FAQ

What are the age criteria for admissions?

The age criteria (as per CBSE norms) for admission to various classes are as below.

Class Born Between Age Between
NURSERY 1-04-2016 – 31-03-2017 3-4 Years
LKG 1-04-2015 – 31-03-2016 4-5 Years
UKG 1-04-2014 – 31-03-2015 5-6 Years
CLASS I 1-04-2013 – 31-03-2014 6-7 Years
CLASS II 1-04-2012 – 31-03-2013 7-8 Years
CLASS III 1-04-2011 – 31-03-2012 8-9 Years
CLASS IV 1-04-2010 – 31-03-2011 9-10 Years
CLASS V 1-04-2009 – 31-03-2010 10-11 Years
CLASS VI 1-04-2008 – 31-03-2009 11-12 Years
CLASS VII 1-04-2007 – 31-03-2008 12-13 Years
CLASS VIII 1-04-2006 – 31-03-2007 13-14 Years

How is the school unique and what are the areas that it focuses on which differs from the rest of the schools? OR What is unique about the school?

The school aims to provide quality education in an ideal environment with lush green campus and sports facilities to create the next-generation leaders with intelligence, personality and humanity.

The key points of difference are:

  • First Pvt. CBSE affiliated school of Dantewada, Bastar Region, based on quality parameters and CBSE Norms
  • Continuous Skill Enhancement Training for Teachers
  • Maximum of 35 students in each section
  • Professional Sports Curriculum for children from Grade Nursery onwards by Sportathon
  • ERP and Mobile supported communication with parents and data management
  • Digital learning spaces using projector and smart labs.
  • Mathematics Lab.
  • Day boarding/Residential
  • Professional training for Dance, Music and Yoga.
  • Bus facility with CCTV and GPS for real time monitoring
  • Ambulance to support the sick room in school campus

Who are the promoters of the School?

Arunodaya Public School, Dantewada is promoted and managed by Shree Laxmi Devi Trust with its registered office at Dantewada- Chhattisgarh. Shri. Agadhu Mahapatra, the Managing trustee, a noted and well known Teacher, now retired had dreamt off starting of a school for the children deprived of educational facilities and exposure just like in bigger cities/towns. He also runs a Gayatri Vidyapeeth school, since past 12 years, charging very nominal fees for children from all walks of life. He has successfully initiated the process of starting a Gayatri Mandir and Trust in Dantewada in early 80s with great difficulty and without any monetary support for the upliftment of the deprived people of this region through social work and other out reach programs. He is active in regular school policy and decision making processes and handed over daily operations and affairs into the hands of his younger son, who fits well into his ideology and thinking.

Why should I choose the school for my child?

APS believes in three key elements that is

  • TO Read
  • TO Lead
  • TO Succeed

We believe that a child deserves the most fertile ground to grow. At APS, we work with you to sow the seeds of success in your child in a safe and friendly environment. We seed within the students the values of compassion, truth, love and respect for our culture and heritage. We teach them to be academically excelled, holistic persons with a scientific temper in an environment of caring and sharing.

How different is CBSE curriculum from ICSE course?

  • Regular curriculum updation and support system
  • CBSE has more schools in the country than ICSE.
  • CBSE has fewer syllabuses compared to ICSE. Sixth grade ICSE students will face 12-13 subjects in examinations while CBSE students will face only on 5-6 subjects in examinations.
  • CBSE board helps more in engineering and medical field
  • CBSE focuses more on Mathematics and science.
  • CBSE has more Scholarships and talent search exams and ICSE has got less numbers of scholarship exams.
  • All major competitive examinations in India are based on the CBSE syllabus. (IIT-JEE – Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination, AIEEE – All India Engineering Entrance Examination, NEET – National Eligibility cum Entrance Test).
  • A certificate from the Central Board of Education is recognized throughout the country, in all colleges and academic centers. The syllabus is more application based under CBSE, as the board follows a concentric curriculum.

What is special about the CBSE curriculum?

