Festival of Health – Being Swasth with Yoga and Holistic Wellbeing

At Jyotirmay International School our Festival of Health with the theme ‘Being Swasth” was kicked off on the 3^rd International Yoga Day which was celebrated all over the world on Wednesday 21^st June.

Being Swasth according to Yoga means enjoying holistic health and life; in other words, the building blocks of good health facilitate our way through life. Our festival reflected these blocks through various activities.

On Wednesday 21st June, our day began with a combined yoga session for the entire school, except for the Montessori section. 

This event was coordinated by our yoga teacher Ashu di along with Aarti di and Rasika di, making it a fun activity for all.

The Yoga Booth located near the school entrance became the favourite spot activity for the entire day with students from Bluebells to Frangipani groups as well as teachers stepping up with a pose!





Activities carried out during the week of 27^th to 30^th June presented a delightfully exploration of various concepts of holistic health, which included physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, psychological, spiritual, social well-being as well as food and nutrition.

The creation of a logo for this week-long Festival was a joint effort which involved various mixed groups Bluebells, Cherry Blossoms, Butter Cups, Tulips and Lilacs groups along with their teachers.

Middle and senior school students from Jacaranda, Snapdragons, Edelweiss, Orchids, Hyacinth and Carnations groups with teachers Kulvinder di, Sandip da and Susamma di conducted a mapping activity for “Health food around the world”.

Other sub-themes conducted with smaller sets of groups starting from the youngest to the oldest, covered topics like: Hygiene Habits, Height & Weight checks along with water intake project, Health in German, Zumba and Aerobics, Nutrition Sudoku, Food Pyramid, World’s Best and Worst Diets. 

 

Nutrition Sudoku

Senior School Food Pyramid activity

To round off the Festival of Health, a talk on Dental Health for Children by Dr. Rohini was coordinated on Saturday 1st July with the second PTM. 

Our Series of Talks in the academic year of 2017-18 are aimed at bringing forth interactive sessions for Jyotirmay parents with a chance to meet experts from various fields. 

Academic Café and a Talk by Montessori Expert

The new academic year at Jyotirmay International School began with a talk by Mr. P. Anantha Padmanabhan, a Montessori expert; followed by the first PTM of this year, called the Academic Café on Saturday 17^th June.

Principal Farida di introducing our guest Mr. P. Anantha Padmanabhan

A highly experienced and knowledgeable educator, Mr. Padmanabhan shared his insights on the Montessori Method, but to the delight of our new Montessori parents he spoke from experience as a parent himself.

This talk was well received by a full house! Our new Montessori parents had turned up in large numbers – they shared their own experiences with children and had lots of queries for the expert which received insightful answers.

After a tea break, our parents got to interact with the teachers in our unique Academic Café event and check out their teaching materials exhibited at their café tables.

The Science Platter served up by Krishan da and Suzie di

This special event had been planned months ahead and finally became a hugely successful starter event for this brand new year. Many of the parents found the subjects and activities irresistible enough to try out for themselves!

A Game of Chess? Why Not!

The resounding success of the first PTM, which included the expert talk, has set the tone for the future events and festivals to be held this year at Jyotirmay, and is a credit of our Event Coordinator Priyanka di and the Event Head Shrawani di. Like all smoothly run events, there were many teachers, admin and support staff who worked behind the scenes, including overseeing the children during the talk with fun-filled educational films.

Take a look at what some of the Academic Café tables at Jyotirmay International School had to offer!

Circuit Chaat served by Suzie di

The Water Coin Tale

The Reading Junction served by Priyanka di

Playing 'Lagori' - Desi Fun Game!

Back to School – Jyotirmay Campus Comes Alive!

After a two month-long summer vacation, the children are back at Jyotirmay International School, their second home. They moved into new classrooms spruced up and decorated to welcome them and even made a few new friends and bonded on day one! 

 

Grade 8 students with their class teacher

The maximum number of new entries came in the Montessori and Pre-school classes and our newest babies settled in quickly with the loving care of their special teachers. Besides being one of the highlights of the day this set the cheerful mood for the entire school! 

Some of the newest student members of the Jyotirmay family

And the youngest, making discoveries already!

For all children, including the new joiners, searching for their group and class teachers became a joyful activity akin to a treasure hunt. Their hint among the teeming hallways was a color-coordinated shape. 

                       

What every child loves to do!

A tree hugging and climbing session in the school ground was the perfect exercise for letting out any leftover niggles that anyone may have had. 

Moving indoors, the children had a wonderful day as they soaked in all their classes with eagerness. The class teachers had lovingly decorated their classrooms and the children claimed these spaces with equal comfort. 

              

A Sudoku Challenge!

Ready for the rains!

Many invisible hands worked at making this a perfect day with ZERO hitches, beginning with the school bus drivers, bus duty teachers, kitchen and support staff, admin and teachers. 

The first busload of children arriving on day 1

With a happy first day setting a pattern, here’s to a spectacular year filled with academic discoveries, fun-filled activities, stimulating festivals, joyous events and above all, IGCSE, AS/A Levels and AP examinations conducted successfully during the vacation period! 

