A typical day in SIS: The story in pictures

At Sehwag International School (SIS), our focus is to develop a student in a holistic manner. We not only stress on creating academic excellence, but also provide value-based education, world-class sporting infrastructure, and an encouraging environment for students to nurture their talents.

A typical day in SIS starts with...

Morning prayer, followed by yoga and exercise sessions…

We ensure that our students are provided with quality food with home-cooked flavor. We follow a stringent meal time schedule:

Early morning meal: 7:00 – 7:15 am

Breakfast: 8:45 – 9:30 am

Lunch: 12:45 – 1:30 pm

Evening snacks: 3:30 – 4:15 pm

Lime juice: 6:30 pm

Dinner: 8:00 – 8:30 pm

Bed milk: 9:15 pm

Our students learn through interactive and practical approaches…

We give individual attention to each student, with a teacher student ratio of 10:1…

We also focus on developing extra-curricular skills of our children…

We believe a healthy body is built through stringent sports training…

We encourage our students to share bed time stories…

Visit our campus to know more.

Preparing children for boarding school

- A guest post by Ms Pallavi Saikia Farwell

The decision of sending a child to a boarding school might be the toughest call for any parent. This is a major transition for the family as well as for the child.

Being attached to boarding schools for the past 18 years, I can assure you that although it seems to be a tough decision at first, such schools provide stronger foundations for the development of a child. This is a great hub for information and interactions. The people you live with, eat with, and see every day become a huge part of your life.

Every child is different. We as parents need to understand and be sensitive to the individual needs of our children. Before sending a child to any boarding school, it is important to speak to them openly about it and understand their point of view. Further, we should be confident about the school we are sending our child to. We should share as much information about the school with the child, take him on a tour to the school, and let him interact with people there.

Make sure you highlight about the advantages of having a boarding school experience. Tell them that along with enhancing self-esteem, confidence and decision making skills, they will be provided with guided study hours and opportunity to make friends from different cultural backgrounds.

However, it is also essential for parents to tell a child that he will always be missed at home. Parents should ensure creating strong and loving relationships with their children, which will help in the transition. It will build confidence in the child and provide stability and security during this tough phase.

In my so many years of being in boarding schools, I have learnt the greatest lesson of my life, being respectful to each other. Here, I have also seen children growing into confident young adults with nurturing and disciplined way of life.

So, whenever you decide to send your child to a boarding school, remember to help him acclimatise with the changed surrounding even before he joins the school. Preparing a child beforehand will surely go a long way.

Ms Pallavi Saikia Farwell is Head of Human Resources and Public Relations at Sehwag International School. She comes with 18 years of boarding school experience and has worked with schools such as Assam Valley School, Sarala Birla Academy, The Sanskar Valley School and Birla International School.

Importance of sports in education

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", a popular proverb sums it all. Without a balanced approach towards education, a child will only have a lopsided perspective. He will not be able to appreciate the other finer aspects of life, if only studies are in his mind. It is often perceived that sports is a complete waste of time and instead, students should utilise their time in learning and studying. However, such thinking needs to change, as sports has its own benefits.

Advantages of sports education:

Making children active and agile: With the invent of Internet, computers and television, children these days are leading a sedentary lifestyle, either being glued on their TV sets or playing/surfing on their computers. This has led to various lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart problems even in kids. Also, obesity has become a major challenge in these children. In order to combat these issues, it is important to inculcate the habit of playing outside or develop a passion for sports that would ensure certain amount of physical exercises. 

Developing mental abilities: In order to play any sports, together with physical ability, it is also important to create mental faculties of the players. A child is taught to sharpen his problem solving abilities, take instant decisions, and handle pressure situations while on the field. These skills are also important in personal life as well, and help in developing the overall personality of a student. 

Nurturing sportsmanship spirit: Sportsmanship spirit teaches to be fair and ethical in one’s conduct, strives to have a winning attitude and even while being in the losing team, should be graceful in one’s behavior. Such an attitude is also essential in equipping a person with life skills and to face various challenges in one’s life.

Initiating team building: A person cannot work in silo, it is essential for people to work together to create greater impact. When a child learns any sports, he is also taught the basics of being a team member and how a match could be won only through team collaboration. He is told that besides individual brilliance, team effort is also needed for success. 

Giving wings to passions: Many kids are passionate about sports. They often want to become a sportsperson rather than an academician. A parent should respect the interest of their children and encourage their kids to take up this passion and translate it into a profession. 

Sports in fact, is the medium through which a child is initiated into another dimension altogether. He is shown another perspective to nurture his curiosity and channelize his energy in a positive manner.So, next time when you go for your child education, ensure to check these small details. These surely would go a long way in the holistic development of your child.

Importance of boarding schools

It is often tough for a child to leave the secure environment and pampering of home and to go to a residential school to study. The anticipation and anxiety associated can be very stressful for a small child. However, such schools help a child to develop his or her overall personality, along with providing quality education and sports training. Boarding schools give a child the perspective on how to become a successful team member as well as a future leader.

Reasons to send a child to a boarding school

Such schools are often described as home-away-from-home, simply because, these schools provide similar environment and value-system that a child gets from his or her house. Some of the advantages of sending a child to a boarding house are:

• Making a child self-reliant and independent
• Teaching him values and discipline
• Evolving his life-skills such as confidence, fearlessness, courage, self-esteem etc.
• Developing his team as well as leadership skills
• Creating an overall personality of a child

Things to consider while sending a child to a residential school

It is an important decision to send the child away from the safety net of his or her home environment. Therefore, as a parent, a few things that one should take into consideration include:

• Finding out about the safety and security features offered by the school
• Assessing the reputation of the school through alumni, parents of current students and media reports
• Understanding the background of the faculty and management of school
• Taking a tour of the infrastructure provided, especially the boarding house and mess
• Asking pertinent questions regarding food, clothing, study times and sports facilities available to the students
• Assessing emergency services such as availability of clinics, doctors, nearby hospitals, as well as finding out whether the school conducts regular fire drills and other emergency evacuation drills

Tradition of boarding schools in India

In India, the tradition of sending children to boarding schools dates back to the era of Vedas and Upanishads, when the princes used to get their education from intellectuals or gurus in their ashrams or centers. This tradition was known as the Gurukul system, wherein the children were imparted education, along with physical and military training in the ashrams of the gurus. Once the students finished their education, they were allowed to go back to their homes. Some of the famous centers of such learning in India were situated in Nalanda and Taxila.

Taking this age-old tradition forward, many modern schools in India were introduced, which focused on providing holistic education to the students. India boosts of many well-known residential schools located in the favourable locales of mountains and valleys, providing the perfect serene environment for students to study.

In the recent times, many new schools have also started their operations, often setting up at the outskirts of the urban areas or cities. This trend has helped parents to be much more relaxed as they could reach their children easily in case of any emergencies.

Future perfect

In today’s demanding world, it might not be possible for parents, especially busy professionals, to give adequate attention towards their kids’ education. Therefore, boarding schools in India provide the right solution by giving the children a homely environment and quality education, while developing their overall personality.

Sehwag International School: A Virtual Tour

Mr Virender Sehwag invites everyone to take a virtual tour of Sehwag International School, a boarding and day-boarding CBSE-affiliated co-education school.