  • Completion of syllabus is not the focus but conceptual understanding is the focus
  • Personality of the learner developed
  • Rote learning is avoided, experiential learning is adopted
  • Learning is through activities. Learning is not for facts and knowledge but for life
  • Attitudes and skills inculcated through activities
  • Learning through cooperation and sharing
  • Projects involving society included
  • Fieldtrips, guest speakers, theme & activity based teaching used
  • Child is involved in the process of learning
  • Creative teaching techniques used
  • Individual attention provided to child
  • Differentiated instruction plan based on child’s abilities
  • No tuition needed unless child has learning difficulties
  • Counseling and reinforcement strategies used
  • Extra attention is given to the slow learners
  • Regular interaction with the parents so as keep the parents informed regularly

Do you ensure the strength of the class conducive to learning?

We strictly restrict the class size up to 30 from Grade Nursery to KG II and up to 40 for higher classes, as per CBSE mandates on class strength

Do we have to pay any donations?

No, donations and recommendations are not accepted.

Whether transport facility is available?

Yes, transport is available from all the areas in a radius of 40 kms of school campus to areas decided by the school management.

Do we have hostel facility?

The school is starting with Hostel facility for Boys only from Session 2020 onwards for student from Grade IV onwards.

What is my role as a parent?

Parents play a vital role in child’s learning experience at the school. The success of your child and their future greatly depends on the support that they receive from you and the school.
Parents have to actively support and encourage their child by attending their sports activities, events and other school programs. They have to actively participate in monthly meetings and communicate regularly with your child’s ‘House In-charge’ regarding his/her progress.

How would the school prepare students for the academic programs as they are coming from different school?

A common bridge course would be developed and prepared which will address and connect the prior knowledge to the concepts to be learnt for the year. The bridge course will be administered through hands on activities; worksheets, concept maps based on the need and the competing level of the child for the first term. The bridge course would also address the different skills required for the class. A special course would be conducted to develop English language focusing on the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. Your child would be able to smoothly integrate and will be at home within the first week of his/her start.

How many examinations and unit test would be conducted in the school?

The schools does not conduct any formal exams for the classes Nursery to KG – II. However the teachers evaluate the students through various tools and techniques and hence ensures for their overall development. For the students of higher classes, Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) is done through formative assessments and summative assessments. Apart from these worksheets, projects are done to assess the students. Other methods of assessments are observation schedules; check lists, anecdotal records, classroom participation, class notes and home works.

What would be the working schedule of the school? Is Saturday a working day or not?

Timings for Nursery, KG-I and KG-II will be Monday to Saturday – 8:50 am to 12:30 pm.
Timings for Grade I – IX will be Monday to Saturday – 8:50 am – 2:50 pm. Second Saturday will be a holiday.

What are the clubs being offered by the school?

Co-curricular activities will be offered according to the prescribed timetable. The clubs that will be offered are mentioned below. Going further, depending on the participation and interest of every child, we will add more clubs and activities.

  • Gardening club
  • Music club
  • Dance club
  • Theatre
  • Adventure club
  • Eco club- explore your environment
  • Art club
  • G.K. club
  • Personality development club
  • Creative writing club
  • Science club
  • Mathematics club
  • Teacher’s club

Which textbooks would the school follow?

Textbooks of private publications are followed up to middle school level and NCERT textbooks at senior school level.
The curriculum framework adopted by school is NCF 2005 (National Curriculum Framework). The curriculum helps students to develop creative thinking skills, effective communication skills, interpersonal and collaborative skills.

  • Learner centered approach
  • Based on Indian culture
  • Focus on developing values
  • Equal emphasis on academics, sports and life skills
  • Activity based teaching is adopted
  • Textbook is only a guide – we go beyond the textbook
  • Relate concepts to real life
  • Multiple Intelligence based lessons
  • Out of classroom learning – field trips, community surveys, achiever meets
  • Worksheets
  • Student mentoring
  • Teacher mentoring
  • Continuous professional development for teachers
  • Independent learning skills inculcate among learners
  • Various activities and competition like recitation, elocution, debate etc.
  • Continuous assessment through oral & written assignments
  • Financial literacy

How is this curriculum different and what is special about it?

