The Role of the School in Mental Fitness of Children is a mammoth one. The school can create wonders to enhance the mental well being of the students. An event to commemorate World Mental Health Day was observed in the Thaltej Auditorium today. It involved a conclave of discussions by Executive Director, Mr. Manan Choksi, eminent psychiatrist Dr. Darshan Shah, school psychologist Ms. Nivedita Chakraborti of Apple Global School, School Counsellor of Divine Child School, Ms. Nikisha Kapasi, Founder of Prayatna (Early Intervention Program), parent volunteer and Udgam School counsellors Ms. Vidhi Bose and Ms. Rashmi Lalwani. The session involved topics like amendment of school’s punishment policy to prevent humiliation of students, the different types of mental health issues that effect children, symptoms and the treatment, the school’s role in dealing with mental health of the children, specific case studies and successful intervention by school counsellors and other relevant issues.

The event was attended by school counsellors from several city schools, teachers, school representatives and parents in large numbers. 

Hindi Divas is celebrated on 14 September as on this day, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India.

Hindi is the soul of our Indian culture. With a motive to spread a message about the importance of our official language, students of Class IX & X from Udgam School for Children celebrated Hindi Divas with great enthusiasm. 

As a mark of reverence, the day started with a prayer, invoking our almighty. A student of Class X-F, delivered a speech on the significance of Hindi Divas.  Followed by it a student of Class XE spoke on the importance of Hindi language in the contemporary society of today. "Hindi is our mother tongue. It is a scientific language. In our thirst for traversing new horizons of knowledge and learning new languages, we should not forget our mother tongue," was the message conveyed.

A student of XE as in the role of a successful CEO, through her speech emotionally expressed gratitude towards her parents, trying to imbibe a realization in students’ heart about the pivotal role of parents in molding the individuality of their children, shaping the mettle and mind of the society in large.

 India has given us great and proficient Hindi poets who have always kept us close to our rich heritage, such is the profundity of our language. Everybody basked in the tunes and lyrics of Sri Ram Chandra Kripalu Bhajuman, a prayer written by the great poet Sri Goswami Tulsidas, sang by students of Class X.  A self-composed poetry as a tribute to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was recited by a student of IX F.

The last program to make the event more interesting and enriching, a video on the Life story of Munshi Premchand, created by one of the student of Class XE was shown, based on which a quiz was conducted.

It is rightly said, ‘Language is the Light of Mind’. Language is the power, life and instrument of any culture. It is a medium to share hopes and aspirations and grasp history and culture.

Teacher’s Day was celebrated in a very novel manner this time. Udgam School and Zebar School joined hands to make the day perfect for the ‘gurus’, the givers of knowledge. 
The day was the perfect blend of learning and fun. Teachers were welcomed to a learning session which had two parts. The stage was set with the Directors, Mr. Manan Choksi, Ms. Radhika Iyer and Ms. Pratima Patell occupying the dais. 
The first part was a presentation on ‘Comparison between a Good Teacher and an Ordinary Teacher’ made by the Vice Principals of respective sections of the schools, pre-primary, primary, middle and secondary. The session led to a good amount of soul searching and ‘eureka’ moments among the teachers. 
The next part was a topic that is often ignored, ‘Positive Discipline – an alternative to punishment’ presented by the Executive Director, Mr. Manan Choksi. He spoke at length about the need to rethink the past and present model and replace it with positive disciplining which focusses on self discipline rather than imposed. 
Next came the fun part which was a Djambey session in which all the teachers joined in with great enthusiasm, beating the drums to their heart’s content while following the lively rhythms. It was a great opportunity of bonding and living it up on a day made specially for them. 
No good occasion is complete without food. So if learning and fun come, can food be behind? A sumptuous spread was awaiting the happy and tired teachers who talked and laughed while enjoying the delicious food. 
The joint venture on the part of the school management and the HR team worked wonderfully to make the day a memorable one for the teachers.

Collage is an art of cutting and pasting papers, fabrics and other media onto paper or canvas. To enrich student’s experience in pictorial composition through the handling of new materials, we planned a collage making activity for class II on the topic ‘Rainy Season’. 

Children’s divergent thinking was challenged when they were presented with an array of flat material. They had to decide what to use and how best to use the material to express themselves. We witnessed the usage of various skills in the collages made by our kids.

Children enjoyed the activity a lot because it was a completely new concept for them.

Photography is truly an art which keeps a moment from running away- a rectangular memory which you can hold in your hand. Udgam School for children, celebrated the 178th anniversary of ‘World photography day’ to acknowledge the spirit of this art. Armed with cameras, the budding photographers of Udgam School created a mosaic of images displaying incredible landscapes of everyday life. Days ahead of the event, students were allotted various categories like Architecture, Nature, Wild Life and Portrait to capture scenes from various genres. A photo walk by Udgam School unveiled photographs from various hues of life. Esteemed judge, Mr. Jay Shah, Financial consultant at Tata Consultancy Services, selected and awarded the best photographers based on the merit of their work. Mr. Dinesh Thakor and Mr. Chintan Shastri, pillars of Udgam Matters periodical, gave digital photography tips to the budding photographers. “It is important to look everywhere through the eyes of a photographer. Inspiration is all around you”, said Mr Chintan, Editor Udgam Matters. Ms. Radhika Iyer, Director, Udgam School Thaltej, said the celebration aimed at apprising students of the importance of photography in their daily lives. It is inspiring students who aspire to take this art as a hobby or a profession. Photography is truly the only language that is understood all over the world.

In grade 1 children are exposed to activities that ensure continuous process of development. “Tracing a hand peacock activity” helped them to make colourful peacocks with the help of their palms. Each finger represents a tail feather. The teacher directed the children to colour the feathers and other body parts. Children during this time learnt under the guidance of experienced teachers to experiment many other new aspects of colouring. These kind of activities are fun and full of learning.

Mother, like her there is no other. She stands for love and sacrifice always putting herself last in the family while showering others with unconditional love. She is the undeclared STAR of every family who guides the family in each and every manner.

Students of Class II conducted an assembly dedicated to the star of every family ‘Mother’. The children recited a poem, sang a song and swayed to the tunes of a lovely song highlighting the importance of ‘Mother’ in our families. After the assembly each kid was given a ‘Star Badge’ which they promised to give to their mother along with a big ‘Thank you’ hug. We hope this will be reflected in their behaviour at home too and they will express their love in their actions. The purpose of the activity is to make the children aware of the role of mothers and appreciate all that they do for the family.

The children of Before School Activity of Proactivity Club had a Rakhi making event to usher in Rakshabandhan, the festival that celebrates the bond of love between siblings. They crafted beautiful rakhis using paper quilling and other materials. They took home their rakhis to tie on their siblings on the day of Rakshabandhan. Handmade rakhis woven with love…could anything be better?!

Our festivals serve as windows to see the complete picture of our culture and traditions. The festival of Rakshabandhan is
dedicated to brothers and sisters. It celebrates the bond of affection between them. Our pre-primary kids also celebrated this festival
with their friends. The decoration and ambience of all classes reflected this festival mood.

Little children are very curious about life and growth of living things. The Germination of seeds activity was done with the aim to demonstrate how plants develop from seeds. The process of germination of seeds was explained to the children of Sr. KG along with practical experiments. The children sowed a few seeds in the soil in disposable cups and were happy to see them sprout and grow into small plants.