Workshops

Workshop on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system
A workshop on an altered evaluation system was conducted by CBSE for school Principals and teachers for the CBSE schools in West Bengal and Kolkata from 27th of Oct. to 29th of Oct. 2009 at Rabindra-Okakura Bhawan, Salt Lake. The event was hosted by Apeejay Schools, Kolkata.

Resources persons were:
1. Ms. Rupa Chakraborty, Principal, Suncity World School, Gurgaon
2. Ms. Sipra Sarcar, Principal, AirForce Golden Jubilee Institute, New Delhi

The workshop was attended by schools from all over the state, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Siliguri, Purulia, Durgapur, Cooch Behar, Murshidabad, Dinajpur and all the premier CBSE schools from Kolkata.

The seminar comprised of a training module for principals and Teachers on an understanding of the reforms and processing of the altered system. Education being the forte of interest for the Nation now has been researching on the commercialization of education and the tidal pressure on the children pursuing it. The increasing competitive environment is stressing out the young people and they are victims of anxiety and unnecessary disquiet.

Therefore a method to appreciate and help the learners to grow into true educated human beings has been designed by the board wherein the child's metacognitive capabilities develop and they become more aware of their own beliefs and are capable of regulating their own learning. Workshop on Inclusive Education
A workshop on an understanding on Inclusive Education - Why and How was organized by Apeejay Schools, Kolkata at it's Salt Lake School campus on 20th June 2009 with an aim to sensitize main stream school teachers about the philosophy of inclusive education and to explore the nuances of diverse developmental disabilities. The workshop also focused at helping the schools to adopt measures to expand their space wherein the differently abled children could benefit from the common curriculum meant for regular children.
The event was inaugurated with a welcome dance followed by a brief introduction by the school Administrator and principal, Mrs. Reeta Chatterjee. She elaborated on the need of such training workshops to upgrade the faculty with necessary tools to encourage Inclusive education in a regular school. The workshop saw active participation of the teachers of various Kolkata schools like La Martinier for Boys, The Heritage School and more and parents. The eminent speakers who enlightened us with the finer details of disability issues and possible solutions were Ms. Jeeja Ghosh, Coordinator, Disability Initiative in Human Rights and Law Network, Kolkata, Dr. Monidipa Bannerjee, Developmental Paeditrician, Mrs. Indrani Basu, Secretary, Autism society of WB, Mrs. Ayesha Das, Teacher Trainer, TTC and Dr. Reena Sen, Director, IICP, Kolkata. Ms. Jeeja herself affected with cerebral palsy enriched us with the queer legalities involved with special education and the effort made by various State and International education bodies to include it in the main stream. Dr. Bannerjee emphasized on the diagnosis of disability cases and the importance of precision and correctness in it. Mrs. Basu dealt with communication management of children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) through a wonderful presentation. She also spoke about the various teaching tools in this regard. Ms. Das motivated the teachers and the audience on the mission and the sole purpose of teaching. Finally Dr. Sen enthralled the crowd with a short and sweet talk titled Dill Will and Skill engulfing the motivating factor that works for a true teacher.
The host school Special educators, Mrs. Soma Dhar and Mrs. Kuheli Chatterjee enlightened us on the details of Developmental Disability issues focusing on symptoms and observing powers needed by the teachers to identify the cases and then assist the child as an individual case. It was also interspersed with two short Documentary Films on the topics that touched the audience. The workshop ended with a proactive interaction of the parents. They appreciated the effort put in by the school in supporting their children to experience the joy of learning like all others.