Introduction

Early childhood is a very important phase in a child’s life for his physical and cognitive development. This is the first step where a child steps out of his comforts of his home to build his/her self-esteem. St. James Convent Pre-School is an initiative by Asha Deep Foundation which provides pre-school education to underprivileged children consisting of orphans, minority children, poor and differently abled children. It provides education to students in nursery and kindergarten. The pedagogy is designed in such a manner that it nurtures a child both academically and socially. The children are taught with the use of stage plays, dramatisation of stories and many such tools which expand the child’s imagination and stimulate their creative expression. Picnics and outings, computer education and art and craft are many other activities that are done to engage the children from time to time.

Aim

To educate the underprivileged children of the community to provide holistic development at a very nascent stage so that they can build a safe and secure future for themselves.

Objectives

• To provide quality and value based education
• To enhance knowledge and understanding among the children with the use of picnics and exposure visits
• To introduce different sports and cultural activities to the children for their physical and mental growth
• To strengthen, upgrade and equip the teaching staff so that they can provide education according to the current modern standards
• To inculcate leadership qualities in the children to help enhance their personality
• To design and develop children friendly teaching methodologies

Activities

• Special activity room for pre-school children
• Thematic activities based on seasons, colours, fruits and vegetables and festivals
• Painting classes
• Videos with moral values screened from time to time
• Educational outings
• Plantation week to inculcate the importance of green environment
• Celebration of various festivals throughout the year
• Health check-ups
• Regular parent teacher meetings

Impact Assessment

• Underprivileged children get an all-round pre-school education
• In the future, the children will be self-reliant and have a confident personality
• Parents of these children learn the importance of early education
• Awareness is created amongst the community and other parents are inspired to enrol their child in a pre-school.