Blog, International
India Training Visit 2014 – and an Indian Golden School to Remember
Wow – well, I’ve just got back from my India work trip – which was, as ever amazing, thrilling, challenging and wonderful. Because I have been working in India over the last 14 years I have already written quite a few blogs on India.
There are lots of news articles relating to my trips so I will put a link here if you are interested in finding out more:
India 2014 – only a few words but lots of lovely photos
Jenny is off to delight in the Sights and Sounds and Schools of India July 2014
Quality Circle Time helping schools in India to listen – The Teacher Foundation
Thanks for Maya Menon and The Teacher Foundation for not only organising and hosting a very busy work trip – but also for holding on over all these years to the vision of how Quality Circle Time/The Golden Model can support Indian schools. I need to say a huge thank you to the fabulous schools who hosted my training days – their hospitality and their enthusiasm were very moving. I should really write to them all individually but as usual I am overwhelmed with projects to tackle on my return – so I just hope they read this blog!!!
What made this visit breathtaking for me was to see how some schools have moved forward. The Teacher Foundation (TTF) has set up a programme based on my model called Safe And Sensitive Schools. TTFs own experienced and talented trainers work with schools who have been acquainted with my vision (normally when I have visited previously) and want to go deeper, to embed systems that will change or add to the culture of the school.
Great strides have been made by many of these schools – but this time I was elated. I was given time to go with TTF to visit some schools and evaluate their progress and I was moved by what I saw, especially at the Sishu Griha school in Bangalore. They have a thousand children, ranging from nursery to the 16/17 year olds and I was able to give them my highest Gold Award.
I’ve written this school an open letter and I thought I would share it with you here:
To All The staff And Children In Sishu Griha School
I visited you all on 16th July and came away very excited and inspired. I was deeply impressed with the positive ethos, respectful relationships and your commitment to being a true learning community. You have participated in the SASS project now for four years. I personally have trained many of you as early as 2000 when Maya Menon organised the first conference. The Teacher Foundation then carried on the further work of helping you to implement all the key systems that form my Whole School Quality Circle Time Model. Everywhere I went in your school I was confronted with evidence of enthusiasm for the model. There were so many displays that highlighted children’s strengths, that celebrated the schools commitment to everyone keeping the Golden Rules and that encouraged people to think about others special qualities.
What really bowled me over though was the commitment of your primary and secondary school students to the plinths of the model. All the students knew and loved ‘their’ Golden Rules, were able to list their Five Skills – and all were totally committed to Circle-time itself. Your head-girl and head-boy were fabulous ambassadors for your philosophy and vision, and both had an incredibly impressive ability to communicate wisely and passionately about their school and teachers. More than this though I managed briefly to visit randomly four other classes – and all the children demonstrated the same positivity and ability to communicate their views. The 10th grade young people were even able, under my time constraints, to tune into the qualities in others that inspired them and turn to their peers and quietly state these truths. So moved was I by my conversations and all that I had seen, I knew I needed to give your school our Gold Award. This is the highest award my consultancy can offer – and it celebrates those schools who embed all the ‘key’ systems that empower children and adults to be the best they can be.
Website Manager Notes
1. For more information about The Teacher Foundation please go to: http://www.teacherfoundation.org
2. During this trip, Jenny has been working in the following schools:
La Martiniere School for Boys in West Bengal
Jain College in Bangalore
Vasant Valley School in New Delhi
Shriram School in Gurgaon, New Delhi
3. Jenny Mosley has had very strong links with The Teacher Foundation and during these ten years has visited India regularly to work with Maya Menon, the Director of TTF, and with many teachers and schools on international training projects.
4. Jenny Mosley has successfully taken her Golden Model to many different countries worldwide. The model easily embraces different cultures and countries and works successfully with educational system that we have come across to date. To find out more about Jenny Mosley’s international training and partnership working and how her training, consultancy, resources and conferencing can help support your organisation’s aims, please phone 01225 767157 or email circletime@jennymosley.co.uk