


• In January, 2010, 60 nursing students from Bombay hospital visited our school and 14 nursing students from Parsee Gen Hospital visited our school.

We have closed school early as we have requisitioned the place for building the school extension. April 2010 will see parents of all classes come for reports, staff meetings and ISO internal audits…. Before the staff get a well earned holiday in May 2010.

Saturday - 24th April, 2010…. A number of staff bid farewell at the funeral of our first student,  Vasudha Jain RIP.

On Monday – 26th April, 2010, a large number of staff, students and ex-students attended the Bhajans in Sophia Bhabha Hall in memory of Vasudha. Even in death she is giving us a “call” to start new cognitive programme for the ageing Downs in Om Creations and Shraddha Charitable Trust, so that their cognitive decline and early Alzheimer’s can be delayed.

Happy Holidays to you all !!!!

Visit to Oshwal Primary Academy, Nairobi	Visit  to Jaffery Academy, Arusha, Nairobi
Students Excursion to Panhala, Kolhapur	Capacity Building Staff Meeting

• We re-opened after the Diwali Break on 3rd November, 2009, with an introductory Landmark Forum meeting by Piloo Vidyarthi, Aruna Raje and Team.
  
  - The Hill Spring International School had been twinning with us and so the products made with them were exhibited and sold together with some of our own creations. It was in celebration of Children’s Day, to promote Hindi on 14th November, 209 at their school grounds.
  
  - Every 5 years the Visual Arts and Crafts has an exhibition. This time it showcased the serious works of our art students, Nihar Godbole on the ASD Spectrum was mainstreamed in the ART world. Vasant, a paraplegic worked on the line of Monet paintings which was very well received. The exhibition had 57 paintings which included the work of all the students of the department. This was possible only with the amazing support of Tarana Khubchandani, who took upon herself, the printing of invites, brochures, publicity and the exhibition of our work at her Art Gallery Art & Soul, Worli, on November 26th & 27th , 2009. Jasmine Sajnani and her team coordinated devotedly with Tarana. Anaida was the MC and the who’s who of Mumbai attended. The Exhibition was a sell out. A number of celebrities attended, so the Media covered them at the show.
  
  - The Annual Exhibition on 3rd and 4th December, 2009 was inaugurated by Mr. Sreeram Iyer, Regional Chief Operating Officer, India & South Asia of Standard Chartered Bank. We had our students do a yoga display of Tibetan Rites, Aerobic and other drill formations by the Junior School, Pre-Voc and Skills Enhancement. All classes put up a display as to how the Hand functions are developed in the School programmes. The Polytechnic courses displayed how and where the students are placed for internships. We are now looking for permanent Jobs for our students, “please Help”. On 4th December, 2009 it was inaugurated by Mrs. Indira Gulbani & Dr.(Sr.) Anila Verghese, Principal, Sophia College.
  
  - On display were Hemant Trevedi’s garments, executed by the students for the fashion event “Because…. I am” together with dresser sets, wooden trays, hand painted napkins & towels, coasters, tablemats, gifting articles, gift bags, bookmarks, folders, candles…..the food court was a great attraction with unique street food, mini meals, desserts.
• On 27th November Grade IV and the new students of the Pre-Vocational class went on a visit to IMS Vikrant as part of the Navy Week Celebration.
• Leonie Ulmer and Sonja Honle, two young volunteers from Germany spent two mutually beneficial weeks with us.
• The Foundation Art students of Sophia BK Somani Polytechnic had their “Christmas Outreach” with our students teaching them art skills on Thursday, 17th December, 2009
• The HR College students, visited our school and interacted with our students on Monday 21st December, 2009.

STAFF EMPOWERMENT

• During the Diwali Break – 26th – 30th October, 2009, two staff attended the Workshop at NIMH, Hyderabad on “Statistical Data Analysis and Computer Applications in Social Science Research”
• Four Staff attended “Holistic Enhancement of Learning Potential” in Chennai 18th – 20th November, 2009.
• Three teachers went for the BASIC Instrumental Enrichment programme by Prof. Falik from Israel from 12th to 16th November, 2009.
• We hosted an Art of Living Basic Course for the staff of our School, Shraddha Charitable Trust and Om Creations Trust. Sunil Munshi and Leena Gupta were the teachers. It was much appreciated by all.

