|
‘I Want the Best for My Child’ – A Parent
"I have been here a few times because I want the best for my child. I know that at this school she will receive spiritual education as well as academic." This is what the parents of one tiny-tot who visited the Sathya Sai School Leicester on its first open day said.
"Although our child is too young, we want to give him the best all round education; that's why we came here," said another parent when asked what motivated them to visit the Sathya Sai School. What was a tiny bud is now a beautiful flower attracting streams of parents every year.
This was very evident recently on the 24th of June 2006 when the School held its first Open Day. So many parents and children visiting the school so enthusiastically to see the facilities and ambience with little or no publicity, is itself testimony to the wonderful service being offered at this ‘school with a difference’. So what is so unique about this school? How did it start in the first place? |
|
|
| |
|
Learning with love |
|
|
The Sri Sathya Sai School Leicester was established under the auspices of the Sri Sathya Sai Service Organization, UK, by Mrs. Usha Lim, current head teacher, and her husband Cheng Hoe Lim, in September 2001 as a non-denominational independent school providing primary education. The curriculum is based on Sathya Sai Education in Human Values and currently it has 37 pupils, of which some 50% are from Sai families, and four teachers. The Sai Organisation established another school on the same lines at St. Andrews, Scotland in 2002.
Praise from the UK Schools’ Inspectorate
The Leicester School is managed by a Board of Governors, in line with the requirements set out in “Sai 2000” and received its full inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) for England. In its full report, published on November 23, 2004, Ofsted concluded:
“This is a distinctive school that is successful in achieving its aims. It provides a secure spiritual environment in which pupils can learn and make good progress. It is permeated by the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) programme which is based on the five values of right conduct, truth, love, non-violence and peace. The welfare, health and safety of pupils are well promoted. |
Pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum. They feel valued as individuals, well supported and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. Teaching is mainly good or very good. Parents are very supportive of the school.”
The Parents are Impressed
What is more heartening are the responses from the parents of the current students. “We feel very lucky that our children are students at the school. They look forward to school and since starting both children have blossomed academically, physically, spiritually and in confidence,” say the parents of two children enrolled in the school. Another parent remarked, “My son started only six weeks ago. He had been going through behavioral problems which we found requires a lot of time and energy, but within this short space of time he has blossomed into a lovely, well-mannered boy.”
|
|
|
One current in all! |
|
Learning can be fun! |
So it was no wonder that on the Open Day of the school many new parents were keen to look at the whole school and speak to the staff. The good news of the school has reached them through their friends and neighbours and this was evident by the number of parents and children who attended on the Open Day from 10 am to 4 pm. "We came today to see this school because we have heard so much about it from our friends whose children come here. Our neighbor’s son who joined this school just a few months age has changed so much," said the one of the parents holding their little one by his hand.
"Our friends' children come here, and when we saw the changes in them we wanted the same for our children." This was the kind of common refrain that most of the parents echoed. "My child is very hyper and I'm hoping that by coming here she'll change, just as another child we know has changed after he joined Sathya Sai School," said the parents of another tiny-tot.
|
|
|
Impressed with the school ambience |
|
...and such wonderful facilites |
There were others who found in the school the culmination of the search for ‘their kind of school’. For example, one couple said, "We follow the saint Shankaracharya's teachings and we haven't sent our child to school yet because we were looking for a spiritual school. Then we heard about this school and decided to come and see it."
A Beacon of Light
Wherever there is purity of purpose and a passion to serve selflessly, unmindful of personal sacrifices, with every act an offering to the Divine, such institutions become true beacons of light. And light needs no publicity, just like a fragrant rose.
In fact, now the school has almost outgrown the capacity of its current premises at Belper Street in Leicester, as more and more parents wish to send their children. |
|
|
| |
|
Beautiful blossoms of Sai garden |
In addition, the parents of older pupils wish to see their children continue with the value-oriented education and so there are plans to provide secondary education too.
Apart from the Value based education, if you ask the head teacher what is the most salient aspect which has made the school what it is today, she will say it is the “Love” inspired by the founder of the School, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It is His love that the teachers shower in abundance and that has brought out miraculous transformations in the little hearts and minds of the young ones. The reform and transformation that this school has silently brought about is really a tremendous source of inspiration and an eye-opener not only for other schools in the same area but for the whole community.
- Heart2Heart Team