Jyotirmay Annual Celebration – Connecting Through Culture

The annual function at Jyotirmay has grown bigger along with the stage which allows our students to display their talent under the limelight; they have adapted with great ease and confidence, which added a sparkle to the event. This year’s theme ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ reflects the synergy experienced daily at our school by children, teachers, admin and even the support staff while connecting through culture to form one identity. 

Tableau by Jyotirmay Support Staff

Having watched and cheered the children’s performances from the sidelines so far, this year our superbly talented support staff made their own contribution with an opening act for the annual day celebration. They presented to us a glimpse of village life in Maharashtra where everyone has a role to play, giving the entire community a holistic identity with creative props.

A joyous Bihu dance performance by the tiny tots from Jasmine and Daffodils wove together yet another thread, from Assam. 

A little later, encouraged by their teachers Sonali di, Tejal di and Anjali di from the wings the little ones gave another peppy performance to the English song Everybody Dance Now. 







Guided by Shital di and Aarti di, the children of Marigold and Ivy danced to a delightful Marathi song ‘DeteKon, DeteKon’ which threw up questions about the origins of Nature’s abundance.

Another stellar performance of the evening was a dance performance to the English song ‘Try Everything’. Titled Zootopia: I want to try everything, it showed young children’s sunny disposition and youthful enthusiasm. Choreographed by Sagar da, and guided by Shrutee di and Priyanka di, this dance was performed by children from Amber, Basil, and older girls from Iris and Coral.

Fusion Dance

Carrying the dance theme forward children from Clover, Iris, Coral and Saffron presented a fusion of Indian classical, bollywood and contemporary dance forms, which was the essence of the theme Mile Sur Mera Tumhara.

Punjabi Jhumar Dance

The boys from the groups Clover, Iris, Coral and Saffron brought to this stage a Punjabi dance form seen rarely – the Jhumar which is performed only by men during weddings and celebrations like Baisakhi. This graceful dance was choreographed by the teachers Kulvinder di, Lata di and Rasika di. 

Salsa by some of the Seniors

Some of our seniors also had a couple of sparkling performances add to this day even as they are focused on their upcoming IGCSE Board exams. The popular Latin American Salsa dance choreographed by Sagar da, was performed by Rhea, Ziad, Jinisha, Sundeep, Janhavee and Parth.

In another meaningful performance, the senior girls Janhavee, Sanika, Rhea and Jinisha rendered the beautiful and meaningful song ‘Believer’. The lyrics spoke of their faith and self-confidence as they stood there facing the potential of their future. 

Younger students from the groups Marigold, Ivy, Basil and Amber singing the song Socha Hai from the Hindi film ‘Rock On’ had all kinds of questions to ask. We believe these questions are the best nutrition for a healthy brain/mind development!

The song Manjha from the Hindi film ‘Kai PoChe’ reflected the resilience of the human spirit which stands up to any challenges; taught by Sandhya di and Nikhil da, children from the groups Clover, Iris, Coral and Saffron made this melody their own.

We also had a delightful rendition of an amusing old children’s song called Father’s Whiskers which made playful digs at fathers. Conceptualized by Freny di and sung by children from the Marigold, Ivy, Basil and Amber groups. 

This year we had a variety of play acts which also included a musical and a mime. Choreographed by Sonali di, Rasika di and Tejal di, the musical titled School Chale Hum was performed by children from groups Jasmine and Daffodils and it beautifully portrayed what school means for our youngest members. 

Ek Boondh Jal - a Hindi Play

The Hindi play 'Ek Boondh Jal' performed by Ivy, Basil and Amber took us into a futuristic world with people suffering from extreme water shortage. 

Rain plays a very important part in our culture including classical, folk as well as film music, and a special dance performance by Marigold on the song 'Kale Megha', lightened the mood even as parents absorbed this powerful message. This dance was aesthetically embedded within the play 'Ek Boondh Jal'.

Techie Trouble - an English Play

An English play titled ‘Techie Trouble’ picked on the confusion caused by ordinary English words commonly used in computer lingo. It also humorously brought out how we have become addicted to our gadgets. Adapted from a funny short skit Hipster Hobo by Betty di, Freny di contributed the music and students from groups Clover, Iris, Coral, Saffron and Aster brought out quite a few laughs from the audience.

Mime is one of the most difficult theatrical techniques in which artistes act out an entire story through body movements and gestures, without using any speech. While Charlie Chaplin is the best known mime in history, we find these techniques used in all classical Indian dance forms. 

Our students Varad, Aryan, Samarth, Ruchika and Suresh, guided by Anisha di brought this subtle performance to the Jyotirmay stage for the first time with the act ‘Love your Parents’, which was very well received by the audience.

Marathi Dhol Tasha

For the grand finale of the 2017 Annual Day function, teachers and students of Jyotirmay International School stood shoulder to shoulder across the stage giving a stunning performance of the traditional Marathi Dhol Tasha which forms a vital part of Pune’s Ganesh Utsav. 

This musical ensemble came as a complete surprise for everyone in the audience who gave it a standing ovation and repeated calls for Encores! The resounding beats brought the evening to a thundering close, making it a memorable event which was signed off by our principal Farida di with thanks to the event head Rasika di and coordinator Priyanka di.