AWARDS

• Dr. Radhike Khanna, received her Doctorate in Management studies (DMS) in the A Grade
• Dr. Radhike Khanna received the “Sophia B.K. Somani Polytechnic Achievers Award 2009” as an outstanding ex-student of the Institute
• The 44th All India Art Competition, was held in Hyderabad. We won the Child Star Award in Painting, 2 children won Gold Medals in painting and making dolls, 2 silver medals for Dolls, 3 copper medals for dolls and toys and 5 Highly Commended and Commended Certificates for all three categories – Painting, Dolls & Toys.
• The Hospitality & Catering Department sent up a team of 4 students to the AWMH Competition at Rizvi College. We got the 1st prize for our cake in the Bakery Section and 2nd prize for pasta in the cooking section.
  

CHRISTMAS

• The Special Assembly on 21st December, 2009 performed by Grade IV and Skills Enhancement, with Dr. (Mrs.) Vidita Rakshit as Chief Guest, gave a message of Sharing, Caring and Helping in the Season of Peace and Joy.
• On 22nd December, 2009, the Christmas Party began by a High Tea, sponsored by Mr. Deepak Bassi, Managing Director & CEO of KHPL. The Consul General of Israel, kindly offered us an Israeli Band “TARARAM” to liven up the Party. The four member band was innovative and excellent, using stools, spoons, dekchi’s and their bodies, creating music and keeping all entranced… The Consul General, Mrs. Orna Sagiv, the Consul Ortal Elbaz, and members of the Consulate Staff, Shalom Club members, Om Creations special employees and staff, Shraddha Charitable Trust special employees and staff, all joined in the celebration. The Council and staff gave out red bags with goodies. Santa, of course came and rewarded all with gifts. It was a great party and a wonderful end to 2009 for the students.
  

We wish you every Christmas Blessing through 2010.
Thank you for your support to our challenging mission.

Painting by Sushmita Ghadia that won the “Child Star Award” – Babjee Art Competition	Students with Tararam Band at Xmas Party
Consul General, Orna Sagiv, distributing Xmas gifts	Chief guest, Mr Iyer, at Food Court, Annual Exhibition Art & Soul
Ritesh Deshmukh with students at Gallery

• August saw Mumbai in Swine Flu fears and so we accepted the Government’s order to close school for a week. Students stayed at home, but the staff attended and worked hard on ISO documentation and lesson plans. Unfortunately our Independence Day Special Assembly had to be cancelled, a great disappointment to Grade IV students, who had practiced a lot.
• Internal Audits were conducted from mid August and several meaningful changes have taken place.
• Aruna Raje and her team had a punishing schedule from August 26th onwards, from 6.30 am to 7.30pm, shooting for our new graduation movie: “Every Cloud has a Silver Lining”. The shooting in school ended on September 3rd, 2009.
• Our twinning programme with Hill Spring School continued, the students of standard VII and VIII were coming in twice a week.
• Arune Raje intends to make another film on the school. Filming is to start mid-August. She held extensive interactions with the staff in July to develop a story line and script.
• Abhilasha Ganeriwala, Director of Pulse Dance Studio donated, Rs. 15,000/-, a part of their Dance Show Proceeds at their function held in Bandra on August 22, 2009.
  
  
  
  
• Grades I, II and III went to a home Ganpati Celebration. They also visited the new park, Harish Mahindra Children’s Park, at Breach Candy and all the teachers felt this should be a regular exercise.
  
  
• On September 4th 2009, Deutsche Bank hosted a teacher’s day function for NGO’s they work with. Dr. Radhike Khanna, Ms. Ranjana Mahadevia, Ms. Jasmine Pandya, Ms. Fionika Sanghvi and Ms. Gloria Rebello, were invited and honoured.
  