  • Completion of syllabus is not the focus but conceptual understanding is the focus
  • Personality of the learner developed
  • Rote learning- learning by rote avoided, Experiential learning is adopted
  • Learning is through activities. Learning is not for facts and knowledge but for life
  • Attitudes and skills inculcated through activities
  • Learning through co-operation and sharing
  • Projects involving society included
  • Field trips, guest speakers, theme & activity based teaching used
  • Child is involved in the process of learning
  • Creative teaching techniques used
  • Individual attention provided to child
  • Differentiated instruction plan based on child’s abilities
  • No tuition needed unless child has learning difficulties
  • Counseling and reinforcement strategies used
  • Extra attention is given to the slow learners
  • Regular interactions with the parents to keep them informed regularly

What is stress-free environment?

The school strongly believes that stress free environment is must for kids in order to develop creative learning, allow young minds to get complete freedom. We do not tolerate physical, verbal abuse or any form of body language that threatens the child’s mental state.

What does school do if a child misbehaves? What if the child has constant behavior problems?

  • School discipline is based on catch them right. (that is setting some ground rules for classrooms, corridors, cafeteria etc. and correct the child as and when he/she is found violating the rules)
  • Peer group Counseling, preventive action
  • Personal meetings to discuss disciplinary issues
  • Student leaders would enforce discipline
  • Classes will not be left unattended
  • Even lunch and games period would be monitored
  • Parent’s will be notified and counseling will be done in parent/guardian presence
  • Levels of discipline – warning, written complaint and finally suspension for three days.
  • Values are not only taught but also demonstrated and teachers demonstrate values by being role models
  • The mentor of the school has a counseling session with the child to know the root cause & then come out with the solution
  • We strongly believe in “No corporal punishment” (that is beating, kneel down or stand up for a long, etc.)
  • No mass punishment Self-esteem of the child is not destroyed

Does school offer any kind of extra-curricular activities/such as music/dance/sports/school newspaper/ drama club etc.? How is this integrated with timetable?

The school would offer the following extracurricular activities

Pre-primary – Nursery- KG-II have activities for development of different skills like gross motor, fine motor, cognitive and social. Phonics development plays a pre-dominant role and thus various activities are introduced for the development.
Grade-I – V – have activities integrated with the timetable. Art & craft, music, dance, phonics, story telling, and reading programs has been developed and is handled by the teacher with giving proper demonstration.
Grade VI – Instead of phonics we offer story-telling and reading program for the skill development. Newspaper in education could be introduced, if not there. Life-skills are a must at the higher level. Periods are allotted for inculcating the values within the students.
GK Program from Grey Caps, Bangalore is yet another important program to develop the knowledge of the students from different grades
Edusports is introduced for the students, which will nurture the student’s love and passion for Sports. Students will be keen to take part in various indoor and outdoor sports.

What is Sportathon and what are its additional features?

Sportathon works with schools to implement a best-in-class Physical Education & Sports program. The program is designed to offer the same rigor in sports and physical education as in academics. This ensures that the children learn holistically through physical activity and sports in addition to helping children improve their health and fitness levels dramatically.
Arunodaya Public International School offers, for Preprimary Children, Primary school program through Sportathon platform, India’s most trusted integrated school sports and physical education program.

If my child is not able to cope up with the school's academics, what support are you going to provide to my child.?

Diagnostic tests are conducted to understand the level of the child in each of the topics. Extra worksheets are provided to revise the concept. Remedial excellence classes would be organized to help the gifted and below average learner. Study skills, remedial teaching for students with learning disability would be conducted.

What are 'Activity Based Learning', 'Multiple Intelligence' and 'Experiential Learning'?

Activity Based Learning is unique and effective way of inducing learning amongst the students through various interesting activities. Activity Based Learning includes increased attendance, growth in self-reliance and increased interest towards learning. Activity Based Learning creates opportunities to develop complex skills, such as higher-order thinking, problem-collaborating and communicating.
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences suggests that there are eight basic intelligences, which are present in every human being, namely:

  • Interpersonal
  • Intrapersonal
  • Linguistic
  • Logical-Mathematical
  • Naturalist
  • Spatial
  • Bodily-Kinesthetic
  • Musical

Learning takes through these eight intelligence skills. The Multiple Intelligence states that the intelligence level of students vary and so is their learning capacity. MI has empowered every student to specialize and excel in at least one area.
Experiential Learning leads to affective learning around such themes as self-confidence, social competencies, judgement and decision-making. Experiential learning encourages self-responsible learning, constructive discussion and cooperative problem solving. Also it ensures that each student learns the subject in a variety of different ways.

