Rebecca and Stefi visit Gurukulam

Rebecca and Stefi from the UK, visited our school.

Rebecca  currently works for the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare in Oxford as the Sustainable Specialties Manager.  Her previous position was as a policy analyst in the UK Government’s Department for Education.

What she felt about her visit:

• The thing I was most struck by was the ambitious vision of the school and the breadth of the curriculum offer.  From the moment we entered it was clear that the school is a vibrant and dynamic place.
• When working with children from low income settings it’s tempting to focus exclusively on desk-based learning. I think it’s a good indication of the vision of the school that so much thought has gone into making subjects interesting but also that the children are offered projects and other activities to make their experience interesting.
• One of the problems children from low income households face, that is often overlooked, is that they’re unable to access interesting experiences such as sailing.  Your school’s provision of such a good range of extracurricular activities seems to me to be one of the many ways in which the principal and teaching staff are taking the disadvantages that the pupils face very seriously.
• Talking to the principal it was very evident that he has a great deal of knowledge about how to make the school a good place for staff and pupils.  I was struck by his focus on building confidence in the pupils (“discipline without hurting the feelings”) and supporting his staff to develop.  The school felt like a kind place, the kind of environment where emotions are settled so that young people are able to learn more easily.
• It’s clear that English language teaching is a big struggle - as I understand it is in many Indian schools.
• The coupling of older and younger children seemed like an inspired approach to discipline and also peer-to-peer learning.  I’m thinking of mentioning it to the head at Rosa’s school.
• Stefi and I had a chance to chat to the student psychologist who’s working with the children. I was struck how seriously mental health is taken by the school but also reminded of how useful it is for staff and pupils to have the chance to meet other people from different institutions and disciplines. 
• It was only after our visit, seeing the state of some of the other schools, that I realised how much attention has been given to the physical environment of the school.  It was well decorated and very clean and tidy.