Newsletter of Swami Vivekananda College

Arise! Awake! and stop not till the goal is reached!Volume 1. Issue 1

THE

REG: 3004 TEL: 6700340 FAX: 6703030

PO Box 716, Nadi | Email: svcfiji@gmail.com

Education is the manifestationof perfection already in man.

Chairperson: Mr R KrishnaEditor: Mrs M ReddyCo-Editor: Mr V Chand

Members: Mrs M Kanta,Mrs L Ahmaz, Mr K Chand,

Headboy & Headgirl

Swami Vivekananda College like Fiji Itself is developing in a positive and progressive manner. “The Awakener” our first newsletter highlights the growth, evolution, accomplishments and happenings of Swami Vivekananda College. This gives chance to our students, teachers, parents, friends and well wishers to learn and be informed about hap-penings at SVC. Through the combined effort of the “Awakener” team we are trying our best to present the best and accurate information for the well wishers.

Since 2009, the management actively got involved in upgrad-ing and uplifting the standard of education at SVC by reno-vating classrooms so that the environment is safe, friendly and conducive to learning. To ensure that quality teaching and learning is taking place, the college has taken initia-tive to create an E-learning environment, professionally develop teachers to use educational softwares to deliver lessons effectively and train teachers to be computer literate.

In addition the college is fully committed towards effective teach-ing and learning in the school. We are fortunate that the college manager presented a paper to the Ministry of Education on 21st century teaching. Teaching in the 21st century is not an easy task. To keep the students motivated constantly the teachers of today have to keep abreast with information technology. The college is constantly striving to upgrade its technological resources. We are indeed grateful to the management for providing computers for the staff members to maximize learning and enable the teachers to use ICT in the teaching and learning process.

Moreover, the efforts of the teachers were rewarded when Komal of Form 7B brought glory by winning the oratory contest organized by Save the Children for the Nadi District.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank the management, MOE, ad-ministration, teachers, parents and friends for your constant sup-port and well wishes.

May SVC continue to bear the fruit of God’s blessing.

Mrs Mala Reddy

•Administration Message

• Manager’s Message

• PTFA President’s Message

• Student Council

• Department Activities

• Scolarships and Assistance

• Opening of the Home Eco nomics Lab sponsored by Courts Homecentres and Jacks of Fiji.

• Commissioning of 30,000 Litre Water for Life Foun- dation Bore - well Project on 16th April at 2.00pm.

• Term 1 examination.

Editorial Board

Highlights

Up Coming Events

From the Editor…

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1- Form 3 block renovated 5- Teachers keeping abreast with IT

2-Form 5 block renovated 6- Using ICT in teaching

3-Form 4 block renovated 7- Industrial Arts block renovated

4-Friendly environment for learning

Welcome to the year 2010 with a promise that ‘The Awakener’ our newsletter will hope-fully come to you more frequently so that the pulse and rhythm of the college will be felt by everyone who has a stake in this college.

Generally 2009, has been a very successful year with great achievements. In the aca-demic arena we achieved a pass rate of 100% at FJC, 90% at FSLC and 97% at FSFE. To top it all 6 students were able to get to the MBBS program at the Fiji School of Medicine. Our strength definitely lies in our students. Two students received AUSAID and One student received FAB scholarship to do MBBS. Several of our students have joined reputable institu-tion in 2010.

As for the infrastructure developments, a massive upgrading was carried out in 2009 – 2010 to upgrade the Form 3 to Form 5 wing to give a very conducive learning environment to students. Furthermore our ambitious IT proj-ect should be completed well before Term II – so that students can access a different level of learning.

All innovations and improvement would not have been possible without the help of numer-ous individuals, companies, ex-students and friends (too many to name) who continually come and express their sincere desire to make a difference. At Swami Vivekananda College we feel your presence and definitely we are indebted and touched by your goodwill.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank the management for being very proactive in the running of the institution and I do sincerely hope that with the hard work of the editorial team of ‘The Awakener’ everyone associated with our college will be better informed about the College.

Mr Mahendra Singh

From the Principal From the Vice Principal From the Assist. PrincipalIt is with great pleasure I write this first com-munity newsletter as Acting Vice Principal of Swami Vivekananda College. I feel privileged to be serving here at this great institution.

