Dr Shantha is indeed a visionary, and an inspiration to many. Ma’am conducted a highly interactive dynamic workshop where she emphasized on the importance of communication. She reinforced that as facilitators we should constantly upgrade ourselves with the necessary skill set by rising to the challenges, embark on paths that deviate from the conventional methodology and thinking. We should focus on paving the way for innovation. The activity packed workshop not only kept us alert and on our toes, but also fuelled our passion for enhancing language and communication skills. 4.Capacity Building & Deeper Impacts workshop was conducted by Deepa Trojan on Wednesday, 24-05-23 for all teachers. Faculty Development Program at NHPS Deepa Trojan, a 28-year-old Engineer and a Management student, also a TED talk presenter calls herself a Gen Z individual. She addressed a gathering of around 100 teachers of NHPS from various divisions (Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary), on 26th of May, 2023. Her workshop was based on Capacity building- Deeper Impacts.

The Objective of the workshop was to rethink how to guide “Attention Deficient and Easily bored” (all kinds of) Gen Z and Gen Alpha students in the class.
From a survey rolled out to teachers, she identifies that the commonly faced challenges were Technology, Kids’ shorter attention span, learning through reading and writing, communication skills, handling vulnerability, kids seeking attention, diverse needs of kids and time management. She then made the session interactive to illicit how these issues could be overcome. The workshop highlights the journey of a teacher must consist of the following phases: Knowing the audience -> Reinventing the pursuit of lost passion -> Innovative and involved learning practices -> ME Time She strongly asserted that if any one of the above phases are managed carelessly, it’s a CRIME. She further said that a teacher and a parent must believe in the fact that “Kids do well if they CAN not if they want.” Ms Deepa, from her analysis that she made about why do students study a subject, she comes out with a few responses that

• They study because they donot have a choice
• They study because of their love for the teacher

So, if we tune ourselves to be loving teachers, students would love us and eventually the subject too. According to Ms Deepa, if a child is unable to focus, it is utmost important for every teacher to think of the WHY the child is unable to focus and the WHAT that is blocking the student from focusing. The session had got even more lighter and intense with a melodious song that she had made us all sing along. She affirmed that every teacher must seek for help when needed as WHAT MATTERS IS THE EFFORT. She said,” Its OK not to be AWSOME all the time but you can be AWSOME most of the time.” if we follow these points.

• The take away from the workshop was that we as teachers must involve our students in our Lesson Plans.
• We as teachers must not just be a teacher but be mentors.
• We must not just teach our students but enable them to learn.

1. Contemporary Teaching and practices workshop was conducted by Ms Preeja on Saturday, 27/5/23 for all teachers. She commenced her session by defining contemporary teaching. Contemporary teaching is teaching methodologies and pedagogies keeping in mind the changing need of the children. With reference to the new challenges in teaching profession, she stressed on a positive outlook wherein Vitality should be perceived as Vision, Uncertainty as Understanding, Complexity as Clarity and Ambiguity as Agility.
2. Story telling workshop was conducted by Mr Vikram Sridhar on Monday, 29/5/23 for the pre primary teachers.
3. Inclusive Education workshop was conducted by Ms Srilekha to all teachers on Monday, 29/5/23. She highlighted the difference between Traditional Education System and Modern Education System. Some common teaching styles were elicited from the teachers. She enlightened the teachers with a newer perspective about constructive teaching methods. Towards the end she explained the educational phycology to prepare the educators in order to plan their activities more efficiently. The VAK model which is very significant in teaching learning process was also discussed.

To conclude it was a brilliantly organised workshop with many case studies, videos and activities. The insights would certainly help the teachers                  during the academic year. 4. Workshop on spinal stress management was conducted on Tuesday, 30/5/23 for all the teachers. Doing what matters in times of stress. New Horizon Public School conducted an illustrated workshop on stress management for coping with adversity by Ms. Aiman Ahmed, Ms. Varsha Suresh (clinical psychologists from NIMHANS), and Dr. Abhishek Soni, a specialist in spine surgery at Manipal Hospitals Colombia Asia. The main objective of this guided workshop was to equip the teachers of NHPS with practical skills to help cope with stress. Stress management approaches included:

• Learning skills such as problem-solving, prioritizing tasks, and time management.
• learning how to improve emotional awareness and reactions, increase a sense of control, find greater meaning and purpose in life, and cultivate gratitude and optimism.
• Practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, structured mindfulness exercises, and meditation.
• The causes of spinal cord compression and the treatment options for stress-related back pain.
• Symptoms and diagnosis of spinal cord compression.