– Sapna Iyer, Educator & Dean of Students, (Junior School), Navrachana School, Sama
Navrachana Higher Secondary School, Sama has been imparting education for over 55 years, encouraging all its students to strive for excellence. We foster a climate of respect and empathy, lay clear guidelines for respectful behaviour and create a culture rich in compassion and creativity for students. We value and celebrate the diversity of all our students and ensure that everyone feels valued and included. Every aspect of scholastic excellence is nurtured in our school, from adaptability to ambitious goals. We include unique perspectives and experiences in the curriculum and encourage cultural events and holidays that represent the diversity of the student body.
We appreciate the requirements of every student including those with different learning needs who need extra academic and emotional support. Students with learning disabilities are provided with remedial and reinforcement programmes so that they can catch up academically with their peers. These programmes are delivered in a range of contexts, including one on one instruction, small-group instruction (under the guidance of a specialised teacher) and student workshops (conducted by experts in the field). In the classrooms, our teachers typically focus on assisting students who are falling behind in one or more subjects by offering extra guidance and support through practice exercises, revised homework assignments or tests, and individualised instruction.
Students who have already mastered a subject may get bored or lose interest if they’re not challenged enough. So, we provide reinforcement lessons to students with additional practice and support to help them retain the knowledge and skills they have acquired, as well as give them opportunities to apply them in new contexts. This deepens their understanding of the subject and develops higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, which are essential for success in higher education and beyond. These lessons include review exercises, enrichment tasks, and skill-building drills.
We have a robust education system that helps nurture the skills and abilities of gifted students. Gifted children usually have specialised learning needs that necessitate different educational strategies. Gifted students need more attention, it is the teacher who draws their talent and nurtures skills that help them enhance their giftedness and give them the right direction. To keep gifted students motivated and challenged, our curriculum includes advanced coursework in subjects like Mathematics, Science, and Art. This involves Mental Math exercises, club activities and competitions like Mathematics Wizard, quizzes in Math and Science, various art competitions like clay modelling, themes based on Madhubani art, Mandala art, and many other art forms to capture the potential of students.
To make a classroom inclusive the most essential element is to make the students feel a sense of belonging in the class community. Our school focuses on building a safe and secure culture and creating bonds between students. The teachers focus on strategies that help students learn through Experiential learning, collaborative learning, game-based learning, technology-aided learning, and activity-based learning in the early years of education and take it forward in different forms at every level of learning. This helps in catering to different learning styles and also developing the required 21st-century skills in students.
Socio-emotional learning is crucial for the student’s holistic development. We focus on inculcating values like empathy, compassion, respect and kindness towards others in our students. Navrachana Higher Secondary School runs a school for underprivileged children in the same premises named “Navprerna school.” The students at this school receive vocational education, which prepares them with the necessary skills for the workforce. These children are provided with the same facilities as the mainstream students of Navrachana. To educate the Navprerna students and foster meaningful relationships with them, Navrachana students and teachers work on a number of activities throughout the year. We conduct programmes like ‘each one teach one’ through an initiative named ‘Nav Pals’. Through these activities, we help students of Navprerna in developing a variety of skills including Math and language skills.
We at Navrachana provide children with a solid foundation for their overall growth and development, enabling them to achieve greater heights. We believe that by fostering an inclusive environment, the school and the teachers have the power to positively impact each child’s life. When children feel supported and empowered, they are more likely to develop into confident and capable adults who can contribute to society in meaningful ways.
Also read:
Navrachana School, Sama: Frontrunner in holistic 21st century schooling in Vadodara
