A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit – Richard Bach

On the topic, How do Polls Work?, an essay writing competition was organised for the students of grade VII.

Someone has rightly said, ‘Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.’

The essays were judged on the basis of the content, creativity, student’s vocabulary and overall presentation. The purpose of the competition was to encourage the students to enhance their thinking and writing skills.

“While most are dreaming of success, winners wake-up and work hard to achieve it” – Swami Vivekananda

It was indeed a day full of pride for St. Xavier’s High School, Gurgaon as prize winners of the Academic Session (2017-18) were awarded as Scholars for their sheer dedication and untiring hard-work to bring laurels to school.

Mr Ashish Kapoor, Rhodes scholar-Oxford University, Chairman Erricson Asia was the chief guest for the ceremony. The school management comprising of the Director- Mr. Mohit Sachdeva, Principal – Mr. Nicholas Gomes, Headmistresses – Ms. Nikieta Baheti and Ms. Geeta Kanwar were present to grace the occasion. Parents of the scholars of Grade I to 9, Academic Session (2017-18) were also invited to encourage the scholars.

The ceremony was inaugurated by auspicious lamp lighting by the chief guest accompanied by the school management followed by an enchanting melody by the School Choir. To begin with the prize distribution, 100% attendance award was given followed by the Scholar Awards of the Academic prize winners of the respective grades.

The occasion was made memorable by the captivating performance presented by Xavierians of grade 3 and 4 with an incredible fusion dance and melodious songs.

The closure of the ceremony was done by a vote of thanks from the school headmistress – Ms. Nikieta Baheti followed by the School Song.

St. Xavier‘s High School, Gurugram  had conducted a cross word competition on the topic ‘The Constitutional  Hierarchy of  India’ for the students of grade Vlll and lX on 11^th May 2018. The main objective of the competition was to make students learn and understand the importance of the Indian constitution, features of the constitution, three organs of the government (Legislature Executive and Judiciary),  the provisions of the Indian constitution taken from other countries and an order of precedence of the Republic of India  for the state for ceremonial purposes. A brief hand out on the topic was given to the students and also was discussed in the class. On 11^th May a Crossword competition was conducted on the basis of the given hand out. Students participated with great zeal and enthusiasm.  The main idea behind the competition was to make students learn about the topic through logical methodology and competitive spirit.

The 157th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate and poet Rabindra Nath Tagore was celebrated on Thursday 10^th May, 2018 in  St. Xavier's High School, Gurgaon. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was a great soul, who not only illumined the time he lived in, but continues to remain an inspiration for humanity

Students of class IX-A were at their artistic best to mark the birth anniversary and pay homage to Gurudev RabindraNath Tagore. A columnist, editor, writer, dramatist, novelist and a painter, a true genius, Tagore was born in Kolkata.

The assembly started by sharing inspiring thought quoted by Tagore. This was followed by the recitation of Bengali rendition and English translation of his famous poem “Where the mind is without fear”.  In the poem, Tagore imagines a place wherein people are allowed to thrive, free from yolk of fear and stratification.

The students also performed a skit based on most loved story of Tagore, “Kabuliwalla.” The story is tender, a friendship based on the Kabuliwala’s love for his own little daughter whom he leaves behind in Kabul, and the novelist's little daughter to whom he gives the love he feels for his own child. This was beautifully depicted by the students of class IX- A.

The morning assembly came to an end with a group dance on Tagore’s Ekla Chalo Rey. It was mesmerizing performance which was choreographed by the Dance Teacher.  The whole programme was a wonderful experience for all of the students, teachers and Principal Sir.

Wearing pretty dresses and beautiful smiles, mothers of the children of the Pre-Primary wing of St. Xavier’s High School, walked in the classes to celebrate Mother’s Day with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm.

The classes looked attractive and welcoming with colourful decorations and selfie frames hung in the corner.

