Deeds, and not words, help turn dreams into realities. Thus, when the Baldwin Farm Area School was first outsourced by Tata Steel and came into an independent existence on July 3, 2003, it decided to focus on building a sustainable bond between the students, parents and teachers rather than just preaching the same.

What began as a small school with a strength of 450 students attending classes till Class V, this institution is today all set to start classes for Class VIII from the next academic session. A pioneer branch of Baldwin Academy in Patna, Baldwin High School strives to provide quality education to all, without discriminating between students.

Mission possible

Through teamwork and constant up-gradation everything is possible. ? thus the school devotes an excellent bunch of academic staff to constantly motivate the children to bring out the best in them.

The school also encourages teamwork and leadership qualities, integrity, honesty and especially compassion for the underprivileged section of society.

Innovation

For students of the nursery and kindergarten classes, a specially designed ?home corner? has been designed along with separate corners for each category ? nature, games, shapes etc? which the students visit throughout the day and where they are taught activities by hands-on training. Saturdays are a ?no bags day? at the school and students come to school to participate in various club activities and are not burdened with study pressures at least once a week.

To keep children engaged in a host of activities to promote all-round development, the school authorities practise mandatory participation of students in club activities. The school also selects a ?theme? for the students every month, according to which the junior classes are taught the importance of the subject concerned.

Following the footsteps of the English-medium school, the Hindi-medium school has shown considerable progress over the years. Sharing the same uniform, the school begins its classes once the English school calls it a day.

New-age mantras

Regular evaluation of students is done through regular assessment and play-way method. Public speaking and multi-media presentations apart, children also engage in practising yoga and quizzing, while also enjoying the activities of the creative club and Scouts and Guides Club.

Students get the chance to indulge in their interests under the watchful guidance of experts in taekwondo, archery and athletics in the school itself.

Children are also encouraged to take part in singing classes and teachers, too, lend their voices to the musical sessions in between classes.

Teachers are given a free hand in choosing innovative teaching methods, in fact many of them prefer taking open air classes.

To top it all is the engagement of students in an activity referred to as the ?Radio Ketchup?, which includes small activities put up by students to address important matters.

Infra-talk

The school includes a building with 19 classrooms and there is soon going to be a provision for six more. The school has a well-equipped computer laboratory and construction is on for the school to get a mathematics lab for students of higher classes.

Grading students till they cross the Class V threshold is a no-no here, and two rounds of assessment precedes the two terminal examinations.

Admission blues

There is not much for students to do, as the institute follows a simple procedure to take in students.

If the junior classes sit for a written entrance test followed by an interview, children seeking admission to kindergarten are taken in after a brief interview where their aptitude and skill ? in recognising colours and shapes ? is tested.

Noble gesture

There are six special students who study with the mainstream students. Not only do they attend regular classes, they also answer examinations along with the rest, though their papers are set separately.

Principal’s desk

A content principal is happy to see her school chart a map of progress. ?We began on a very humble note. The parents were not too keen with the idea of an English-medium school in this part of the city, but with time they have opened up to the concept,? says Mukul Roy the principal. She attributes the consistent growth of her institution to the combined efforts of teachers, parents and management. ?Everybody has lent us a helping hand in our development,? she admits.

fact sheet

School: Baldwin Farm Area High School

What is it: An English and Hindi-medium, co-educational school

Address: Kadma, Jamshedpur.

Contact Number: 2310195

Number of Students: 1,368

Number of Teachers: 56

(For Tata Steel employees)

Admission Charge: Rs 500

Development Fee: Rs 500

(For non-Tata Steel employees)

Admission Charge: Rs 1,000

Development Fee: Rs 1,000

Educational Aids: Rs 500