Are the classrooms air conditioned, if not why?

The classrooms are not air-conditioned. It has been scientifically established that presence of air conditioner harms the students in terms of variation in body temperature caused by movement of students from classrooms to outdoors. Also, the acclimatization of student’s body temperature to A.C. environment is not suitable in long term.

How teachers are selected / recruited?

Teachers undergo recruitment procedure in 4 rounds before they are finally selected. The first round of interview is the telephonic interview. The second phase of interview is the personal interview & written test and then the teachers face the final round of interview where the teacher is required to give a class demonstration and based on all these things they are finalized. The teachers are intimated by the H.R. Dept. Various rounds of the Interview are conducted to ensure selection of competent teachers.

What training is given to the teachers?

As the teachers join the institute, induction-training program is given to them in order to make them acquainted with school’s culture and vision. In between the session, training is provided on regular intervals on various modules such as:

  • Induction Training
  • Class Management and Classroom Management
  • Evaluation strategy for children
  • Effective teaching pedagogies
  • Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
  • Handling the parents
  • Empowering teachers with leadership skills.

Apart from in-house training, teachers are also sent for external modules such as ELT (English language training).

What is Montessori and Play - way method?

Montessori Method is an educational approach to children based on the research and experiences of Italian physician and educator, Dr. Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori’s philosophy valued children and suggested various ways and means to be introduced in teaching method like storytelling, involvement of play Play-way method of teaching, activities for development of different skills, table manners, recitation etc. The main objective of Play-way method is to teach the students through various play techniques, activities and field trips etc.

Do students get their own textbook and if so, can they take their books home?

For the younger grade since the H.W is taken care by the teachers in school as a result of which, they are allowed to take textbooks and notebooks once in a week or the files, so that the parents are well aware about the progress of their children. In case of the higher students, they can take the subjects textbooks and notebooks home as per the requirement.

What is this school approach to student's discipline and safety?

Child is our responsibility till he/she is in school. School buses have adequate safety measures. Our teachers are there in buses with the students to keep a strict watch on the progress of his/her child.

How does this school support students who have academic, social or emotional difficulties?

Trained mentor, special educator and all teachers are trained in identifying and managing learning disabilities. Resource room would be established for teachers and accordingly counseling session will be taken to bring these students to a higher level.

What strategies are used to teach students who are not fluent in English?

Teaching is in English and learners will pick up the nuances of the language. In addition to main library, a digital library is being planned with lot of articles/books that mainly focus on English grammar and fluency. English language lab is used as a tool to enrich the child’s fluency in English.

Does the school organize any events for the parents and children?

The school conducts parent’s workshop, seminar, and open house events for the parents along with Annual sports day, Annual cultural day, summer camps, winter camps, Inter school competitions and Adventures camps for the Children as well.

How is the progress measured?

The school maintains class and activity records of each student to measure the progress. The worksheets, grading for all class activities, report cards, and emails inform parents of their child’s progress. Grade wise meetings are called and parents are informed. Student portfolio is maintained. A student profile is created at the time of admission and each month it is updated with subjective records.

What is your evaluation system?

Formative, Summative grading and marks, unit test, exams and classroom observation and term end exams. Also stress about continuous evaluation of the student through CCE.

When will the school be affiliated to CBSE?

The School is already affiliated to CBSE, upto Secondary levels. Fresh application for Sr. Secondary level is due in the Academic session 2021-22.

What would be the role of sports and extracurricular activities in the school be?

Equal emphasis is given on academics, sports and co-curricular activities. Focus on the CCE, which stresses on both the scholastic and co-scholastic development of the child by indulging him/her in both areas. While telling about the scholastic and co-scholastic aspect give importance about how the overall personality of the student is polished and nourished as they focus on both the segments i.e. scholastic and co-scholastic.

What are the unique points of schools?

We are different from other schools in many ways, be it teaching, coaching, mentoring, sports co and extracurricular activities etc. Some of the unique points about school are:

  • Smart Classrooms
  • Wi-Fi & Multimedia
  • Sportathon
  • Arts Studio
  • Music and Dance Studio
  • Foreign Language- German
  • Composite Lab
  • Math Lab
  • Library
  • Indoor Sports Complex
  • Residential Facility
  • Day Boarding Facility