Events and Happenings

RISE School has partnered with English Learning Foundation to improve the English learning levels of children from LKG to 3rd grade. As part of this engagement, ELF team members visit RISE School on a monthly basis observe the classes and provide feedback on improving the students’ reading skills. Vivek and Vinodini, Vinoth and Conrad from ELF team interact with our English teachers to understand the issues in implementation and help in setting goals.

A 5 day teacher training cum trainers training program was conducted by Qrius Learning Initiatives in RISE campus. This was an in-house training program where trainers from Qrius Learning Initiatives stayed on campus and participated in the training sessions. Teacher trainee students from PKD teacher training college participated in the training on first 3 days. Participants from cognitive science background, primary school teacher, headmaster of a government school, Teach for India alumni, etc were part of the program. Discussions related to child learning behavior, school management, history of education, etc also took place..

Usage of technology in our school has increased manifold. Students use the internet for research in some of their assignments and use tablets to learn English. It is encouraging to see how fast they adapt to technology, sometimes faster than the teachers. Teachers and students use YouTube to get ideas for projects. As the Computer periods are completely hands-on, students easily learn the use of MS Office, Emails and basic computer operations.

RISE School partnered with Qrius Learning Initiatives to implement Long Story Methodology curriculum. Mr. Rajendran trained our teachers on the new curriculum on 5th and 6th August 2016. In this method, children are taught using one long story which runs throughout the academic year. At present this program is being implemented for Tamil in LKG and UKG. By increasing the natural curiosity to learn and by creating a language rich environment for the children the language acquisition of the children can be accelerated. Instead of following the conventional method of teaching the students to read by starting with alphabet identification, this method starts with a story.

Students of 6th grade organized a Food Festival in which food items (without using fire) were prepared. Students prepared sandwich, burger, ladoo, fruit & vegetable salad and more, and exhibited their skills. It was amazing to see the creativity of the children and how enthusiastic they were to find out about different food items which could be prepared without using fire. Teachers and students then tasted each other's preparations.

Students in RISE School are taught to do basic cooking and housekeeping activities by themselves. As part of this training, students make fruit juices, coffee, tea and snacks without using fire. In addition, students are also encouraged to do household chores like preparing bedding, ironing and folding of clothes, etc. Kindergarten children are trained to take care of themselves. Activities like brushing, toilet etiquettes, dressing up and eating habits are part of the life skills training for the kindergarteners.

Students of 6th grade showcased their creativity during the food carving competition by making crocodile, hedgehog, octopus, swans, lotus, etc using vegetables and fruits. Students refered to various websites and got inspiration for trying out different models. The first prize winning carving was a natural scenary with trees, swan and a beach.

Independence day celebrations were carried out on 15th August 2016 by hoisting the national flag. Students from Kindergarten to 2nd grade participated in Fancy dress competition. Dance performance by children from 4th to 6th grade was also part of the celebrations. National flag was hoisted by Mr. Premkumar, COO of RISE India Trust. M/s Visalakshi gave a speech on Independance day to all the children and parents. More than 100 parents had come to be part of the celebrations.

In order to give an exposure to democratic process, elections are held each year to elect School Pupil Leader (SPL), Assistant School Pupil Leader (ASPL) and class representatives. Secret ballots are used to vote and all students, teachers and support staff participate in the election process.Students were given a chance to campaign as a part of the election process and gathered votes during the break times. Reshma Afrin was elected as the School Pupil Leader (SPL).

RISE School has entered into partnership with Firki to train the teachers in teaching pedagogy. A user testing was carried out with one module to identify the bottlenecks in the process. 3 coaches from RISE School were trained in Teach for India office in Chennai. The coaches will facilitate the training program for the remaining teachers. Teachers will be trained $in skills like session planning, classroom management, classroom discipline, etc. On a weekly basis, Firki coordinator interacts with the coaches and guides in the training process.

RISE School has entered into partnership with English Learning Foundation, Chennai to improve the English reading and comprehension skills of the students. English Learning Foundation (ELF) is a social enterprise for the promotion of English language learning in India. The goal of this program is to get children to read English fluently. English teachers in RISE School were trained in different teaching methodologies and nuances of teaching English. Through teacher training, apps, tablets and workbooks, we plan to get or children hooked to reading.

RISE School's 11th Annual day celebrations were conducted on 6th February 2016. Dr. Ravishankar Arunachalam who is the Joint Secretary in AID India was our Chief Guest. He delivered a wonderful speech on the need for focusing on Quality in education and not the frills like school building or uniforms. Children performed various dance forms and skit to entertain the audience. The event was a grand success and it was a memorable day for all the children, parents, teachers and the guest.

