‘Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better!’

Swimming is an individual or team sport that is also a moving meditation. For preparing the children for the future and for instilling the spirit of competitive swimming, St. Xavier’s High School, Gurugram organized an inter house swimming competition for the students of grade V-X.

The top swimmers of all four houses retreated into the changing rooms to prepare for their share in bringing their Houses glory. Swimmers dove into the inviting water and speedily made their way through the length of the pool. The clappers and splashes echoed throughout the swimming pool with enthusiastic swimmers diving in and climbing out of the pool.

Amongst the boys, in the junior category, the final match was played between St. Raphael House and St. Patrick House and amongst the girls it was between St. Patrick House and St. Michael House.

There pool area could witness the glimpses of true sportsmanship and to were moments of Swimming emerged as a competitive recreational activity 

The cut throat competition was applauded by all and the winner teams and the participating teams were cheered by the staff and students. For developing the personality and for nurturing every aspect of the student’s lives, it was indeed a great initiative.

“When we loose an animal species to extinction, we lose part of our family.”

An interactive bulletin board activity based on endangered and extinct birds and animals was organised for Grade III children. They were supposed to research about the extinct and endangered birds and animals of various regions of the world such as India, Australia, Russia, Africa etc. They pinned the pictures of the endangered species on the world map displayed on the bulletin board. This activity helped them in generating awareness about the endangered species along with the ways & means to protect them.

‘Festivals are characterised by colour, gaiety, enthusiasm, prayers and rituals!’

On August 30, 2018, St. Xavier’s High School, Gurugram, celebrated Lord Kirshna’s birthday with all passion and zeal during the special assembly conducted by class VI B.

 The assembly began by seeking Lord’s blessings. National and international happenings of the day were presented by the students. Students recited a poem talking about the story of the birth of Lord Krishna and how he became the child of Vasudev and Yashoda.The children showcased a historical context about Lord Krishna through a skit.Some girls dressed as Gopikas along with Kushagra dressed as Lord Krishna showcased the Raas Leela by enacting the scene with a human pyramid! The audience were enlightened about how the festival is celebrated with pomp and gaiety all over India. This was followed with the recitation of some principles given by Lord Krishna from Bhagawad Gita in Hindi and English respectively. Not only this, the melodious bhajan sung by the choir, added solemnity to the occasion.

 The assembly was very well organised and managed by the students of the class under the guidance of their class teacher. The school principal and middle school Head-Mistress applauded the children’s efforts and congratulated them on putting up such a fabulous performance. It was indeed one spectacular show!

“Every child is an artist”- By PABLO PICASSO.

Keeping this in mind and to explore the creative potential of the young minds of our grade V children, an inter- class origami making competition was conducted on 20/8/18 at St. Xavier’s High School Gurugram. The theme of the activity was “Birds and Animals of India, Russia, Africa and .

The children showcased their creative skills in origami making and came up with amazing art work. The children from fifth grade passed on the message to save wild life. They also depicted to save natural world. Each of these origami were done so beautifully and diligently by the children, it was a treat to the eyes.

The criteria for the judgement were creativity, presentation, neatness and relevance to the theme.

“Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help shall they be saved”

To help children “Value and Appreciate Nature” a “FANCY DRESS COMPETITION” based on extinct and endangered birds and animals was conducted for the students of Grade I on Thursday, 23^rd August ‘2018. Students were dressed up as various endangered and extinct birds and animals pertaining to FRANCE, MEXICO, ITALY, RUSSIA and INDIA. This was followed by briefing given by the Class Teachers regarding the need to save animals from getting endangered and extinct, followed by a power point presentation on the same. To make the learning fun, students were divided into various groups depicting the countries. Each group had to present the respective countries wildlife culture. This helped build spirit of working together as a team as well as a fun atmosphere further helping the learning. They got to know about various endangered animals and the animals that are on the verge of getting extinct. Overall the activity was not only thoroughly enjoyed but also served as a great learning tool for students.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”                                                                                                             -  Mahatma Gandhi

