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ABout School
Our Vision
Our Mission

The Orchid School provides holistic education in a conducive school climate and home environment which leads to nurturing in students resilience and a sense of personal responsibility and the ability to celebrate diversity, to develop leadership with integrity, to contribute to social development through creativity and problem solving ,to face and create challenges with a fusion of traditional and contemporary values and choices.

Our Approach To Learning

Our curriculum envisages integrated learning experiences for children. In order to achieve this, a strong emphasis is placed on planning. Within the framework of the curriculum, there is a flexibility to plan a programme that is appropriate to the individual circumstances and to the needs, aptitudes and interests of the children. We present content, approaches and methodologies in such ways to adapt and interpret the curriculum where necessary to meet learners’ own unique requirements. Learning thought experiences/ opportunities, through play and fun, understanding and application forms the crux of our learning approach.

We adapt the following approaches and methodologies to teach different subject matter at different learning levels.

  • Integrated / Holistic methods
  • Project / Play way methods
  • Direct instructions / Lecture method
  • Story method / dramatization
  • First hand Experiences / Sensory Experiences
  • Study skills/ Thinking Skills
  • Organisation Skills and Technology Skills
  • Problem Solving and Decision Making
  • Experiments and Demonstrations
  • Presentation through Different Media
  • Exploration and Research
  • Reasoned Debate – Information and Reasons
  • Activity Oriented Method
  • Cross Curricular Approach
  • Group Work / Individual Work / Pair Work

Our Integrated Approach To Learning

We believe in including a range of integrated curricular and co-curricular aspects. Skills like linguistic, logical / mathematical , spatial , bodily / kinesthetic , self – learning, communication , life skills orientation, global understanding , aesthetic expressions , development of balance and harmony, inter – personal and intra personal intelligence are some of the key components of our Integrated Approach to Learning.

This incorporates all areas / subjects of learning like Language, Math, Science, Social Science, Art, Drama, Music, and Physical Education.

Our Pledge.

What we see and our kids experience is a borderless world, one that extends far beyond our country. With all the macro level urgencies, environmental dangers, discriminations that we witness around us, It’s time for each one to recognize our role in it, remind ourselves that our responsibility extends beyond ourselves, our country, to humanity at large.

Conflicts, injustice etc are not merely a concern of the other but there lies the urgent need for each one of us to realize the role we play in it. Conscious acceptance and shifts in our attitude would have an effect on our behavior and ripple to others as well.

The Indian pledge is a part of our assemblies. We felt that along the years the relevance in today’s context required a re-alignment.

The TOS pledge was thus conceptualized with a belief that in its repetition, understanding the core principles would be reinforced, truth seen and it would become part of one’s self.

The meaning and relevance was spoken about during assemblies to the various levels then institutionalized as a part of the daily prayers.

Country Pledge

India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage. I shall always strive to be worthy of it.

I shall give respect to my parents, teachers and elders and treat everyone with courtesy.

To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness.

TOS Pledge

I, …………………,(student name) …………………(position) hereby, solemnly take this pledge

To show in my behavior that I respect everyone;

To actively listen to others’ opinions without my own bias and prejudice;

To represent and take decisions that address the collective and institutional interests;

To model a balanced approach to situations concerning my fellow students;

To ensure that rules and guidelines are used by me and others for a smooth functioning of the school;

To go all out to give my fellow students an equal and fair chance so no one experiences any form of discrimination;

To act in responsible ways so I handle this privilege of leadership position with great pride.

All this I promise to do with sincerity, integrity and to the best of my ability.

TOS Pledge
Name: Why Orchid?

The Orchid School located at Baner, Pune was started by Pradnya Niketan Education Society. P.N.E.S has been formed by a group of committed educationists. We follow the CBSE curriculum with English as our medium of instruction. We are a co-educational and inclusive school.

What’s in a name?

The Orchid School gets it's name from the orchid flower. Orchids were the first flowering plants to evolve around 120 million years ago, when the mighty dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The dinosaurs became extinct; so did many species of plants and animals. But the orchid family survived, adapted and expanded.

Orchids are among the most successful and adaptable family of plants. They are often cited as great examples of peaceful and mutually beneficial co-existence in nature. Orchids were here long before humans. The orchid has survived the different stages of evolution by adapting to the changing climate, waiting for the right time & opportunities to bloom.

Our school recognizes the fact that all children have potential, like Orchids. They are waiting to be unfolded and discovered.

When given an appropriate, rich, supportive and nourishing environment, children can blossom and evolve as healthy human beings – as beautiful and exquisite as The Orchid Flower.

