Behind Closed Doors: Peek Into The Lives Of Pre-Primary Students At Delhi Public School, Sushant Lok-Gurugram

Last month, Delhi Public School, Sushant Lok received rave reviews from overjoyed parents of Classes X & XII. Like every year, the school’s CBSE results were phenomenal. Naturally the question pops up, ‘How do Delhi Public School,Sushant Lok students bag the top positions year after year?’

According to the Principal, Mr. Surendar P. Sachdeva, ‘Every single thought and every single action creates a ripple effect. At DPS, Sushant Lok we are mindful. The foundation we lay in the early years of education steer our students to achieve great heights in society & academics.’

The school’s Early Years Program is inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach. It provides enriching experiences for holistic development of the child in the age group of 2.5 to 6.5 years.

Interestingly, the school follows a No-HW policy. Teachers at DPS, Sushant Lok enrich the young minds with evolving yet inclusive teaching methods. This enables the students to analyze and process the world around them, to develop new perspectives, socio-emotional skills, creativity, teamwork, problem-solving ability, mindsets and value systems.

By encouraging the creative side of students, teaching them the importance of embracing failure and motivating them to learn from their mistakes, teachers create a friendly and safe environment where every child is treated with love and care and feels safe in school. Once the students enter the campus, every child’s safety becomes the responsibility of the teacher. For some students, the drop off process can be difficult, as they deal with separation anxiety.

The teacher endows extra care & attention to resolve such incidents. The first lesson of the day is, Circle Time. This activity helps to wake up sleepy children and gets them motivated to learn. Circle time is a great way to inculcate the sense of community among children. It enhances their social skills and improves their attention span.

Pre-Primary students are always curious and circle time is a good opportunity for them to ask questions. It provides a platform for all the shy children to voice their opinions. Circle time is followed by Jodogyaan: an activity to build number sense and problem solving skills in children. The focus is on teaching the cardinal value of numbers and help the child understand various mathematical operations through experiential and contextual learning.

Research shows verbal input is crucial in language development of children aged 2-6 years. Keeping this in mind, the school follows an evidence-based method of teaching where phonemes are introduced with fun activities, poems, musical engagements, multi-sensory activities, and stories.

Ultimately, this exercise teaches students how to blend words to form small, meaningful sentences. Storytelling session is a treasure trove for students at Delhi Public School, Sushant Lok. Heeding to student demand, storytelling sessions are conducted every day with a Parable to instill good values in children using props like flash cards, hand puppets, finger puppets, stick puppets, and toys. Accompanied with music and lively videos the story narration becomes lucid and amusing, aiding their memory as well as expanding their vocabulary in the process.

Each day ends with Reflection Time during which students are encouraged to express their thoughts & feelings freely. This helps our young learners to understand, think and talk about themselves. The school takes this as a window into the young minds to understand the needs of each student. Delhi Public School, Sushant Lok-Gurugram is the only school in Delhi to design and alter the curriculum according to real time needs of learners.

The teachers hold the hands of little ones as they take on the hurdles of academia, learn teamwork, become sensitive towards a plant when they grow and nurture one themselves. Here they discover the magic & solace music can bring in, appreciate the value of food, sharing it with their peers or the little squirrel who scuttles past their class windows. Within the school campus, they learn the power of a smile when it solves a tussle and learn to look at the possibilities
beyond the stars through their science projects. They learn beyond the traditional ‘book to exam’ methodology.

The school takes pride in their differentiated learning approach. Extra curricular activities like dance, games, painting, music, art & craft, cricket, to name a few, are taught with as much attention & patience as academics. In the words of Pro Vice-Chairperson Ms. Meenakshi Singh, ‘We cater to all types of learners so that
natural diversity prevailing in the classroom does not prevent any learner from achieving success. Children are not ready for the same things at the same time. So, our job is to be thinking how we can support, and not force them to get there. Our differentiated learning mode allows us to provide a rich learning experience for all
our students.’