  
  
• The P.T.A. postponed the Teachers Day Celebration to September 30th, 2009. Teachers were treated to a sumptuous Lunch at Flamboyante. After a wonderful meal each staff was presented with a potted plant with a caption “You Nurtured HOPE, They saw a DREAM”.
• The Dassera Special Assembly by the Pre-Vocational class was much appreciated by the chief guest – Devita Saraf, Director, Vu Technologies. She said that this was by far the simplest and best Ramleela she had seen. The Zee TV covered this presentation of the Ram Leela.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Joy of Giving week, saw our students sacrifice their snacks for 3 days, to provide hot snacks to Vatsalya children and staff. Some of the staff and students of Vatsalya visited us on September 29, 2009 and had a good interaction with our students and enjoyed some goodies from our Dassera Celebration that afternoon.
  
  
• The months of September/October saw many meetings regarding the Building Project. A meeting with the interior decorator, Vandana Ranjitsinh, began the work on interiors of the top two floors.
• Two of our Teachers, Simida Correia and Charusheel Dhotre, attended a much appreciated Workshop “Get to Write” on October 10th and 11th, 2009 at the Don Bosco School.
• On October 12, 2009, we had our students finish cards to their parents encouraging them to Vote for their children’s future! In the afternoon was the Diwali Party organized by the PTA.
• We had successful open days where parents much appreciated the efforts of the staff. A student, Akanksha’s, father was very grateful and has pledged Rs. 1 lakh, every year, to improve the services of the school.
• We secured jobs for our students, Aliasgar and Neeraj. Are awaiting for more confirmations for our students to get their jobs.
• It makes us proud to announce that two of our students on internship, Shreya and Shruti got their first pay cheques and the parents wrote a sincere note of appreciation to the principal.
• The Hospitality and Catering department completed a successful in-house training at the Taj President under Chef Anand Solomon. We are looking for them to be absorbed by the industry. We are also looking for jobs for our students in the  Office Procedures Course. If you or your contacts can get placements, please get in touch with us.


• The staff  had a much appreciated, very informative, relaxing, healing 1 & ½ days session – 12th October ½ day and 14th October full day meetings.
• Please mark your Diary for the upcoming Exhibitions:
1. 27th November, 2009 at Gallery Art & Soul, an exhibition of our students paintings on canvas – “ Impressions & Expressions”.
2.  Annual Exhibition on  3rd and 4th December 2009, at SPJ Sadhana School.

• The school summer vacation for students started in mid April. However, the teachers worked on till the end of April, preparing teaching plans for the next academic term and getting the ISO 9001:2000 non-conformities closed.
• During the May holidays, the Principal, Vice Principal, Admin staff and special educators/therapists were busy carrying out assessments of students who were on the waiting list. 12 new students were admitted in June into different classes. 5 new teachers were also hired and we were happy to welcome a teacher after she took a break for her marriage. The students were busy on a joint project with parents on transport in Mumbai.
• Term reopened with Staff meetings on 8th and 9th June. Staff were welcomed to the new term in a unique manner. Music and dance was the opening to the new term. An atmosphere of complete relaxation was manifested and all anxieties were set to rest with meditation to music.
• At one of the meetings Ms Shilpi Kapoor from Breaking Barrier Technology conducted a session on using Computer Technology successfully in the classroom. This will be a new thrust for the year in all classes.
The salient features of the Technology were:
1. Use of a Touch Screen or speak to the computer.
2. Use of a Joy Stick, for Physically Challenged users.
3. Magnifier for Visually Challenged.
4. Properties of the ‘ Easy Tutor’ Programmer.
5. Audio files for students who do not read.
6. Typing Tutor-Properties.
7. Set up of Macro – to create identical data.
8. Format painter – use and properties.
9. Use of Plastic/ thermal paper as teaching aids [tactile] for various programmes.
• Arune Raje intends to make another film on the school. Filming is to start mid-August. She held extensive interactions with the staff in July to develop a story line and script.
• Our first drama therapy session was held on Saturday, 11th July ’09 conducted by Theatre Professionals. These sessions will be held every Saturday at school for 2 hours.
• In July Sr Gaitonde and Dr Khanna attended the 11th Biennnial IASE Conference in Alicante, Spain on“Broadening the Horizon: Recognizing, Accepting and Embracing Differences to Make a Better World for Individuals with Special Needs.” Sr.Gaitonde presented “Fortitude in the Face of Autism….Meeting the Needs of Students with Challenging Behaviour” and Dr Khanna spoke on “Creating Horizons for Intellectually Challenged in Art & Fashion.” Dr Khanna was also on an international panel on Volunteerism.
  