Flavors and Facts

Flavour of The Orchid School

A School that makes genuine and sincere attempts to make learning
  • Joyful
  • Meaningful
  • Relevant
  • Futuristic
  • Holistic
  • Connecting to the commonsensical real world

Facts of The Orchid School

  • The Orchid School (TOS),Pune and Nagesh Karazgi Orchid College of Engineering and Technology, (NKOCET) Solapur, are professionally managed by Pradnya Niketan Education Society(PNES). It is registered as a public charitable trust.
  • Formed by a group of 14 professionals - bureaucrats, educationists and entrepreneurs, PNES is committeed to QUALITY education.
  • The VISION is to provide "Locally rooted, Globally competent" education.
  • It is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.
  • It is an English medium, co-educational and inclusive school.
  • Currently operating from STD I to STD. XII.
  • 35 children per class with 3 divisions maximum per level.
  • Orchid School does not have a branch anywhere else.
Theory and Philosophy

We recognize that none of the philosophies of education provides all the answers, especially in constant changing environment of our learners.

The school derives its educational influence from an eclectic path that attempts to synthesize, select and draw together aspects, ideas and values from different philosophies of education.

In a multi - racial, multi - regional, multi - religious, multicultural and multilingual society in today’s world, Orchid school attempts to blend both traditional and contemporary, western and eastern philosophical traditions.

Assesment

Our Approach To Evaluation/ Assessment

Our curriculum responds to the learners’ needs in terms of their whole personality development. Necessary inputs are planned and provided to bring about changes in their personal and social behaviour besides developing in them the scholastic and co curricular aspects.

With a view to provide feedback for further improvement, some kind of assessment or evaluation becomes essential. The relevance, reliability and validity of the evaluation procedures determine the quality of feedback, which has to be derived for ensuring qualitative improvement among learners.

With the above focus in mind, The Orchid School has developed an evaluation package that has the following principles:

  • Evaluation is done in cooperative spirit.
  • Evaluation is participatory and transparent.
  • The fear of external examinations, settled in the minds of children from a very tender age, is minimised.
  • Continuous evaluation is done through keen observations
  • Periodical assessment of learning to diagnose the areas of competencies and difficulties for arranging special instructions.
  • Comprehensive evaluation to take a holistic view of learners’ progress covering scholastic, personality and co curricular aspects.
  • Inter learner comparisons is minimised.
  • The evaluation process is demystified and made transparent by taking parents into confidence.
  • The communication of the outcomes is in a positive manner, which in turn encourages learners to face this process readily rather than taking it as an imposed ordeal.
  • Graded and age appropriate evaluation tools to restore the spirit of the process.
     
Learning Environment
Life Skills Orientation and Community Projects

Yes, reading and math are important. But what matters most is what kind of human beings are reading the books and doing the math!

(Author unknown)

Education needs to incorporate and address skills, experiences and exposure that represent the real world, since they are equally if not more crucial in the development of an individual. Life skills at Orchid is not just an individual program, but a connecting thread that attempts to make all learning pertinent and connected with the real world.

Core agenda and Objectives

To ground learning- Provide opportunities to demonstrate how school activities connect to students lives with the “community as the laboratory” for real life learning lessons in actual situations. Students become engaged learners once they can see the relevance .

To resonate the power of relevance, Injecting value and meaning into the entire school experience- Young people need to feel that what they are doing makes a difference, contributes to the welfare of others and believe that they too can make a change. It provides a whole picture of the society our students live in.

To build social capital- In the race of developing human capital in the form of scientific, engineering expertise or sophisticated forms of literacy leading to economic expansion, social capital often gets neglected . Schools core responsibility is to develop “whole system thinking” by demonstrating that society consists of groups and sub groups but they are all part of one universe.

Create civic habits of the heart- Each act of honesty, services ,responsibility and compassion that teachers and educators encourage and model helps create moral and civic habits of the heart that instill courage to care. These habits ,shaped over a lifetime define individual conscience and determine how a person will respond when fellow human beings are hurt, attacked or victimized.

To build leaders- As a society we are facing a range of challenges. Solutions seem much more likely to emerge from people who apply their intelligence and competence to immediate problems that demand their attention. We require more people who have the capacity to make the difference, who step forward to do so.

Allow democracy to become a habit -As we go back and forth between living it and studying it, over and over, looking at democracy becoming a way of life. When students discover the interdependence of people from different social backgrounds and they learn to relate to them as equals.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM

Life skills and community projects as a formal program begin at Class V and are part of the curriculum until the student graduates from school. The program is envisioned in a way where the skills required for the developmental age, are honed in the LSO classes through activities, discussions, inviting professionals, field visits and games.

Partnering this are the community projects, programs that link the skills to real life situations. These situations represent the world that is unspoken and unseen. They are an effort to provoke questions and make us challenge our assumptions and stereotypes. In the long run, irrespective of the position they hold, these experiences are imperative for a holistic development. Each program is over 3 to 4 sessions so as to make them meaningful .

