Dreams and Teams Programme
The visit of a teacher and two students from Mayoor to Kolkata in 2007 for training of British Council’s ‘Dreams and Teams Programme’ resulted in formation of the ‘Dreams and Teams Club’ at Mayoor. This club, in turn organised a training programme for teachers and students of five local schools which finally culminated in a Sport Festival being organized for students from Dayanand Bal Sadan, a local orphanage, in the presence of Mr. David Kelly and Miss Jo Meloni, Head Master and Director of Specialism respectively, Evesham High School, the U.K. (our partner school in the U.K.). Subsequently the Principal and the Dreams and Teams Coordinator paid a visit to Evesham High School, the U.K. in 2008.
Photos of Dream & Teams Programme
International Inspiration
Mayoor School, Ajmer was one of the seven schools in India hand-picked for this event.
In January 2008, ten students along with the Principal and Dreams and Teams Coordinator attended the ‘International Inspiration’ programme at New Delhi floated by the British Council. This programme, which was aimed at developing young leaders internationally, was launched by the then British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Gordon Brown.
The Grand Banyan Project
Mayoor School was declared the winner in the Northern Zone, of Paper Recycling Project under the Grand Banyan Project of British Council. The School collected a total of 6013 kg of waste paper to emerge the winner.
It had been a wonderful journey of four months where the students of Mayoor School contributed towards saving the environment and helping a huge number of less advantaged children with notebooks made from recycled paper. Through the different components of the project students demonstrated their exemplary work - by conducting rallies, wall painting competitions, making dresses from newspaper for a fashion show and generating awareness in community on the importance of recycle and reuse.
Photos of The Grand Banyan Project
Global Teacher Accreditation
The Global Teacher Accreditation (GTA) project is a unique opportunity to gain recognition for a high-quality professional practice grounded in peer development and reflection for serving teachers undertaking development activities. The British Council and Cambridge Education Foundation, work together to deliver the GTA programme, funded by the UK Aid, to promote a global dimension in the school curriculum through the development of innovative, equitable and sustainable school partnerships.
Ms. Sindhu Chaturvedi and Ms. Sumona Gupta were awarded the Global Teacher Accreditation 2010-11 by the British Council in partnership with the Cambridge Education Foundation for their action research projects. Mr. Adhiraj Singh received this prestigious award for his research project in 2015.
Working on these projects was indeed a great teaching –learning experience for all three teachers and added an international dimension to the school curriculum.
Photos of The Global Teacher Accrediation(GTA) Award
Generation UK-India Programme
Generation UK-India is a large scale mobility programme, delivered by the British Council and partners across the U.K. and India. The Teaching Assistant strand of the Generation UK-India programme places undergraduate students and recent graduates from the UK in schools across India for a period of two or five months. Teaching Assistants support their host schools in delivering lessons across the curriculum as well as by getting involved in co-curricular activities. Hosting a teaching assistant creates opportunities for the students of Indian schools to gain international experience and integrate this into their studies. It also gives the hosting institutions the chance to internationalize their staff and build important links with the U.K.
Under this project, Mayoor School, Ajmer will be hosting Teacher Assistants from the U.K. in 2016.
‘Connecting Classrooms Online’
The British Council has chosen Mayoor School as one of its Ambassador Schools who are required to take forward their ‘Connecting Classrooms Online’ programme.
This programme aims to bring teachers across borders, virtually, and enable them to work collaboratively on international projects and share information and best practices.
At present the following collaborative projects are being undertaken:
1. Pre-primary School
- Collaborative Project in Partnership with John M. Karras Kindergarten School, Athens, Greece
In Mayoor School, our emphasis has been on fostering an atmosphere that is conducive to the emergence and subsequent expression of students’ curiosity, so that they acquire a natural inclination towards learning and self-development. In this process our teachers have drawn up a plan for this International School Exchange programme for pre- primary learners. The exchange programme enrolls learners in the age group of 4 – 5.5 years. The primary goal of this exchange programme is to increase the natural process of spontaneous, self-motivated education in which the children talk and learn, as they play out their innate curiosity and urge to acquire knowledge of the environment. The project helps the students develop their Reading, Speaking and Writing skills.
The students interact with each other through Skype and use web 2.0 tools. The initial Skype sessions focus on the topic “ME AND MY FAMILY”.
2. Primary School
- Collaborative Project in Partnership with The De Montfort School, Evesham, the United Kingdom
Under the project, students of Class V at Mayoor School, Ajmer and year VI students of The De Montfort School, Evesham, the U.K. interact through Skype sessions. Conversation topics include festivals, monuments, food, culture and costumes of their respective country. They also share their experiences through letters and cards. The project is entering into its fourth session and is a great learning experience for the participants.
3. Secondary School
- Collaborative Project with The De Montfort School, Evesham, the United Kingdom
The collaborative project with The De Montfort School, Evesham, the U.K. started in 2008 with the project 'Heritage and Future ' in which twenty-five students participated. The project covered history of India and Britain and present and future accomplishments.
Project "Know thy Earth" started in 2013 and is going steady with successive batch of students.
This project includes research work, Skype sessions, emails, pamphlet designing, notice board designing, peer learning and collaboration work with the Evesham High students. The final presentation takes place during the last session.
The topics include various themes of geography IGCSE curriculum like population, volcanoes, earthquake, tourism, industries, agriculture, development, disasters etc . For the year 14-16 students enrolled in Cambridge Secondary 2 progamme, this presents an added benefit for getting in-depth knowledge of the subject.