Assemblies: Junior school assemblies usually have a kaleidoscope of informative lectures with different resource persons addressing them on various topics. The month of January had a spectrum of guest lectures, one such address given by Dr. Raj, a parent, on the human body being a wonderful machine followed by a very interesting question and answer session. Mrs. Padmaja Vasudev, a music teacher, demonstrated playing of the veena and also taught the children a few folk songs. Gautama Anna spoke to the children on the importance of listening and avoiding 'verbal accidents' in a conversation. There was a hands-on session where children created 'kolams' with chalk and 'kolam maav'. Children of class IV presented projects in pairs titled 'What we have learnt together'.

Initiatives and Responsibilities:Children have taken on new responsibilities this term. Banyan group has taken charge of arranging books and pinning up book reviews in the library. Jamun group has taken charge of the black board and soft board in the quadrangle and Peepul group will make sure that the area around the quadrangle remains litter free. Mango group will soon have their own plants to tend in a little bed along their classroom wall. Although not instructed, some children have taken upon themselves to empty the drinking water drip bucket when full for the plants while also ensuring that Blackie always has enough water to drink!

Christmas Celebration:Christmas was yet another colorful and fun filled event. The children of the junior school gathered in the Kindergarten to celebrate Christmas. The decorated Christmas tree and the Christmas carols by Class IX children entertained the children. Bina Akka spoke about the significance of Christmas, of sharing and of love. Santa danced to the tune of 'jingle bells' sung by the children and distributed sweets.

Parents' Day: More than just a show for the parents, the Parents' Day meant a lot of learning for the children, be it keeping to a rhythm and chanting, dancing to the beat of music, dramatizing and staging plays in different languages. The learning was enjoyed and their performances were liked by all.

Trips:  Field trips have been an intrinsic part of the Kindergarten program. The children visited the local vegetable market, the aquarium, a park and a garden.

Patua artists Joydeb and Moyna Chitrakar were visiting Chennai from the Midnapur district of West Bengal. On 11th January we were fortunate to have an assembly at school for the senior students where we could see their art work and also listen to their singing.

In Bengali, "Pat" means "scroll" and "Patua" or "Chitrakar" means "Painter". The origin of the painted scrolls is very ancient. We could find some in the Pharaohs' graves in Egypt. In India the first description of these painted scrolls can be found in a sacred text dated 200 B.C. Nowadays, this art form is still used mainly in the West Bengal and Bihar states.

In West Bengal, the painters are also singers. The scrolls are done with sheets of paper sewn together and sometimes stuck on canvas. Their width can go from 4 to 14 inches and their length, seldom below 3 feet can exceed 15 feet. A piece of bamboo, sometimes carved, is placed on each extremity of the scroll and is used to roll and unroll the painting which is done with vegetal colours : charcoal or burnt rice for the black, betel for the red, a fruit from the Nilmoni tree for the blue colour, etc... In order to fix the colours, they add a tree resin which they first melted. The story is shown in sequence, like a story board or a comic strip. Seldom are the scrolls with text.

Joydeb and Moyna will be working with Tara Publishing on a new book project.

Since 17th february fell on a holiday, the school held a special assembly remembering its Founder Shri J Krishnamurti on the morning of 16th february 2007. This is an occasion when students, teachers, parents, friends from the Theosophical Societyand trustees of KFI assemble in the open near the banyan tree, when there are some songs, chants and reading of passages from Krishnamurti's writings.

Dr A Gajanan Rao, a friend of the school and one who has been deeply interested in the teachings, spoke to the gathering n this occasion. Parakeets screeching and flying addded a dimension of wonder and fresh colour to the gathering this year.

This is also the day when three staff members were felicitated for completing 15 full time years in school. Komala akka awho works in the kitchen, Akhila akka and Girija akka. Mr O.R Rao, Secretary of the School gave away the mementos to the staff members.

The campus woke up to the news of a special guest on March 1st. In the wee hours of 28th February a spotted deer - most likely from IIT or Raj Bhavan - entered our campus. A large stag with beautiful antlers was "spotted" by many grazing near the side gate, behind the open air stage and near the pond. He seemed content and comfortable to walk around, feed and rest. One evening there was a slight commotion when many little ones felt that they needed to have a closer look and ended up chasing the deer. The deer eluded them with a few quick agile jumps and was out of sight in a minute. It was quite fascinating to see how easily and well the deer camouflages itself in the campus.

There are many questions of course - how and why did he come here? Shouldn't we inform the forest department so that they can relocate him where he belongs? Can he just stay here? Will there be enough food for him? Will he be safe here? and so on and so forth. We informed the wild life warden and awaited further instructions.

One day, he vanished just as he arrived. None saw him go, as none saw him arrive. All we have is a bad picture taken in the evening light as a reminder of this special visit, this special visitor.

Did you "spot" the spotted deer?