Age-appropriate skills and themes are addressed in the following manner.
Sr No. Class Life Skills Module Community Project
1 V Understanding yourself –how thoughts and feelings connect with behaviour and the world around. Twinning with a neighboring municipality school
2 VI Understanding yourself  and the world around Looking beyond the world as we know it- building awareness, sensitization and partnerships with TARA mobile crèche.
3 VII Media Literacy – Understanding Media messages to make informed decisions and encourage positive use of Media Responsible consumerism, awareness, responsible citizenship, partnership and sensitization. Community project with the Pune Traffic Police.
4 VIII Peer pressure, critical analysis of media, Substance Abuse and Addiction Making healthy decisions Saying “No” to drugs and alcohol. Visit to Muktangan De-addiction center.
5 IX Comprehensive Sexuality Education Visits to adoption centre's, BSSK and SOFOSH
6 X Career Guidance Career Camp
"Click here for community projects of 2015-16"
CBSE AFFILIATION

UPDATES ON CBSE AFFILIATION

TOS has received from the Central Board of Secondary Education the Composite Provisional Affiliation for Secondary School Examination of the Board for a period of three years w.e.f. 01.04.2014 to 31.03.2017. Affiliation no is 1130279.

Click here to see current affiliation Status

For further details log on to the CBSE site : www.cbse.nic.in

CBSE Affiliation Proforma

ISO Certification : ISO 9001:2015, Quality management systems
National and International Collaborations

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam in Sanskrit means, ‘The whole world is one single family’. And it is true, technology has brought the world closer, sitting in any part of the world; we can communicate within seconds with our friends, relatives, business associates, global partners. We are able to source out information on each and every topic, thanks to google.

In this present scenario, it is essential to be connected, develop new connections for sustainable growth and development. Our work can take us to any part of the world and in order to adjust to a new country and culture, it is necessary to be equipped with appropriate collaborative skills that make the transition a smooth process.

The vision of our school is to make every student a locally rooted and globally competent citizen of tomorrow. Our curriculum is designed for an integrated and experiential learning. One of the integral components of this learning is giving our students exposure to varied styles and methods of learning.

The child can learn best through interaction with their environment, surroundings, people, culture and traditions. And what better way to connect with people and culture than travel?

Travel broadens our horizons, helps us to explore and learn, gives different perspectives, and makes us confident and wise. We realized that Collaborative learning is the key to success for the future generation.

Keeping in tune with these objectives, we initiated various programs at the local, national and international levels.

Our twinning program with local municipal schools has the aim to sensitize our children to kids from other strata of society who are not so privileged. We hope that this endeavor of ours will build bridges of friendship and collaboration for the growth and development of our country.

The objective of our overnight rural camp is to give the kids a peek into our village life, governance, economy, efforts of the village people towards developing their youth, conserving the environment, contributing to the country’s progress.

National exchange programs with other schools in India are introduced with the objective of giving our students the opportunity to learn from their counter parts, adjust to people from other States and culture, and in the process learn more about our rich heritage in an interactive manner.

International exchange program has the similar objectives as the National one. However, it also adds an edge to the personality of a child in terms of confidence and knowledge. They develop independent thinking, can deal with problems logically, learn to take responsibility at an early age and learn life skills which will be an added advantage in their adult life for making choices and taking decisions.

Collaboration-International

The Orchid School has been coordinating a yearly exchange program called ‘Sweden-India – Sweden Teachers Exchange Program’ for Teachers since 2007. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between The Orchid School, Pune and ‘Donner Gymnasiet, Sweden’ (now, Guteskolan South) to conduct these exchange programs.

The Orchid School takes the responsibility of arranging, hosting and supervising their India visit. This exchange program has been initiated by our Director, Ms Lakshmi Kumar who is a certified cross cultural trainer and coordinator for the Swindia Project. She has been mentoring and coordinating the Social work student visits from leading universities such as ‘Orebro; and ‘Midsweden’ from Sweden.

In 2010, the exchange program was extended to the student community, under which 3 groups of students along with their teachers have visited our school. In 2012, the first batch of 18 students of grade X and 3 teachers visited Sweden.

These exchange programs have proved to be effective platforms to share pedagogical practices and methodologies. They also enable the students and the teachers to learn about the culture, traditions, customs, and value system of another country through living in host families.

Archived Articles - International

Collaboration-National

Exchange programs are important learning spaces for all. They provide excellent opportunities for our students to gain experiences, step out of comfort zones, widen their horizons, and adopt best practices, ground learning and much more.

In 2011, we began our National exchange program with Riverside School, Ahmedabad and Shishuvan School Mumbai. During the exchange, our students are usually accompanied by our teachers so as to facilitate the relevance of the experience, highlight the connections, provide the security and help bring the experience back to school spaces.

In 2012, we collaborated with ANET (The Andaman and Nicobar Environmental Team) an environmental non-governmental organization on the southern tip of South Andaman Island to conduct research programs towards understanding of the diversity, distribution, and ecology of the islands' fauna and flora.

Archived Articles - National

Collaboration - Regional and Local

At a local level, our collaboration is with projects so as to enhance our learning program, provide for different, enriching experiences and broaden our horizons. This may involve our stepping into another space or opening our doors to others.