 The students of St. Xaviers High School staged a rally on ‘Endangered Animals’ on September 8,2018. Their concerted efforts echoed down at the Good Earth City Centre spreading the message to protect, conserve and be sensitive towards the animals that are on the verge of extinction. The placards held aloft by students focused on the slogans ‘Save animals, Shoot animals with cameras- not with guns, don’t cage the animals cage the cruelty,etc.This experience was meant to awaken students and society at large for paying their due concerns for the animal species such as-  ‘The Indian Tiger,Dolphin, Shanghai Deer, Rhino, Panda etc. and how they play a phenomenal role in maintaining the ecological balance.

Nearly ninety students participated in the rally with full enthusiasm and fervor, captivating and spelling binding the localites through their vivid enactments, slogan shouting and with huge banners on display. Students entered into several commercial centers to promote the noble cause and enthralled the spectators with their magnanimous appeal.

“Feelings are like waves, you can’t stop them from coming, but you can decide which ones to surf”

In continuation to efforts of making our students happy and emotionally powerful, St. Xavier’s High School, Gurgaon horganized an interactive workshop for students of Grade VII to X on the topic “Managing Emotions” on 16^th August and 20^th August, 2018 in different sessions by School Counselor Ms. Manpreet Sandhu.

Emotional skills are one of the core components of learning about life skills. It is also proven by research that IQ alone is not crucial to be successful, large part of the credit goes to Emotional Quotient too. Emotional management is about how our thoughts, feelings and behaviour impact one another. One cannot control one’s emotions, but with awareness, one can decide how long they experience them and how much they can impact their actions. With the help of various activities school counsellor discussed about different triggers to their emotional reactions. She also discussed about ‘Emotional Hijacking’ which means that we feel before we think. In order to think rationally and respond rather than react emotionally, one needs to allow the information to reach the rest of the brain. One can do this by becoming aware of their emotional triggers and learning to take a moment before reacting. These skills are the key components of  Emotional Intelligence. She also threw light on different ways to manage emotions. She also had a relaxation session with the students and taught them breathing exercises to become calm and relaxed. She ended up workshop with a beautiful thought “Happiness doesn’t depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on what you think”.

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

An informative and thought-provoking assembly on the topic” Conservation of Endangered Wildlife” was conducted in lieu of creating an awareness among the children to save the endangered species of wildlife. A well connected skit depicting the importance of wildlife and how to save its endangered species was presented by students of class III followed by a melodious group song and scintillating dance performance. The children performed brilliantly with great enthusiasm and concern leaving everyone mesmerized.It was an immense pleasure watching these little performers.

‘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.Theirart work accompanied was 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 a lot of 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.

 ‘Xavenium’ – the Inter School Fest-A-Fiesta began with great zeal and enthusiasm at St. Xavier’s High School, Sector 49. Over 1500 students from 27 schools across the city participated in the event making it a grand success. Spread over 4 days, Tuesday 7^Th August to Friday, 10^th August, Xavenium kick started with the lighting of lamp by the school directors Mr. Mohit Sachdeva, Mr.Tarun Sachdeva, Principal Mr Stanley Anthony and Head Mistress Ms Nikieta Baheti.

The competitions based on the theme ‘Around the World’, were dealt beautifully and creatively by the students of Class KG, Grade I, Grade II, Grade III and Grade IV.

From Footloose to Soul Singing, Art Attack to Craft Attack, Little Voice to Speech Craft, Acting to Mime Time and Fitness to Fun in the Sun, children were given numerous opportunities to perform in their favourite category. Students and teachers of the various schools gave their best to take home the mementoes. The competitions were neck to neck, giving the judges a tough time to evaluate the performances.

The overall big beautiful trophy of Xavenium 2018-19 was bagged by Blue Bells Model and Preparatory School.