Another year is flying by and when parents and students read this, we will have com-menced week 11 of the first term. Teachers are well into the key content for the term and for most subjects, the main assignment or assessment piece is underway. As Acting Vice Principal at the college, my work will be about ensuring a safe and productive learning environment where all students can achieve to their fullest potential. I firmly believe that it takes a whole village to raise a child. This means that the quality of the partnership be-tween the parents and guardians, the child, the local community and our school staff is the key to achieving the best possible for the students on their journey from form 3 to form 7. I see and feel a genuine community spirit at this college already, which has translated into outstanding results for students at form 4, form 6 and form 7 in 2009.

Finally to the parents, if your child is coming home saying that they have no homework, please contact their teachers. It is extremely rare that a student in the college will not have work that they should be completing in their time. This may be in the form of an assign-ment or study for an upcoming test, but to say that they have nothing is never correct. Students need to have developed an effec-tive study strategy that works for them. For some students, this may mean reading over their class notes, for others it may be rewrit-ing work from that day to assist in retaining this or for others it may mean organising what they have learnt into a mind map so they can see how it all fits together. Study that is not focused can often be ineffective, so it is not always the amount of study – quality and not always quantity. It is important that students have a clear goal so that there is a clear pur-pose to their study. This assists with motiva-tion and focus when the student may be feel-ing as though they had enough.

The college is very much committed in en-suring that the students get quality educa-tion. Lot of initiative have been shown by the management and staff in bringing a change in teaching and learning process. The college is more focused on outcome based learning.

I have a firm commitment to teaching and learning to ensure that students have genuine options and quality pathways at the comple-tion of their secondary schooling. I thank the students, parents and staff for your commit-ment towards the college and I look forward to working with you all to make this great col-lege even better.

Mr Rajesh Krishna

We must realize that Education is not only academic excellence but an integral part of it is co- curricular activities. For holistic devel-opment through which character is formed and strength of the mind is increased, there is a need for spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, aesthetic and physical develop-ment. To achieve this, a number of events were recorded on the calendar.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme - The col-lege has taken bee farming as one of the major projects in this scheme which is spon-sored by Vodafone.

Crime Stoppers - The team comprises of 2 members from each Form. The theme – Do the Right Thing when nobody is watching –in all efforts for a crime free, SVC. Awareness Programme – was organized by Nadi Police on 10/3/10.

Prophet Mohammed Celebration – guest speaker was Dr Mohd Yunush- highlighted on the life of the Prophet Mohammed (P BUH).

Holi Celebration- College Head girl spoke on the significance of Holi.

Youth Programme/Ram Naumi – There were special speakers from within the school to create awareness on these programmes.

First Aid- Club has been activated, first Aid Kits upgraded – Issuance of Medication (esp. panadol) to students who have paren-tal consent only.

OHS- has been meeting regularly. Risk areas have been identified and attended to so that SVC is OHS compliant.

I thank all the stakeholders for their contri-butions so far.

Mrs Sabra Hussein

Chief guest - Dr Mohd Yunush during Prophet Mohd-celebration

Police officer addressing students

Holi Celebration

College Manager presenting cake and certificate to the best form of the month - Form 7B

The SVC PTFA had not been functioning for some time. As a result, SVC PTFA meeting was held on Friday, 5th March, 2010 to revive the association so that PTFA can play an active and important role in providing quality education. Parents, ex-students, friends and well wishers were invited to attend this important meeting.

PTFA plays a vital role in the development of the institution. The effectiveness of the college depends largely on the quality of the partnership between its various individuals and groups. Showing mutual respect and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders is the key to developing and maintaining quality education.

An interim committee was formed to revive the PTFA. The newly appointed members will run the association for a year and then the election will be held next year. The following people were ap-pointed as office bearers and executive committee members:

President : Mr Hemant KumarVice President : Mr Harish RatanjiVice President : Mr Mahendra SinghVice President : Mr Girdhar RanigaSecretary : Mr Rajesh Krishna Assistant Secretary : Ms Ranjeeta RanigaTreasurer : Mr Ashwin NandhaAssistant Treasurer : Mrs Sabra Hussein

Members:

1. Mr Mesake Ledua 2. Mrs Devika Kumar3. Mr Livinai Paul4. Mr Etuate Bakanicewa5. Mr kavinesh Reddy

I, on behalf of the interim committee would like to thank all the parents, teachers and friends for your support and reposing faith in my team.

