Greetings from news.desk

Spring is seen as a time of growth, renewal, of new life being born. The term is also used as a metaphor for the start of better times. The spring season is full of transformation. Apart from the transformation in weather that occurs in the spring season, our lives are transformed, too. With the arrival of the spring season comes also the sense of joy and anticipation that is shared by people all over the world. Hearts are uplifted when witnessing the renewal of life that springs forth; the winter has just passed. Spring is the time when most flowering plants bloom, and this powerful act of nature symbolizes the revival of life.

What is the significance of spring season? Why do we all become so excited at this time of the year? Is it the weather, the nature, or the psychology of change? You guessed it right; it's all the above, it's the end winter and the preparation for another summer. It is the beauty of nature, the flowers, the blossoms, and new life. This is when nature awakens, time changes, and flowers blooms. Throughout the history of mankind, there were always exciting moments in spring.

Spring represents something quite different in the school academic year--the calendar we live by for far more of our lives than I ever realized. Students in school suddenly feel the pendulum beginning its alarming acceleration towards the end of the school-year - leading to examinations and uncertainty regarding the new year. As the blossoms emerge after the winter, children have an instinctive sense of anxiety as spring gets underway: change is in the air, and there is no way of knowing how it's all going to shake out.

I wish the schools, parents and students all the best on your new and continuing adventures, wherever they may take you.

In this edition we have

Our Guest editor, Dr Usha Ram, Principal, Laxman Public School, New Delhi writes 'Social Equity Project'.
Our Business Editor, Mr. Melwin Braggs with his views on 'Good School - definition'.
I share my views on 'Virtual School'.
Web links on the happenings in the education industry.
You could know more about Develop Schools' services, the itinerary of our associates for you to benefit from during their visit to your locations.
We conclude with unfurling the topic of our next issue. Send us your articles. If your entry is selected we will cover your article in our forthcoming newsletters.

I now invite you to read on and send us your feedback / suggestions. After all we improve when you assist us.

Feel free to FORWARD this newsletter to your Trustees / Managing committees / References.

Sincerely,

Rita Wilson

Chief Editor

Social Equity Project

Our Guest Editor - Dr. Usha Ram

Principal, Laxman Public School, New Delhi

School is the first step in anybody's life. It promotes character-building, value education and skills needed

to face hardships in life.

Laxman Public School has not only achieved the mission of stimulating and nurturing each student's potential for intellectual, artistic and athletic excellence but has also fulfilled its responsibility towards society. We have always voyaged into providing education for the less fortunate in the society under Social Equity Programme.

We have undertaken the following projects over the years -

Each One Teach One: Students from the Classes 7 to 11 are involved in this programme. Each student in these classes identifies a learner in close vicinity and makes him /her literate.
Neo-literacy and post literacy programmes: Classes are held for the neo-literates and post literates twice a week. Students of Class 11 are involved in this project as a part of their SUPW.
Vocational Training: To make community youth and women self-reliant, Vocational Training is conducted in collaboration with Jan Shiksha Sansthan in the following areas - Stitching and tailoring; beauty culture for young girls; house wiring for boys; embroidery; computer application
Community Out-Reach Programmes For holistic development of the community, our School has undertaken programmes within the community in six nodal centres to continue with Adult Literacy Programme.
Legal and Medical-aids Centre: The main objective of setting up of this centre was to empower the women of the community.
Self Help Groups : Five Self Groups were formed to have regular contact with these women by inculcating the habit of small saving. Some of them will also be motivated to pursue education and become literate.
Inclusive Schooling : Our school has integrated 62 children from the community into the mainstream. This facility is extended only to the children of those mothers who have successfully completed the literacy programme. They are provided free education and remedial teaching.

Achievements

For the last seven consecutive years, the school has been awarded the Sufia Ajmali Trophy for making maximum number of people literate. We have received S.M Arya Trophy and awards from UNICEF and Rotary Club for excellent community out-reach programmes.
Social Equity Programme as an integral part of curriculum is making a difference in the lives of people from disadvantaged sections of the society. The programme in the last fifteen years under the leadership of the Principal has brought about far reaching changes in the lives of women in the slum communities, especially through literacy programme.

'Good School? Definition'

- Melwin Braggs, Business Editor

Parents want validation of the quality of education their children are receiving, but education is complex,

non-linear, and to a great extent unquantifiable. A good running schedule is one of the parameters of prime significance in the evaluation of the standard of a school. A good running schedule can ensure a proper all-round performance of a school, with all its students and teaching and non-teaching staff. Topics constituting a good running schedule are:

Balanced academic schedule throughout the year

A balanced schedule must always take into account the stress levels of the students. A good running schedule must ensure that the students do not tend to crumble under the excessive pressure of advanced courses.