After nourishment, shelter and companionship stories are the things we need the most in the world. To sensitize the students, and to make them think search about the conditions responsible for the extinction of various birds and animals, on August 6, 2018, a ‘Talktale’ competition was organized for the students of grade II, III and IV wherein the students were asked to make hand puppets of any two extinct animals/birds of the allotted countries from India, Russia, Australia, Africa and present a conversation between the two discussing about the story behind their extinction. Students enjoyed the competition thoroughly and presented beautiful puppets and narrated amazing tales.

 “Creativity is intelligence having fun”.

We are all creative beings and when being given time to spread creative wings the results are beyond imagination. It is a Xavier tradition to make learning fun whether it is academics or holiday homework. Every year the school plans creative holiday homework to help students indulge in research work which is not only innovatively engages them during vacation but also benefits them in exploring an unknown field.

This year various themes being chosen were “Respecting Elders, Saving Earth from Plastic, Save Food, Save Planet Earth.”

Students were creatively engaged in learning by making magazines, T-Shirts, pamphlets, jute folders, projects which were well displayed in the annual holiday homework exhibition “Avant Garde 2018.” The hard work put in by the students for completing their holiday homework could not have got a better acknowledgement. The school arena where the colourful and diligently done work was displayed came alive with the creativity and exuberance involved in their work. The exhibition was inaugurated by the school principal Mr. Stanley Anthony in the presence of the parents and the teachers. Students felt overjoyed and motivated to see their work beautifully displayed and well applauded by everyone. The idea of education is to bring out the creative domain of a students and when students are involved , wherein they arenot only benefitted academically but doing wornders in co-scholastic domains also.

“One’s  task regarding creativity is to help the children climb their mountains as high as possible.”

“Competing at the highest level is not about winning. It’s about preparation, courage, understanding and nurturing your people, and heart. Winning is the result.” —Joe Torre

Competitions offer a chance for the participants to achieve extensive knowledge, showcase expertise, evaluate upshots and uncover personal propensity. Keeping the spirit high, on August 1, 2018, 15 Xavierians from grade V-X participated in the Inter School Mathematics Competition – ‘Mathematika – 2018’ in St. Angel’s Senior Secondary School, Gurgaon. The event was a good learning experience as the motive of the competition was to enable the students to understand the basic elements of the subject.

The innovation and creativity of the youngmathematicians was well evident as they brought out the forgotten usage of the subject in our daily life and every step. The students brought laurels to the school by bagging the ‘Overall WinnersTrophy’ and their exhibits were applauded by all.

Out of the box models, worth a praise supporting charts and commendable confidence not only showcased their exceptional talent, rather the exposure gave the students immense confidence and buoyancy.

There is nothing on the Earth more to be prized than true friendship. Many people will walk in and out of our lives, but only true friends will leave footprints onour hearts. Such is the beauty of friendship which is a very valuable phase in every student’s life.

On August 2, 2018, Xavierians of grade VII B presented a fabulous assembly on the theme‘Friendship’. The assembly began by seeking the Lord’s blessings followed by an exuberant welcome by the energetic anchors.  Music is often referred as the food for life and when it is symphonically sung it adds charm to the air. With the foot tapping music, the students presented an amazing band performance which filled the area with fragrance and sparkling beauty of friendship. The young Xavierians even enacted short stories. The theme of the stories focussed on never giving up spirit on each other in friendship and to overlook the broken fences and admire the flowers i.e. the friends! The performance was applauded by the audience with a thunderous clap. The assembly was indeed very well organised and managed by the students of the class under the guidance of their class teacher.

It was yet another moment of pride as Ms. Tatiana Perova, Acting Director for Russian Centre for Science & Culture was invited for the special assembly. The long saga of Indo-Russian friendship was sung as the students spoke high about the long association of the countries benefitting each other. The bond of the friendship was celebrated as the students tied friendship bands to the Russian Guests.

The school principal and middle school Head-Mistress applauded the children’s efforts and congratulated them on putting up such a fabulous performance. It was worth inspiring to carry forward the true bond of friendship.