Mommies with their little ones created innovative sceneries, objects and other lovely things. The children gifted cards and trophies to their mothers to show their love and respect for them. The click of cameras and laughter filled up the classrooms as the mothers left waiting to come back the next year.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” 
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hence to this point school plays a pivotal role in creating the awareness for the same .A unique way to spread valuable messages on sensitive topics, the students of grade VI th St. Xavier’s High School came up with a Nukkad Natak which was showcased on 4^th May, 2018 at prominent locations. Their topic was the importance of casting a vote. Your vote is your voice. The students not only overzealously performed the street play but through this they very convincingly conveyed their message.

The main idea behind this play was to create awareness. While there are some who genuinely cast their vote, many people sit back and relax on voting day, and others are cajoled into voting for particular candidates. The importance of voting is lost amongst the hustle and bustle of city life. While everyone sits and complains about this and that, and makes suggestions that the government should change, the elections come and go without half the population paying attention. After 69 years of Independence, India has not proved itself to have control and order. The fault lies with both the leaders and the people. People are driven by religious beliefs rather than what is good for the country. We should choose that which drives the country forward, while still upholding the Indian tradition. But politics is wound up in frivolous matters rather than paying more attention to uplifting the poor, helping the aged, education, water, preserving the environment, agriculture, roads, planned urban development, and so on.

The impressive performance of the children was well received by the parents who supported their children by being in the audience in the early hours. The onlookers stopped their vehicles and even complimented their performances.

 St. Xavier’s High School, Gurgaon organized a wonderful workshop on the topic ‘Being Assertive But Kind for the students of Grade III on 1^st May & 3^rd May, 2018 to enhance social skills amongst students and as a part of School Counselling Program. The Workshop was conducted by our School Counsellor Ms Manpreet Sandhu.

The workshop aimed to facilitate awareness on the importance of communication skills and working with others effectively. Students were taught the difference between assertive, aggressive and passive behaviour and how our behaviour can affect our relationships.The workshop was conducted in an activity-based mode & through role playing activities. These activities were intensive and required proactive participation from all students. Real life situations from the perspective of students were taken into consideration, at some point dissected, and understood through a broader spectrum. It was an enriching experience for students with an effective message. ‘To be passive is to let others decide for you. To be aggressive is to decide for others. To be assertive is to decide for yourself’.

On May 2, 2018, a Flags and Banners activity was organised for the students of grades VI, VI and VII wherein the students made the flags and banners of India, Nepal, Pakistan, France. Very enthusiastically, they made the flags and banners in their Art & Craft class and these will be used in the Investiture ceremony which will be held on May 17, 2018.

A cook book designing competition was organized by St. Xavier’s High School on April 25, 2018 for Grade V students. The event started at 8:00 a.m. The students participated with immense zeal and enthusiasm and made very beautiful cook books. It was a great opportunity to watch these young minds to create their ideas on paper. The event reflected the vision of the school of nurturing and encouraging constant learning through competitions, thereby developing the skills and competencies its students and preparing them as future citizens. Italy, Russia, Mexico, France and India were the countries allocated to the children and they were asked to present two dishes mentioning their recipes, ingredients and nutritional value. The types of recipes, the layout and the overall designs of all the cook books were very impressive. Children thoroughly enjoyed the activity and were very happy presenting their self made cookbooks.

‘Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and thereby producing the most extraordinary results in human culture.’

A poster making competition was organized by St. Xavier’s High School on April 20, 2018 for grades III - VI. The main objective of the event was to bring to limelight the hidden talent of the students. Although, the students showed their extraordinary skills through the form of art, however, they expressed their feelings in the form of paintings and sketches. There was 100% participation and the students performed exceedingly well. Their art work accompanied with relative captions and slogans.

As Aristotle believed, to bring any change we must train young minds. So was the idea for this competition and we got an overwhelming response. As creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way in the same way the young Xavierians came up with lot many beautiful designs and patterns highlighting the theme ‘Save Food’. These striking posters touched on the biggest concern of the mankind and the slogans even highlighted a lot of solutions for the same. The competition was really enjoyed by all the students.