Employing both fresh and veteran teachers

A good running schedule depends a lot on the balance of energy and experience in the faculty unit of a school. The new-comers into the teaching profession represent the energetic, enthusiastic part of the faculty while the veteran teachers add to the experience.

Minimizing Inter-departmental politics

Although it is hard to locate a department in any school without its share of politics, efforts should be made to reduce its effects as much as possible. Internal conflict between the staff might not only digress their attention from pursuing the planned schedule, but also ruin the ambience of an educational organization.

Empowering faculty

A good running schedule depends largely on the relationship between the administrative body and the faculty. If the faculty is encouraged by the administration to make and incorporate new decisions, a trust is born that leads to further innovations and effective teaching methods. The influence is far-reaching, also impacting the good running schedule of the institution, positively.

Teamwork

A good running schedule can also be defined as teamwork - teamwork between the faculty, the administrative heads, the parents and also the students. All of them have a significant role to play in this joint effort. So good communication between all of them has a major role to play in the proper running of the schedule. A great deal also depends on the co-operative attitude of the office staff and the principal. Overall, there must be an all-embracing academic environment for the good running schedule to yield maximum results.

Good school is a well thought of strategic plan implemented by an enthusiastic involved school team. Good school does not happen by chance and so together let us Develop Schools

Virtual School

- Rita Wison, Chief Editor

(Ex Chief Executive and Secretary, ICSE)

Many of today's virtual schools are descendants of correspondence schools. Sometimes referred to as

"distance learning," correspondence schools offered students an alternative to the traditional brick and mortar schools. These schools utilized the postal service for student-teacher interaction, sometimes with pre-recorded television broadcasts. Students were expected to study their learning material independently and, in some cases, meet with a proctor to be tested. Modern virtual schools provide similar alternatives to students with a more ubiquitous and, often, interactive approach.

Virtual Schools now exist all around the world. Some of these virtual schools have been integrated into public schools (particularly in the United States), where students sit in computer labs and do their work online. In other situations, students can be completely home-schooled, or they can take any combination of public/private/home-schooling and online classes.

A virtual school or cyber school describes an institution that teaches courses entirely or primarily through online methods. Though there are tens of thousands of commercial and non-accredited courses available online, the term "virtual school" is generally reserved for accredited schools that teach a full-time course of instruction designed to lead to a certification or a degree. Accredited schools must meet rigorous standards as defined by the issuing organization and are designed to ensure that students are receiving the highest quality instruction and education.

There are many different virtual school instructional and enrolment models. Instructional models range from fully independent self-paced (asynchronous) courses to semester based virtual (synchronous) teacher facilitated courses. Class sizes range widely with anywhere from 25 students to as many as 200 students in each class section. Students keep in contact with teachers and collaborate with other students through web communication tools provided in the course delivery platforms.

Advocates of virtual learning believe that virtual schools hold advantages including: not being required to attend and travel to face-to-face classes and the integration of digital media into the curricula. Virtual schools also give a student the opportunity to stay in school when traditional brick and mortar schools no longer accept them. Some reasons for this could be extensive absence due to medical reasons, or for other reasons that the school system may deem distracting to the school body. Virtual schools are a great equalizer. No matter what their social, economic, religious, ethnic or physical or mental differences, virtual education gives all students the same opportunity to reach their full potential. Some virtual schools include online study groups in which students interact with each other online.

Unlike traditional education delivery methods, students at virtual schools sometimes do not directly interact with teachers, while at other times it is as frequent as in traditional brick and mortar schools and merely takes on a different form. Hence, virtual education is considered by many to be equivalent to a directed-learning programme. Because students do not interact with their instructors or peers face-to-face, "lack of socialization" is often quoted as a disadvantage by detractors. Recent anecdotal evidence provided by one virtual school from one live cyber school indicates that, while socialization may be different, it is not necessarily lacking. It is also recommended that students enrolled in virtual schools be involved in social activities outside school, much like home-schooled children. Another perceived disadvantage to distance learning is the added challenge of staying focused while in the home environment and many students report that staying on task is the most difficult aspect of learning online.

As online learning grows and students and school operators create blended-learning environments, policymakers must adopt the right policies for this to transform the system into a student-centric one.