  


• OUTREACH PROGRAMMES
1. We have started an outreach programme with NSS Hill Spring School. Initially all their staff visited SPJ Sadhana to familiarize themselves with our school functioning. Subsequently their CAS group, which is a parent body of their school, also visited our school to coordinate the interaction that will take place in the ensuing months between the children of Hill Spring and SPJ Sadhana. The objective is integration and the joint Annual Art & Craft exhibition to be held in November.
2. CNBC Awaaz aired an interview with Dr Khanna on “Smart Business Women.” This has resulted in a number of queries on Downs Syndrome & Om Creations.
3. The Manager-Programming of Zee TV’s serial “Aap ki Antara” has been discussing issues on Autism with us. We have received, as a result, innumerable queries from all parts of India. Parents who are desperate as they have no help at all in their areas. We are busy advising them and answering queries.
4. Dr Khanna made a presentation on 8th May 2009 at the Trident for the Rotary Club of Bombay Central about the school.

We had no time to recover from the Fashion Event, “Because….. I am” on 6th March ’09. On Monday, 9th March ’09, the Israeli Mathemagician arrived, that afternoon we had the Consul General of Israel, Orna Segive, give away the certificates to teachers who had completed stage III of the “Let’s talk Maths” course.

The next day was Eid-e-milad, but we had a workshop in Maths by mathemagician Tamar Apel.

The staff then got 3 days to type and Xerox examination papers, as examinations began on 16th March ’09. At the same time as the examination of the students, teachers and departments were going through the internal audit for ISO 9001:2000.

On 31st March ’09, three students, Vincent, Vineet & Vasant were awarded The Urmila Vaid Charitable Trust Scholarships by Priyadarshini Academy Awards.

Lay a brick…..build a dream” was launched by Farhan Akhtar at the Taj Land’s End, Bandra on Saturday, 18th April ’09. Our godmother, Geeta Gopalkrishnan, got Tatas to print posters / boxes / brochures. ULKAFCB helped make the audiovisual “Brick by Brick” with a song composed by Geeta Gopalkrishnan. Show Biz gave free services for stage, background Rock on Sadhana, sound and light. The Taj Land’s End Hotel offered space and refreshments gratis. The media did a good coverage of the event. Most TV channels ran the “Rock On Sadhana Event”. We need 4 crores in all for the 2 floors extension. The donation of a brick being Rs 5,000/- We need all our friends to galvanize all their friends if we are to get to our target.

TCS has worked gratis on a microsite “www.donateabrick.com” and ICICI Bank has offered a gateway also free. You can donate any number of bricks.

We had TERI speak to our students and staff on care of the earth. The students and staff were able to build new knowledge on their existing knowledge of separating garbage and saving water/electricity. The audiovisual talk was much appreciated.

We had 2 weeks of Staff working overtime to complete all documentation for the new academic year, and for their own growth. We had 2 days staff empowerment in Communication skills. Nirmala Mehendale of “Mind Movers” took 3 hours of interactive sessions, a parent of a normal school going student spoke on parents view of disciplining methods in school. Kashmira presented staff-parents interactions to empower teachers.

On other days each teacher / therapist spoke on breakthroughs, challenges etc.

It was a very fruitful week of getting the macro picture of the school. The next week was spent on ISO evaluations of non-conformities, Management Review, Departmental profiles, lesson plans for 3 months and inventories. We had 2 very fruitful Open Days. Parents were very appreciative of the progress of their child.

We proudly announce that Dr Radhike Khanna, our Vice Principal, was awarded the IMC Ladies Wing: “Woman of the Year 2008 Award” by Deepak Parekh, before the who’s who of the corporate world, in a dignified ceremony. Our Om Creations Trust was caterer for the refreshments.

We bid farewell to three staff: Shobha Bhavkar of the Snackbar, and Leelaben Waghela careworker, both of whom retired and Manisha Gudi who resigned.

The school has closed for the summer vacation but is spearheading the building fundraising drive - which is attached. We are sure you will put up a banner from the microsite on your home page and send all your email contacts the microsite with a personal note, encouraging them to build our dream.
With so much good will to our school, we count on you to be a brick!