The Orientation session for the parents of Class 2 students was organised on Friday, 12thApril 2019 in the Edmund Rice hall. The programme began with a warm welcome and an introduction speech by our honourable Principal Brother Miranda. He led the parents into a calming Heartfulness session.
The stage was then taken over by Mrs Kaushal, the Junior Wing Headmistress, who guided the parents into an interactive session about the new academic year. She briefed them about the upcoming scholastic and co- scholastic activities, the assessment pattern, etc. She elaborated how in the Junior Wing, Value Education is a crucial foundation of learning and how it is imparted through prayer, meditation time, pair and share, role-play, storytelling etc.
The PowerPoint Presentation focused on Special assemblies and Outreach Programmes as important tools in sensitising our students towards the society as a whole and issues concerning the environment. The Headmistress also spoke about road safety preparedness, disaster related mock drill, educational trips and inter-school competitions, which are significant aspects of education in the Junior Wing. She emphasised on how strong parent-teacher partnerships can work to bring out the best among the children. She gave detailed insightful suggestions to parents about disciplining the children without bruising their hearts. She insisted that parents must take note of punctuality and school dress code. The choice of mode of transport of their ward is crucial to ensure the safety of their child before and after school hours, so she suggested avoiding overloaded vans and getting police verification for respective drivers.
She also addressed the issue of heavy schoolbags and the parents were requested to help and teach their children to pack and organise their school bags as per the timetable. There were also video presentations where Mrs Kaushal spoke about the need to impart life skills to the children to nurture them to grow responsible and confident. She suggested that parents must find time to read aloud to their children, conduct daily chores together and have fun engaging in physical activities with their children.
She advised the parents to scrutinise the TV channels being watched by their sons and restrict their screen time. The parents were encouraged to work on the written and spoken English of their children by engaging with them in simple day to day fun activities, weekend excursions, qualitative conversations around stories and reading aloud sessions, etc.
Mrs Kaushal then invited the Child Protection Officer, Mrs Guglani to present a short speech about safeguarding our children against any kind of sexual abuse. She urged the parents to educate their children about safe and unsafe touch thereby empowering them to protect themselves.
The detailed and comprehensive orientation session finally concluded with an interactive question- answer session.
