Innisfree House School

Infobox_School


imagesize = 158px
name = Innisfree House School
type = Day school
school moto = Integrity, Honesty and Sincerity
location = J P Nagar, Bangalore
country = IND
established = 1985
staff = 52 Staff Mambers
students = 750
principal = Mrs. S. Bolar

Innisfree House School in Bangalore was started in 1985 to prepare students for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education. It was one of the first ICSE schools to be established in South Bangalore. The management of the school is vested in the Bolar Education Trust.

The motto of the school is Integrity, Honesty and Sincerity. Every effort is made to inculcate sound moral training, habits of punctuality, regularity, cleanliness and courteousness in the children. In short, education imparted in this school is intended to prepare every child to face the world with the courage of conviction and forthright attitude. The children are taught to do well in all they do and appreciate the dignity of labour.

Introduction

The school was started in 1985 in a rented premises with 18 children with Classes Nursery to III. This was made possible by the tremendous support of Mr. B. Ratnakar, the then chairman of Canara Bank. He made sure that the loan was sanctioned for starting the school. In 1986 the No Objection Certificate was obtained from the Government of Karnataka and the strength of the school grew to 30. In 1987, the school was granted Provisional Affiliation by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. Then began the search for a piece of land. After a lot of wrangling and struggle the present civic amenity site was allotted to the school.

Today it is a well established ICSE school known for its excellent teacher-pupil ratio and quality of education. Pupils have made a name for themselves both nationally and internationally in the fields of quizzing, literary events and of late in sports. The school began its IT programme way back in 1989 before it became the buzzword of school education. A junior lab catering to children from Preparatory to Class 4 has a system:student ratio of 1:2, and a senior lab catering to children from classes 5 - 12 has a system:student ratio of 1:1.

We take pride in giving our children the opportunity to develop as well rounded youngsters with our Life-Skills programme, where they get practical experiences ranging from crossing a road to transacting at post offices and banks to sewing and mending and cooking a full meal. They get an opportunity to develop public speaking skills, quizzing, dramatics, creative writing and art.

We have a pre-school section with an activity room wherein every child develops eye-hand co-ordination and fine motor skills as well as concentration. This is possible with the use of Montessori equipment. There is a large aviary with lovely birds and some animals for children to watch the wonders of nature. The school is very conscious about the destruction of environment and strives to create an awareness amongst children. There is a rain water harvesting system in place. Our children are active participants in the programmes conducted by the Kids for Tigers, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and CLEAN BANGALORE. We also have a recycling machine; its name is tara.

Shloka classes are an integral part of our curriculum. To sensitize children about social diversities, we have adopted a slum school close to us. The children interact with the underprivileged children by presenting skits and sharing sweets during festivals. The school provides the slum children with two sets of uniform per child and stationery and books. The school has also arranged for the midday feeding by the ISKCON centre under the Akshaya Patra programme.

We are known to be able to identify children with learning difficulties at a very early stage. They are then helped to work with a special educator during school hours with the co-operation of the parents. We also identify gifted children and put them one on a fast track so that their mental abilities are catered to.

Our teachers are constantly attending seminars, workshops and training programmes to update their professional skills. These include IT skills. They are also sent for training programmes being conducted by the Council in New Delhi, Noida and Jamshedpur.

Location

Staff

The staff at Innisfree are all trained and dedicated to the cause of education. Under the able guidance of the Principal, Mrs. Bolar , many innovative methods of teaching are being used – the idea being to make learning a pleasure for each student. The teachers have all been trained in the use of computers as an aid to the teaching process, so that difficult concepts can be understood.

Teachers are sent to various seminars and workshops around the country to learn what is new in their individual fields as apart of the in-service training programme. The school has a supervisor at each of the pre-school, middle –school and high school levels. The supervisors are available to deal with any concerns parents may have regarding both academic and non-academic progress of their wards.