After many discussions at the Executive committee of the school and also among the trustees of KFI, it has been decided that the Educational work at Vallipuram will commence with the Middle school in 2008. Thus the program of the classes 11 and 12 will continue at the Damodar gardens campus definitely for the next 2 years.

As the plans unfold the school will be posting the information on the website and also informing parents, alumni and well wishers.

The architect, Ms Suhasini from Auroville, has prepared the master plan. As soon as discussions are completed the master plan will be put up at the school for all to see. The school plan to set up the student retreat in the year 2007 stands. During the academic year 2007-08 student visits will commence to the Vallipuram campus for retreats and workshops. Dormitory accommodation, dining hall and such facilities as will be required for retreats and workshops will be up.

The Governing body of KFI has decided to create a new entity - the campuses and the work at Damodar Gardens, Kilapakkam and Vallipuram, including the the Outreach activities and retreat centre, will together be referred to as The Chennai Education Centre.

Further, taking note of the work ahead, the role Director, The Chennai Education centre, has been created and G.Gautama has been assigned this additional role. The trees planted during the rainy months are growing well. Sometimes deer, jackal and hares visit the campus in the dusk hours.

The visits of doctors to Kilapakkam continue even as the building is being repaired. A new roof has been put up using the filler slab technique. As part of the Urban outreach program being run in collaboration with the Theososphical Society, two workshops were held in The School, KFI on the 27th of January and 17th of March.

I: January 27th 2007 – Workshop for Teachers

a) The Essential Unity of All Religions – Dr. Ravi Ravindra

This was a half day workshops for Senior Teachers/Coordinators of some City Schools.The Forenoon Workshop ( 8.30am-12 noon) foregrounded a growing concern for all educational institutions to create a learning atmosphere that is open, explorative and based on enquiry into the purpose of life on earth.  Dr. Ravi Ravindra – Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada spoke on "the reality and the ideas and principles of spirituality of all religions". What should be a unifying factor but instead tears mankind apart.A general discussion brought out the feeling that many would like Religion to be a personal thing yet are drawn into taking half hearted stands for the sake of Religion. A feeling that if Teachers could impart a sense of ‘keeping religion to a personal thing’ with children, the World just might be a calmer, happier place to live in.

b) Together With All Life – Mr. Shekar Dattatri

This was a half day workshops for Senior Teachers/Coordinators of some City Schools.The Afternoon workshop (12.45pm-4pm) had Mr. Shekar Dattatri – world renowned Wildlife filmmaker give a passionate talk on “the need for safeguarding the environment”. What causes damage and how to create an interest in the child to enjoy and love his/her surroundings? Imparting knowledge of different eco-systems and the network of birds, insects and animals that combine together in a perfect balance to make each particular system work, would go a long way. Teachers again play a vital role in exciting this interest in the child.  Workshops to help teachers gain such knowledge and interest themselves seemed to be called for.

II: March 17th 2007 – Workshop for Teachers

Taking Initiative to Facilitate a Safe Atmosphere at School

Anchor Person:  Shri G. Gautama

The Workshop was for teachers of private schools in the city. The participants answered a questionnaire that sensitized them to the various dimensions involved in creating a safe atmosphere in the classroom.

Sumitra M. Gautama gave a brief introduction to the topic, wherein she stated that facilitating a safe atmosphere involves not just providing strategies for physical safety, but also facilitating the child’s capacity to take care of oneself and assume responsibility for common spaces in an increasingly dangerous world.

This was followed by an interactive talk by the Speaker for the day focussing on the following questions:

1. What would it mean for you to be safe?
2. What are the criteria by which you will understand your child is safe?
3. Taking initiative over safety - what does that demand of you?
4. What structures would you want to be in place for safety to be functional?
5. What steps will you take, to do this in your school?

This 1 hour interaction was followed by the study of a sample set of Safety criteria adapted from those evolved by a school in the US, that included safety rules for Playground, School Infrastructure, Recess time, Behavioral Norms, Zero Tolerance Incidents, Hazards, etc. Later, teachers witnessed a PPT that was evolved by the Texas School Safety Centre, and also saw the document evolved by the National Disaster Management Division of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs on School Safety.

The meeting ended with a large group discussion among the teachers. Some shared best practices, and the general conclusion was that unconditional affection allowed for self worth to build, among students, and this in turn, helped them to take intiative to build a safe world for themselves.

Derek Hook a trustee of the Krishnamurti Trust England visited the school and told the students some fascinating stories in his inimitable style. The story of ‘the most unlucky man in the world’ to the accompaniment of drums had the audience listening carefully with smiles lighting up many faces. Steve Smith who had been many years in Brockwood as member of staff and later worked at the Krishnamurti centre in Ojai, visited the school on 2 days for meetings with staff and also for interaction with the teacher trainees. Bill Taylor,  Director Brockwood Park School visited the school and participated in the staff meeting. He   interacted with school teachers and attended an assembly.

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