The scorching sun, exam fever, sleepless nights – this is what apparently defines the month of March for an average student of India. With the mercury shooting up day by day, acclimatizing is rather a hard task. Keeping up our stamina and energy level calls for attention during these summer days.

The end of the academic year is near, with a few weeks left. With highs and lows, the present academic year has been tough to ride on. While there has been a sincere attempt from parents and school staff to not compromise on the quality of the educational journey, it was the child who found sandwiched and strained in this time period as their mind and body was only so far tuned to the ‘normal’ world. As adults, adaptability is already acquired, where as these children had to time travel and squeeze themselves to fit into the newly defined space. While gadgets are their friends, slashing of a part of their sweet childhood barring them from meeting friends and enjoying their school time is not what they had obviously wished for. We should therefore be thankful and proud in fact for the way they adjusted their time, space, routine compromising on several interests and fantasies for their age, to tune into the new system of learning as they too are aware of the value of time and education.

Shuttling between the offline and online modes, a child’s learning was not as smooth as it had been before. Not every child has been able to maintain a balanced routine. As now, the fear of pandemic has subsided; the globe is rushing to put all the bits and broken pieces together. It is a collective effort by the parents and teachers what is required at this point to bring back the young children to their normal routine, balanced with factors mandatory for a child’s development.

Waking up to the first rays of the sun, wishing for a productive day through a prayer, exercise to pump up energy for the day, healthy platter, optimum use of electronic devices, sufficient time for self study, taking a well deserved break by engaging in hobbies or games and winding off the day setting your bag and thanking God – while the duration for each can be flexible, any of these elements must not be ignored as these are activities that prepares a child for his life.

The exams are soon approaching, the mushrooming tuition centres in this season is a sign of the pressure building up in the minds of parents, for their child to top the class/school, for a higher percentage of marks etc. Mark is not a tag that a child carries through in his /her life; it does not define anyone’s talent or trait. What is vital is the extent to which a child has assimilated a concept and is able to apply it. Our role as a teacher and parent is crucial hereby giving them tips and techniques to stretch themselves to reach their potential, being approachable and standing by them when they need a support or guidance.

Rising to the situation to helping our children with a normal routine, we started off with regular full working days from February 7 for classes 6 - 12 March for classes 6-12. With a major percentage of even the primary wing children attending physical classes, the school is power packed as never before. With the days at finger tips to closure of another academic year, we spare no effort to provide children with all the elements they would have probably missed out during onscreen classes.

The Assemblies being conducted both in hall and on the ground to bring them on to one platform before the day begins at school is really working wonders. What is more exiting for children are the co curricular activities on stage which they had totally missed out for close to two years.

The highlights of the last and the present months are the sports matches organised in school. The ground buzzes with energy when the enthusiastic Sherwoodians, Ex - Sherwoodians and the staff puts their best foot forward during the matches. We have had matches in Volley ball, Basket ball, Cricket and Throw ball so far and still counting.

The Science exhibitions conducted for the Primary wing, Akshar and Heritage Valley saw children presenting the concepts taught in an innovative way.

Revamping the administrative department, a team of experienced and dynamic personalities have taken up the charge at Sherwood Public School with Mrs. Papia Choudhary as the Principal, Mrs Navneet Kaur Anand as Vice Principal and Mrs.Rajeswari Gorti as the Headmistress of Primary Wing. Their experiences in the field of teaching for over two decades particularly in Sherwood will help execute the responsibilities bestowed upon them with utmost sincerity. May they shine well in their new roles with the continued support from students, parents and the staff.

Two years ago, it was around this time in March 2020, that we were continuing to lead our lives - studying, teaching, going about our jobs, making plans for life ahead - without knowing that this would be the last time we would lead what we knew as “normal” days. It was around this time, two years ago, that everything we knew came to a grinding halt. Lives changed. Plans went haywire. Everything literally flipped on its head. But through it all, we learnt, adapted and moved ahead, together. For those who couldn’t survive this harsh reset, we say a prayer in our hearts. We resolve to not take this gift of life for granted, to maximise our individual potential, to be a valuable addition to society and be kind - to ourselves and to those around us.

Now,the world is recuperating, regaining its lost strength; hope the future has many more worthy things in store for us. There could be turbulence in and around but the life skills we mastered during the pandemic, to adapt to the ever changing, rather unexpected conditions would undoubtedly help us to survive ad excel come whatever may be.

Hope you enjoy reading the 8 th Issue of Classroom chronicles Vol 2.

- Ms Neethu M