Dr. Holsinger & family, Ashish Ramachandran & family visited RISE campus during Christmas holidays and donated tablets and laptops to RISE School. Alex and Zach Holsinger also trained our teachers in using tablets. We are on the way towards using Google classrooms, Khan academy, accessing NCERT books through tablets and one tablet per child in next 2 years.

South Indian traditional food festival with healthy but forgotten food items of Tamil Nadu was organized by students and teachers of RISE School. More than 50 items were on display and were sold out. 7 Pulses, 3 health drink, 5 varieties of dosa, 6 varieties of chutney, 5 Steam cooked items, sprouts, and lot more. It was amazing to see the variety and the enthusiasm of students and teachers.

RISE India trust has entered into Partnership with Schools of Equality to implement an activity based program to educate the students on issues like gender equality and social attitudes towards different forms of inequality (caste, religion, etc). The program will culminate with a Public event by the students to influence change within their community. Schools of Equality ( http://www.schoolsofequality.org/ ) team is doing incredible work and we welcome them on board to kindle our young minds.

A mini - Art exhibition was organized by children of RISE School. Sand art, rice art, clay modeling, painting, banana peel art. Children from Class 1 to 6 showed lot of enthusiasm to participate in the exhibition. All the participants were recognized for their efforts and a special mention about M/s Bamarukmani who was instrumental in conducting the Art Exhibition out of her love towards Arts and Crafts.Children and teachers don’t fail to amaze with their creativity and enthusiasm when freedom and guidance is provided.

A group of like minded people got together to donate Play items, puzzles and learning material for our children. We thank Bhuvaneswari , Munish and her CTS friends from Coimbatore $wholeheartedly for their support to purchase play items for our children. Learning has become more fun. Our children deserve equal learning opportunities as their urban peers and we are doing our best with support from our well wishers.

Students planned and organized the whole show in one day. Food festival and Pot-luck lunch with dance performance, floral decorations, handmade flower bouquets, Fun Games and gifts for teachers, Anthakshari, Debate show, and topping with classes for teachers. Teachers were so happy and thrilled by the love shown by children. Children of class 3rd to 6th. When you give freedom and guidance, children overwhelm you with what they can do.

A Night stay was organized for children in 5th and 6th grade. Children stayed back in school on Saturday and returned back on Sunday afternoon. This event was about being independent, spending time with friends and doing what kids love the most, enjoy every moment.

We played, we danced around camp fire, we cooked, we made art and solved puzzles, we hunted for treasure, we watched movies together, we set up our own beds, cleaned up and more than all, we bonded. Student slept last and woke up first without anyone reminding them to. No one was willing to leave home when it was time. And School

2 members from RISE School were trained on Sustainable Organic farming practices in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). Our Students will learn practically about preparation of organic agri inputs and marketing of fruits and vegetables grown within the RISE campus. Like how someone told, Education is not just about English, Math and Engineering isn’t it.

RISE India Trust has entered into partnership with AID India (Eureka Child) through its Eureka SPARK (Skill Progress through Assessment and Remediation for Kids) Program to ensure that every child attains age appropriate arithmetic and language skills. Activity based Teaching & Learning material (TLM), Continuous handholding & training support to teachers, Specific learning goals, regular evaluation and tracking through Skill chart will be used to facilitate focused teaching and learning. AID India brings with them abundant experience of working with government and educational institutions in large scale to improve learning levels of children. Equipped with ways and tools, our teachers are confident that every single child in our school will attain their age appropriate skill by this year end.

Laksmi Padmanabhan, M.A. (Education) student from Azim Premji University (APU), Bangalore is interning in RISE School to develop Life Skills Curriculum to our students. All the sessions are activity and game based and students are learning without realizing that they are inculcating a life skill. Laksmi is laying the ground work by outlining the life skills program. We are looking forward to carry on the life skills program with help of more interns/volunteers/exchange students. Seeing the children learn through games makes us wanting to be part of it.

Pratham Education Foundation carried out teacher training in CAMaL (Combined Activities for Maximized Learning) methodology to RISE School teachers from 8thJune 2015 to 11th June 2015. A team of 3 trainers and 3 Pratham Tamil Nadu staff were part of the training program in which 8 RISE School teachers were trained in Maths and Tamil. The training focused on improving the basic reading, writing and math skills of children. A baseline assessment of children was carried out and the target now is to get everyone to reach story reading level in English & Tami and perform all basic math operations with ease.