Mr Hemant Kumar

From the College Manager From the President, PTFA

6. Mr Shavneel Kumar7. Mrs Geeta Krishna 8. Mr Pravinesh Mudaliar 9. Mrs Sumitra Gounder10. Mr Pralad Krishna

On behalf of the Board of Management of the College I extend our warm greetings to all our friends, ex-students, well-wishers and Swami Viveka-nanda College family. I congratulate the College for taking this initiative of starting the Awakener through which the College can keep all stake-holders timely informed of its plans, activities and achievements. The College management has been very active in providing better facili-ties to the students and teachers so that they have a good teaching-learn-ing environment. Below is a report on the various projects:Completed: Since April last year, 23 classrooms have been renovated at a cost of about $180,000. The worn out wooden floors have overlaid with concrete floor; ventilation has been improved by replacing the fixed glass windows with louver blades and all the classrooms have been nicely painted. In Progress: The Home Economics Lab has been relocated and is under-going complete upgradation with the generous sponsorship of Courts Home Centre and Jacks of Fiji.We are in the final stages of completion of the much needed 30,000 litre bore-well water project with the generous funding by Water for Life Foundation.Starting Shortly: During the first term holidays we plan to complete the renovation of the remaining four classrooms and add two more comput-er labs. SVC Intranet Project: This is the next major project wherein technologies will be introduced for eLearning and eTeaching to keep up the 21st Cen-tury education. It will involve setting up an intranet with 250 computers connected to a powerful server which will allow all students to access a rich library of educational softwares relevant to their subjects such as English, Science, Mathematics etc. Teachers have been provided 16 computers in the staffroom. Multimedia projectors have been provided for teachers to use in classrooms. The project is expected to cost about $100,000. We request our friends, ex-students and well-wishers to come forward to support this pioneer initiative. More information will be pro-vided in the next issue and on the website.Website: The Ramakrishna Mission’s website www.rkmfiji.org will be launched shortly and will carry up-to-date information of the various activities and projects. It has a special feature for a database of our ex-students and provision of supporting the various projects by donating online.We invite all our friends, well-wishers and ex-students to join hands with us in the various developmental projects.

Swami Tadananda

Head prefects presenting a wellwishing card to the Assis-tant Principal on International Womens Day.

Parents & friends enjoying tea after the meeting

Basic science lab renovated

Geography lab renovated

PTFA Secretary addressing during the meetingOutgoing PTFA Secretary chairing the meeting

Department HighlightsStudent Council

Scholarships and Financial Assistance

PEMAC Department

The upcoming events for our department in this term are Athletics Zonal Meet at International Secondary School grounds in week 11 (Wednesday & Thursday). SVC is providing a dedicated team of athletes who will be participating in this competition. We are also building up our training for the Coca- Cola Games in the end of term 1.

Social Science Department

Social science Department organised religious and cultural events and commemorated Earth Hour. The earth Hour was observed in the school from 25th -26th of March.Awareness programmes were con-ducted by the form 5 Geography students. Also in the staffroom it was moved by the department to utilise plastic plates instead of paper plates for serv-ing during functions to minimise waste and conserve resources.

Home Economics Department

The Home Economics Department launched the ‘Eat Healthy and Stay Healthy’ programme to promote importance of healthy eating and good nutrition in school. Every Wednesday is declared fruit and water day

The College took the initiative to help students who were facing dif-ficulty with their fees this year. Sixty two students applied for assis-tance totaling $4740.So far we have been able to assist twenty nine students through generous donors listed below. However, we still need $2900 to help the remaining students.

Benefactor Address Amount # students

Dr Uma D. Sharma Nadi $500 10Bobby Raniga Nadi $500 10Sat Narain Nadi $200 5Nick Sharma NSW,Australia $500 5Hari K. Gounder Aucland,NZ $140 2

Furthermore, the Raymond Pillai Foundation Trust gave full scholar-ship to six form 3 students.

Our heartfelt gratitude to all the individuals, families and organiza-tions who have kindly contributed towards the education of children.

We are optimistic that this assistance will definitely boost student’s academic performance.

Mrs Sarojni Raj (Counsellor)

Prefects Investiture was held on 12th Febru-

ary. The Chief Guest for the occassion was

Mr Shaneel Sudhakar-CEO Info Systems.

There are 108 members in the student coun-

cil. 54 are form prefects and 54 are senior

prefects.

The student council has been working to

come up with a project which is useful to the

students. Ideas for the project have been

proposed by the members of the student

council and plans are being made on the se-

lection for the best project that is to be car-

ried out this year.

Best Form Of The Month Award

This Issue is Sponsored by:

February : Form 3E, 3F, 4F,5D,6A & 7B

March : Form 3B, 4E, 5A, 6D & 7B

Athletics Training

Water and Fruit Day

Prefect Investiture

International Womens Day

Head prefects - Kavita & Latchman taking the pledge

Chief guest - Mr Shaneel Sudhakar during prefectsinvestiture