Founder principal

Mrs. S. Bolar did her schooling at Nirmala Convent, Mysore. Having passed SSLC at the age of 12, she did two years of nursing and compounding at St. Mary's before joining Mount Carmel College, Bangalore for her Pre-University and degree education. She was awarded a Government of India merit scholarship. After four years in the NCC, she graduated as senior Under Officer with a Gliding and Private Pilots licence. She was awarded a scholarship for a Commercial Pilot's license but was unable to take up the offer. Apart from being a keen dramatist, she played Table Tennis for the college and Basketball for the university.

After graduating at the age of 18, she helped set up the library at Teresian College, Mysore. She learnt to play the Sitar and also won several prizes in the State Rifle Shooting competitions.

She passed the B.Ed, examination of the Regional College of Education, Mysore with distinction. She secured the first rank for M.Ed. at the Post Graduate Department of Education, Manasa Gangothri, Mysore.

On marrying Dr. Ashok Bolar she went to England where she worked in various departments of the British Telecommunication Service as Executive Officer. Later, she taught pupils for the entrance examination of the King Edwards Schools.

On return to India she worked as the Head of the Nursery and Primary sections of a school in Bangalore, before starting Innisfree House School in 1985.

Mrs. Bolar has authored a series of five books for teaching Kannada as third language in ICSE schools. She has also written work-books in English for classes 1 and 2 and a work-book for Std. VI Science based on the Karnataka State Syllabus.

She has been the Secretary-Treasurer of the All India Association of Heads of ISC Schools for 3 years. She is the Founder-Secretary of the ASISC(K) and a member of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi for the past 12 years.

She is the Indian Resident Trustee of Health, Education, Literacy and Population Services, UK and the Indian co-ordinator for entry into Brighton College, UK for classes 4 to 12. She is also co-ordinating with 2 UK Universities for starting a Teachers Training Programme in partnership with the Council.

On behalf of the Council she has coordinated with Mysore University to start a B.Ed. programme for teachers of ICSE schools. It is to be an in-service programme.

Mrs. Bolar has been nominated as a Member of the Board of Studies in Education (Post Graduation), University of Mysore.

Admission

Admission is open primarily to children of Konkani speakers in addition to others, irrespective of caste, religion, race and language.

For Std I, and above, a transfer from the school in which the child studied previously must be produced in addition to the birth certificate. Records of past progress and good conduct will be required from pupils for admission to higher classes. Hindi is offered as the second languages. Sanskrit if introduced for VIII Std.

Course of study

The school prepares students for ICSE examination at the end of X Std.

The medium of instruction is English. However, Hindi and Kannada are the other languages that are taught and also encouraged for debates and elocutions.

The child’s creativity and in-depth study of the subject is encouraged through project work.very good.

Facilities

The School provides varied facilities to the children. Vans and autorickshaws run by safe and reliable personnel have been organized from the children’s transportation.

The school has five laboratories where schools can explore the concepts they learn in class. The popularity of the Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Labs are rivaled by that of the Mathematics – Lab. Here students take part in various hands – on activities to prove the truth of a concept they learn in class. An audio-visual room equipped with an LCD projector, an OHP, a slide projector, a TV set and a VCR takes children on exciting journeys where they can visualize facts they come across within the covers of a text-book.

A large library whose walls are lined with over 6000 books and 25 kinds of magazines and journals provides excellent reading and reference material for children of all age of all groups. The pre-schoolers enjoy read – aloud or story telling sessions.

In the evening the school grounds burst into frenzied activity when student receive coaching from professional coaches in Basketball, Hockey, Cricket, Table-tennis and Athletics.

Activities

The following activities are currently being conducted.1. Dance- Bharatnatyam2. Music3. Science club4. Computer studies5. Debates, Quiz, Elocution on a regular basis6. Cricket, Athletics, Basketball & Football coaching7. Rotary Interact for High School8. Skills for life (Activities)

External links

* [http://www.icast.org.in/news/2006/sep06/sep09ia.html "City teacher recalls her NASA experience", Information Centre for Aerospace Science & Technology] - citing Indian Express, Sept 9, 2006
* [http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/15/stories/2006111521920300.htm "School criticises allotment of land for fuel station", The Hindu, Nov 15, 2006]
* [http://www.innisfreehouse.com/home.htm School website]